Hey guys,

Sorry to keep asking questions like this, but I ran out of the hand rearing formula I was using to hand raise Archimedes and couldn't find the same brand anywhere (The vet said they'd try to get it in for me but it would take a week), even the place I got it from had run out So I bought some egg and biscuit mix and have been using that to wean him, I mixed the other formula with the egg and biscuit for 5 days gradually increasing the E&B so his digestive tract would get used to it. He lost a bit of weight (about 3 g) when I cut down to 2-3 feeds a day but is now putting the weight steadily back on as he gets better at cracking seed. He's still active and chirpy but the watery component of his droppings have gone yellow since I switched onto the egg and biscuit and the solid part is a darkish brown/white (not old blood dark brown, it looks as if he's been eating tree bark or something, which he may be chewing on in the cage...) I read that yellow urine (or whatever its called) is a sign of anorexia/liver disease. I was wondering if it is possible for the food (because E&B is yellow) to stain the droppings or whether I should be taking him to a vet.

Any advice would be appreciated

HI, If you look a few posts up from yours you"ll see a pinned article Poopology etc. read through that and see if that helps. or go to f.a.q section.

I would say that the color of the food is definitely going to color the droppings. Presumably up to now, they have been the same color as the hand rearing formula, haven't they? And probably the same consistency, until he is eating more seeds. My hand fed chicks don't start having normal poop consistency until they start eating regular foods (seeds, veggies, biscuit), and not just formula.

 

 

 

How old is he now? When will you be able to get more formula? Or are you thinking that by the time the store gets it in, he will be weaned and not need it anymore? I don't force wean mine. I just keep offering it to them, and they let me know when they really don't want it anymore. Maybe he's at that point, and you won't need to buy more formula.

I've read the FAQs etc before but I just wanted to check it could be the egg and biscuit before I went to the vet... Yeah, the droppings were the colour of the formula originally but the urine was clear, and now its yellow, that's what I was worrying about. The vet still hasn't been able to get the original formula in and Archimedes is now cracking seed pretty well. I'm still offering formula about 3 times a day but he only takes a significant amount first thing in the morning, he finds everything else too interesting during the day/night and only takes a few drops. I noticed today his crop was full of seed/greens/cuttlebone/anything he can get his beak on and so only offered 1 feed and a syringe full of water (because he still hasn't quite worked out what the water bowl is for yet) today because he seems full. He still begs if he sees the syringe but that's the only time. He's 6 weeks old today

Oh! and the beak thing turned out to be fine, the swelling has gone down and there's no more redness.

It sounds like you really don't even need to buy any more formula.

 

I wouldn't bother giving him water with the syringe. The way I look at it, parent raised chicks in the nest don't get any supplemental water until they fledge and learn to use the water drinker. They get enough moisture in the food their parents feed them. Same with moisture in the hand rearing formula. I haven't had a baby budgie yet that didn't figure out how to get their own drink of water.

 

 

Have you introduced him to bird baths yet? Give him a shallow one, and he will play around in it. He will also drink it. But don't leave it in there too long, or it will get soiled.

 

 

 

Glad the beak skin thing turned out okay.

I tried him with a bath today and he loved it! Until he tried to fly afterwards, he didn't get very far

I give him water at night because he gorges himself with seed and his crop is hard as a rock so I just worry that he won't be able to produce enough saliva to digest it properly. But I saw him drinking after the bath today so its all good