Pet Bird — life stage & development (hatchling → hand-fed → weaned juvenile → adult)
Source: first-hand owner-practical care pages, saved to source_file; every claim below is a C1 byte-substring of it.
Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)
Chicks that hatch in the nest and are being well cared for by the parents may be removed for hand-feeding at any time prior to weaning; however, the earlier they associate with humans, the more comfortable they will be as pets.The weaning process is a stressful time for the baby bird, and weight losses of 10 – 15% are common, as is regurgitation of crop contents immediately after hand feeding in some species.Because the yolk sac provides initial nourishment, hatchlings need not be fed formula for the first 12 – 24 hours.Ideally, babies that hatch from artificially incubated eggs should be isolated from chicks that hatch in the nest.If incubator-hatched chicks are not placed with foster parents, they are totally dependent on hand feeding.Hatchlings should be kept between 32 – 35 degrees Celsius, birds with pinfeathers between 24 – 30 degrees Celsius, and those that are fully feathered can be maintained at room temperature.Because the early stages of hand feeding may be the most challenging and time-consuming, some aviculturists suggest leaving chicks with the parents for a few days up to three weeks.Although the exact nutritional requirements for captive psittacines are not known, many hand-feeding diets appear to adequately meet the needs of young growing birds.Seed is a badly balanced diet, and cause many problems in growing chicks if introduced without adequate supplementation.With either extreme in temperature, the birds will grow more slowly and the rate of crop emptying may be sluggish.Very young babies should be fed a very dilute formula; the consistency is thickened as the infant matures.Although parental care of psittacine offspring has some advantages (such as teaching “normal” bird behaviour), many aviculturists hand-feed babies to increase production and to produce tame, pet quality birds.Do not heat the food in a microwave – hot spots can form in the food that can burn the chick’s crop.If you insist on weaning onto seed, this can be offered a little later in the weaning process.
Source: pdf-raw/owner-care/bird_life_stage_combined.txt · West Toowoomba Veterinary Surgery (westtoowoombavetsurgery.com.au) / Long Island Avian and Exotic Veterinary Clinic