I have just got a 5/6week old budgie who I am hand feeding twice a day. am and pm. He is eating a little seed and millet. Should I cut down on the soft food? His poo is very watery is this because of the baby food? Would appreciate help

I haven't hand fed very many chicks, but most of the ones I have hand raised weaned themselves. I would provide all the usual foods that my birds normally eat, and the chicks experiment and learn to eat the various things. (Seed, millet, oat groats, oranges, biscuit, carrots, greens, etc.) Eventually, the chicks are eating all of those other things, and they stop being interested in the formula. So then when I see that I'm wasting my time trying to get them to eat any formula, I just quit.

 

I did have one chick who was a big baby and kept begging for the formula way longer than the others. I finally just started cutting back on the formula until I was barely giving her any, and then I quit. She was about 10 weeks old then. But I would think that most of them would just stop eating the formula when they are ready.

 

About the poos, yeah, the hand formula makes them runny. The more they eat regular foods, seeds and vegetables, the more their poos will form properly. You don't need to cut back on the formula, just make sure you offer lots of healthy food choices.

Check the mixture on the food your feeding, as the chick grows you should reduce the amount of water to mix with it.

 

I would look at droping to one feed per day by 5 - 6 weeks and then he should be able to cope at 7 weeks.

 

But always monitor there weight as each bird can be different.

Edited August 5, 201113 yr by Daz

I agree with Daz and one feed a day to encourage seed eating.

I haven't hand fed very many chicks, but most of the ones I have hand raised weaned themselves. I would provide all the usual foods that my birds normally eat, and the chicks experiment and learn to eat the various things. (Seed, millet, oat groats, oranges, biscuit, carrots, greens, etc.) Eventually, the chicks are eating all of those other things, and they stop being interested in the formula. So then when I see that I'm wasting my time trying to get them to eat any formula, I just quit.

 

I did have one chick who was a big baby and kept begging for the formula way longer than the others. I finally just started cutting back on the formula until I was barely giving her any, and then I quit. She was about 10 weeks old then. But I would think that most of them would just stop eating the formula when they are ready.

 

About the poos, yeah, the hand formula makes them runny. The more they eat regular foods, seeds and vegetables, the more their poos will form properly. You don't need to cut back on the formula, just make sure you offer lots of healthy food choices.

 

Thankyou for your response this is a great help. I will start to give a smaller amount of formula offer other types of food I have watched and he seems to eat Millet well also seed on the floor. So fingers crossed everything will be fine

 

 

Check the mixture on the food your feeding, as the chick grows you should reduce the amount of water to mix with it.

 

I would look at droping to one feed per day by 5 - 6 weeks and then he should be able to cope at 7 weeks.

 

But always monitor there weight as each bird can be different.

 

Thank you. this will help but how do you meigh a baby budgie?

 

I agree with Daz and one feed a day to encourage seed eating.

 

Thank you for your reply. I will use advice given and look forward to having a healthy bugie.

You can buy cheap small diet scales at most good stores.

 

 

Also read this ......http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=22446

 

 

and another thing I do with fledged chicks that arent getting it yet about feeding...I put them in a small box like a show cage with a warm lamp up to it and seed underfoot. They peck around the ground at the seed and feed themselves.

 

At the age yours is I would only give it a night feed ( between 4-5 pm ) and all day in a warm cage with seed underfoot and maybe another budgie youngster who will show how to eat the seed.

Edited August 5, 201113 yr by **KAZ**