16 week old CAG won't wean - for the second time.

[LeahC]

Hi, I'm new to this board, and a new grey owner, although I've worked with them quite a bit. My baby was weaned when I brought her home, but lost so much weight she needed more handfeeding, and now at 16 weeks old she will not wean (again). I hope someone here has some ideas

 

I recently got a job working at a zoo in the parrot department. 2 CAGS hatched during my second week there, and I fell in love. I've always wanted one and I decided the time was right, so I spent as much time as I could getting to know her while I waited for her to be weaned. I was able to play with her daily.

 

She has always had a poor feeding response, from the day she was pulled from the nest at 3 weeks of age. She developed normally, nonetheless, and started playing with all kinds of fruits and veggies around 6 weeks old. She started eating her pellets early and refusing formula, and by 10 1/2 weeks she was down to a single feed per day, only accepting 20ccs. Her sibling, however, was still taking two 60cc feeds per day.

 

The last feed was stopped and she held her weight at 404g daily for a week and a half before I took her home. I brought her home with toys she knew, and the exact same pellets she had been eating. She would not eat. Finally a week later her weight was down to 348g, so I took her in to work with me to have her "mom" handfeed her. The bird (Keaton) wanted nothing to do with it, but it was either that or gavage feeding since her weight really needed to come up. I took her home and continued handfeeding.

 

Originally it was a struggle to get 20cc into her twice a day, but her weight was really improving. I was so anxious to get her weight up that when she started accepting more, I gave it to her. She has been eating two 60cc feeds for a couple of weeks now.

 

She still is not eating her pellets, although she will eat some of the fruit, veggies, pasta, egg, etc. that I offer most days. She does crunch up the pellets, but doesn't seem to swallow them. She shows no signs of weaning. She'll eat as much formula as I give her.

 

Should I let her take her time, or try to encourage the process a little more? Someone suggested breaking up pellets and adding them, soaked in hot water, to the formula. This would mean switching from syringe feeding to spoon feeding since the pallet pieces won't go through the syringe. She is a very picky eater, I don't think she'll take that change well.

 

Any thoughts or ideas are very welcome. One theory we have is that her brother was feeding her when we thought she was weaned, so she wasn't actually weaned when I brought her home. She is healthy though, according to her vet.. Thanks in advance for any advice!

[danmcq]

Hi and Welcome!!

 

I have read that they stop eating as much to lose weight when they are going to fledge to make flight easier.

 

This may be what's going on, but there are many members here with years of experience that will help you out.

 

Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/07/13 15:12<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/07/13 15:13

[LeahC]

Thanks for the thought : ) She fledged around 10 weeks old though, so I don't think that's it. Before fledging she was as high as 430g, and went down to 404 and stayed there after weaning the first time..

[judygram]

Hi LeahC, and welcome to our family.

I don't see a big problem in continuing the hand feeding if she needs it, you can gradually work her off it later, she needs nourishment now. You can try soaking her pellets in some juice, she make like them better. She is just taking a little longer to wean and that is allright, spoon feed her stuff instead of using the syringe. If the vet says she is healthy don't worry about it, I think things will work themselves out so don't fret over it. Keep us updated as to how things are going and I think she will be fine.

By the way, what is her name?

[Guest briansmum]

welcome leahC, it sounds to me like she is just not ready to wean yet. if her weight is good being hand fed and she has seen a vet and everything is fine, then continue the hand feeding. i would switch to a spoon, try soaking pellets and mashing up cooked veggies, while offering her solid food aswell.

judy makes a good point.. what is your little girls name? do you have pictures, we love pictures

[judygram]

Pictures would be great, we can make a better assessment of your grey from them. How about it!!!!!

[LeahC]

Thanks for the suggestions I was just starting to worry because she was weaned before, and is now 16 weeks old showing no interest in eating..

 

I've tried everything with her pellets, I've soaked them in juice and water. I've also given her a mash made up of pellets, peanut butter, honey, frozen veggies, baby food, etc. It's what we give the birds at work while they're breeding or feeding babies. She won't touch any of the above. The only way she'll go near her pellets is if they're dry.

 

At what point should I start to be concerned that she might need some encouragement to wean?

 

I don't have time to go through the entire photo posting process at the moment, but I will get some up soon.. I was lucky enough to get photos each week from the time she was 4 weeks old.. And her name is Keaton I'm not actually sure if she's male or female but she was DNA tested before I brought her home, we're just waiting for the results..

[CeasarsDad]

Keep hand feeding.. You will miss these days.. Take advantage of your baby's need for this.. I know it's a pain but well worth it in the long run.. Your baby will be closer to you for this..

 

Welcome to the forum.. I hope you have FUN here..

[judygram]

I'm still spoon feeding Josey in the mornings, she seems to like it so I continue, no harm done.

[Teluhlasmom]

I am glad to know that the weening process is different for all of our little birdies. My baby teluhla is about 10 weeks old now and she will peck and nibble at her seeds and mostly just throws her pellets around her little room, but she has been resisting formula recently, she had been eating about 60cc 2x daily and now she only wants about 20 or 30 2x daily. Her crop is never totally full and her keel bone is still pretty prominent. Everone says she is healthy, just a little skinny, and she is still gaining weight. She just can't come home untill she gets a little more chubby! I want her to eat all she can so that I can bring her home, but I want her to be healthy more...

[BMustee]

Well, at 16 weeks and given the regression I wouldn't be too worried at this point. Obviously she is a little more timid about change so I would give her as much time as she needs so she does not get nerotic in the future.

 

Teluhlasmom - At 10 weeks your baby should still have a few weeks before it is weaned. If it's still on 2 feedings a day it will still need to go done to one feeding. You should aim probably around 15 weeks for it to be weaned...but remember it could take longer.

[LeahC]

I guess I should have updated everyone a LONG time ago! I've been so busy I can't even hear myself think, let alone find time for message boards..

 

Anyway, Keaton is now 10 months old! She weaned completely around 19-20 weeks of age, which is actually fairly normal, according to various sources.

 

After a time it became obvious that my boss, the woman who raised Keaton, had given her a very bad wing clip, which may have caused some of Keaton's insecurities and the regression to handfeeding. She clipped way too many feathers for a grey (particularly a juvenile), all very short (under the coverts), and left the first two primaries to give "that beautiful cris-cross look". In short, Keaton dropped like a rock when trying to fly, which meant knocking out one of those long primaries before I finally clipped the other three off.

 

But aside from this, she is healthy and happy and talking up a storm. I hope she's getting ready to molt soon though, those baby feathers are starting to look a little ragged! Besides, I want to give her a more appropriate clip so she doesn't hit the floor like a brick

 

Anyway, sorry I didn't update everyone on her situation : )

 

Teluhlasmom: In my experience, birds will gain a lot less weight eating seeds than pellets because seeds are so low in nutrition.. They have to eat a LOT more than pellets just to meet nutritional requirements. Just a thought..

[Nychsa]

I have a quick question re: weight - when does a grey's weight stabilize? In other words, when do they stop growing? Bella is 8 months, 14 inches long and 500g on the nose. She's been like that for about 4 weeks now. I've been wondering if we're now at her full grown length and weight.

 

Cheers!

Terri

[LeahC]

Keaton and her brother stopped growing at about 10-12 weeks of age. Keaton was overweight until about 18 weeks. She was around 400g for a while but her keel was barely palpable. Her weight went down to 365 as she weaned the second time and her keel is now where it should be considering she's not a working bird. If I wanted her to fly, she could stand to lose another 15g or so.

 

I would say feel your grey's keel. It should be easy to feel and should be sticking out a little. If you can't feel it easily, he's obese.

 

He should have stopped growing and settled into his adult weight by the time he weaned or shortly after. If he's been gaining weight since then, he may be overweight. If that's the case, you may have to start measuring the amount of food you give him daily.

[Nychsa]

hi Leah, thanks for the input. I can easily feel her keel, so maybe she's just a big girl LOL!

[LeahC]

Yeah, 500 is fairly large but then again I know that my girl is a runt, so to speak. Her brother was about the same size as yours. Her father was almost 650g (!!!), but her mother was only about 350g, so we knew they could wind up any size As long as you can feel that keel I wouldn't worry about size. At this age though, it's very unlikely that she'll get any bigger

[Nychsa]

Wow 650g! LOL How long was he?? He must have looked like a little falon! Well, if she's done growing, I think we're at a good place. I like her size - she makes a statement to the greyhounds with her presence LOL!