FINCHforum

The little rascal is 21 days old today and feathered up enough to go into a cage setup for a fledgling and leave the brooder. After he was in the cage for a little while he took his first low flight of 6-8 inches long! Tonight he was sleeping with his head tucked under his wing.

These pics were taken during and after he was fed this evening and he is becoming a very messy eater! 8/15/16

I may still have some questions about the weaning process but we are so thankful he has made it this far and appreciate all the answers to the questions about brooding, hand feeding, and weaning.

Andy

Tough lil fella. What a great job! Now that he is feathered lower the feedings to 1/2. You shouldnt see his crop behind the feathers. Throw in some millet, water etc to get him off the bottle the next few weeks

Nice work!

He looks terrific! What a messy face!! I'd also offer him egg food and spray millet, those are the two foods my babies would try first.

Sally wrote: He looks terrific! What a messy face!! I'd also offer him egg food and spray millet, those are the two foods my babies would try first.

Is it too early to hand feed egg food tomorrow, or do you mean to put it in a dish in the cage?

Babs wrote: Tough lil fella. What a great job! Now that he is feathered lower the feedings to 1/2. You shouldnt see his crop behind the feathers. Throw in some millet, water etc to get him off the bottle the next few weeks

Nice work!

Do you mean 2 feedings a day? We have been doing feedings every 3-4 hours up to midnight, and then starting again at 7-8am in the morning, which gave him 4-5 feedings a day.

I meant put it in a dish in his cage. He will start exploring, and he probably will check out egg food and spray millet.

a_gouldian Sally

As
Sally said, put the eggfood in a dish. Once his underbelly is feathered, it's time to cut the feedings and encourage foraging. I've always cut my handraised babies formula in 1/2 quickly at this stage. Too many weeks on formula can lead to crop yeast.

At this point he should only come to you for liquids to rehydrate and for vitamins in the formula. Normal for him to lose weight at this stage of transition.

Morning, lunch and late dinner from here on out. Youre doing just fine! He wont starve. After day 2 he will pick at millet, his first food-steps, then egg, etc

I hope he starts foraging and exploring in a few days. Right now he mainly sits, sleeps, and incessantly squawks if he sees you in the room as though he wants to be fed, even if he has just recently been fed.

a_gouldian, adorable! Great job!!

He is really looking like a baby owl I can't say it enough "Great Job"

Some handfeds really want to stay babies far longer than they should, it is a big step to get them to grow up and become independent.

Flight Practice, 23 days old
https://youtu.be/iWkzEYghkYQ

Oh, I'm in love!

yay

He sure is loud loved watching him/her grow up right before our eyes keep the pictures coming