[Misstiel]

I have two cockatiel chicks that I'm hand feeding right now. I've handfed before so that's not new for me, but this is a problem I've never had so I'm hoping someone might be able to help me out. They are four days apart; they hatched May 12 and May 16. The oldest is a grey chick, and the youngest is a lutino chick. I've been weighing them everyday since I pulled them. The grey is five weeks old while the lutino is about four and a half weeks old. I'm feeding them five times a day, and yet their crops seem to empty really fast sometimes. At this age, shouldn't the grey be getting only three feeds and the lutino only four feeds? I don't want to decrease the amount of feedings since their crops are always empty before then. They are very playful; they have plenty of seeds, pellets, egg food, millet, and water in their cages. The grey has also been flying lots lately, and the lutino is flapping lots. What I'm asking is: do I still keep them at 5 feeds a day until I realize their crops aren't empty before their next feed? Am I doing something wrong this time? And what would make their crops empty quicker than usual? Other than that, they seem very healthy and active. TIA

 

[Misstiel]

@tielfan ?

 

[Robert Seale]

Are you SURE about feeding 5 times a day? We've had 6 clutches of babies from two sets of breeding parents and have always only fed morning, noon , and night with no problems. While we've lost a few eggs that didn't hatch, all chicks have grown to be healthy. I'm NOT saying what your doing is wrong, but you might be careful not to overfeed. How do you raise yours? We always let the parents feed for the first 3 weeks then pull the chicks and hand-feed and tame until weened off baby food.

 

[Misstiel]

Yeah, I've been following a chart that shows how many times to hand feed per day. I usually pull the chicks between 3 to 4 weeks old. I've actually decreased the amount of feeding to only 4 times now, and they seem to be doing better. I'll insert the link where I saw how many times to feed them.
Care For An Abandoned Baby Cockatiel | BeChewy

 

[Robert Seale]

Yeah, I've been following a chart that shows how many times to hand feed per day. I usually pull the chicks between 3 to 4 weeks old. I've actually decreased the amount of feeding to only 4 times now, and they seem to be doing better. I'll insert the link where I saw how many times to feed them.
Care For An Abandoned Baby Cockatiel | BeChewy

THANKS! I'll sure take a look at it. Perhaps with our next clutch later on this year, we might just see if they will in fact eat a little more. Hope yours turn out to be happy and healthy!

 

[Misstiel]

You’re welcome! And thank you! They seem to already be doing better now that I decreased their amount of feeds. Maybe I was just over feeding them, then. The grey doesn’t take as many syringes as the lutino, but I’ve heard it could be because of the fledging stage.

 

[Robert Seale]

Your most welcome! Glad I could be of some help. I remember seeing many times they were hungry enough to eat the syringe and other times it was hard to get them to eat THREE syringe fulls !!

 

[Misstiel]

Yes!!!! I know what you mean! The lutino is usually quite the pig, wanting to continue eating to the point where his crop will burst whereas the grey will sometimes take lots or will just take a few. It's really annoying sometimes, lol! He usually averages out at around 4 syringes. If he's not playing, he's always at his food dishes or millet or any food so I hope he's at least getting food that way.