Hand Feeding Lovebirds

It is always advisable to be trained if you are going to attempt hand feeding lovebirds.

The main things to remember are that firstly the bird is getting sufficient food to eat and secondly that you ensure that the food is going into their gullet not their lungs, as this may well cause bacterial pneumonia, then the bird will asphyxiate and die.

There is no set time scale of how long a lovebird will take to wean, if you want a healthy bird time should not be a factor, you must dedicate time according to each bird’s needs. There are many different formulas available to buy and if you try them you will find your own favorite.

The formula needs to be heated between 103f and 105f. But your bird will let you know, if it balks at you try slightly warmer but be very careful that its not too hot or you will burn the crop, it only takes one feed too hot to critically injure your bird. If you heat the formula in the microwave it is imperative that you stir the formula thoroughly before testing for temperature, stirring will alleviate any hot spots. To begin with make the formula very thin in texture and gradually progress to a thicker consistency over the next 2 weeks.

Use a syringe that has an easy plunger to depress at a constant rate. If you press the plunger too quickly you may choke the bird, it is best to let them set the rhythm. Your bird will pump as it feeds, so follow its rhythm by pushing the plunger at the same rate. If the bird stops so must you, wait until the bird starts pumping again. Like most things it’s a matter of practice to get it exactly right. Make sure you thoroughly clean both the syringe and plunger after feeding, ordinary diluted bleach, very well rinsed off, can be used or you may prefer to buy a commercial syringe cleaner.

When the bird is about 3 weeks old you can start introducing other foods such as millet, sunflower sprouts and seed mix. It is advisable to change the food types every day, this will help the bird to not become food phobic. They will soon learn that fresh foods are safe and good to eat.

It is not advisable to try and wean by starving your lovebird, if you simply stop hand feeding lovebirds you put them in great risk. Weaning your lovebird by the abundance method is the easiest. This means the bird will decide when its had enough of being hand fed.

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