Should We Be Buying Unweaned Birds?

Many breeders have started selling baby birds before they are fully weaned from the parent or breeder's care. Should we consider buying a baby bird and feeding it ourselves?

The promise of a stronger, more meaningful bond with your bird is hard to resist, and that's what many breeders have started promising with a trend that is gaining momentum within the parrot community.

Buyers are told that if they purchase a baby bird before it is fully weaned, and they hand feed them formula themselves instead of allowing the parents or the breeder to finish, that they will then have a stronger bond with that bird. But what do experts say about this claim?

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Let's take a look at one kind of stressful experience from someone that purchased an unweaned baby parrot. (Taken from Reddit - username omitted for privacy)

"I attended a local bird show today. I planned to purchase a mature conure, but the seller showed me the single baby he had left and explained how to syringe feed. He said it wasn’t hard, said to make sure the food was comfortable when dripped on my inner wrist or 108 degrees. He also said hand fed babies tend to make better pets, so I decided to take baby home with me.

Well, I went to watch a video of a syringe feeding when I arrived home and went down a rabbit hole of warnings about people without experience hand feeding and all the issues that could come up. And now I’m absolutely terrified that I’m going to do something wrong and hurt the baby 😭"

This is a very typical experience from someone that has purchased an unweaned bird from a breeder or store. You can find many stories just like this one scattered throughout the internet on forums and other communities. Unfortunately, some of these stories end tragically with the death or injury of the baby.

What is weaning?

For parrot chicks, weaning is the process in which they go from being fed formula by the breeder or regurgitated foods by the parents to the bird eating food on its own. This is a delicate process, and ideally, should be handled by the bird's parents. They have been biologically adapted to know when a baby bird is ready to start taking on different foods.

However, if a bird is being hand fed, it is very important that the weaning period be handled with extreme care.

Parrot Chick Growth

Parrot chicks go through stages of growth and development. The duration of these stages depends on the species of parrot, but the process is pretty much the same for all of them. Development begins in the egg. During this time, all of the major organs and parts of a parrot are formed. But growth doesn't stop there.

After a parrot has hatched, it continues to grow and develop. In fact, a chick gains about 10% of its weight per day! When being fed by hand with a formula, it's very important during this time that weight and other factors are carefully tracked and recorded daily.

When a baby bird is fed, it stores that food in its crop. The crop must be monitored to ensure that food is being processed correctly and that the bird has received the right amount of food. It takes a trained eye to know when the bird has had enough and if there might be a problem with the crop and the amount of food that is or isn't being emptied. It is also extremely important that the temperature and consistency of the formula is right. Too hot and the crop can be burned - too cold and the chick will reject the formula and possibly breathe it in which can kill it. If the consistency is wrong, this can also happen.

During the first month or so of a chick's life, it is developing extremely quickly. It is very important that it is fed correctly and monitored daily in order to develop into a healthy adult. Serious health and behavior issues can occur in the parrot's life if it does not get proper nutrition as a baby.

After a baby bird is weaned and once it is a fledgling, it usually loses weight. Weight has to be monitored very carefully at this stage as well.

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So as you can see, it is extremely important that if a person is going to hand feed a baby parrot, they need to be experienced and trained to recognize any issues that may come up. 

In an article published by Professor Dr. A. Steiger for the Institute for Genetics, Nutrition and Keeping of Pets, Department of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare, Steiger has this to say:

"Parrots are unfortunately very frequently sold to the owners before they are fully weaned. Some breeders claim that the relationship with the owner is much closer if the chick is hand-reared by the bird-keeper. However, that suggestion has been proved to be totally untrue"

So, if it isn't true that taking an unweaned bird can cause a stronger bond between owner and parrot, why do breeders continue to push this information on their buyers? Dr. Steiger goes on to say:

"The aviculturist (breeder) can significantly reduce his/her daily work and avoid the labour-intensive and often tedious changeover from hand-feeding to the birds' independent food-intake. The breeders usually do not have to insist to sell unweaned chicks, as most owners are motivated to feed their cute newly-acquired parrot themselves."

Dr. Steiger also adds:

"Chicks are at their most vulnerable to changes in their environment as they approach and experience the weaning period. Many mistakes can be made by the owners during the process of hand-feeding, some of them having disastrous consequences on the parrots' health (e.g. aspiration, burned crop, crop stasis). It is therefore fundamental to leave hand-feeding to specialists, that is to say to the aviculturists (breeders) themselves."

The weaning period is a very delicate part of a bird's life. Lack of experience and training can have tragic consequences for those that try to hand feed a baby. While its true that it is possible to successfully hand feed a baby without immediate issues, it remains true that what is best for the bird is that it is properly weaned by its parents, or at the very least a someone trained and educated in doing so.

It is important to consider everything and choose a responsible breeder that puts the wellbeing of the bird before anything else. This will help ensure that you have a healthy, happy companion for many years to come.

Sources:

“Parrot Chick Weight Growth Chart.” Hagen Avicultural Research Institute, https://hari.ca/avian-care/parrot-growth-charts/parrot-chick-weight-growth-chart

Schmid, Rachel. “The Influence of the Breeding Method on the Behaviour of Adult African Grey Parrots.” Diss. vet.-med. University Bern, Verlag Nicht Ermittelbar, 2004.