Socializing handfed babies

[summoora]

So I have a few questions concerning Eggplant. I understand that handling babies between feedings is important, but I was wondering about how long the bird needs to be out (minimum) at what ages.

Also, is it bad to have the baby out after 9? I've been trying to keep him in a quiet room for about 12 hours, but considering he is mostly sleeping throughout the day anyway, and like most people, I am least busy around this time, I was wondering about that.

What are good ways to socialize babies other than just cuddling them?

[Chickobee]

When I socialize small babies I use a hand towel and let them snuggle inside. I pet them to get them used to being touched and seeing my hands. When they begin to explore and beak food I will put some in my hand and let them explore me and nibble. By then I usually do this on the table so I don't have my clothes and furniture covered in bird food. I will have all of the babies in the clutch plus their parents out at the same time. The parents will begin teaching the babies how to eat and I can play with all of the babies.

In the beginning I only keep the babies out for 10-15 minutes. As they get older, and the parents are also out with the babies, they can be out for longer periods of time because the parents will be there to feed them.

All of my parent birds are tame, and none of them were handfed. I have rehomed the handfed hens because they were so horribly mean.

I don't ever pull babies for handfeeding just so I can say they were handfed when I sell them. I always let the parent birds raise their own babies because they can do it so much better than I can. I've found that when lovebirds reach sexual maturity the handfed hens can be particularly viscious and attack and bite very hard. None of my parent raised hens have ever been like that, and they let me check their nestboxes without flying out and attacking me, and don't have to be pried from my arm or hands. No thank you on bitey handfed hens!!!

I also like my sleep so I am definitely OK with letting the birds do it! They know when and how much to feed each tiny baby, and the food is always at the perfect temperature. How could I hope to do better than that unless I was a lovebird?

I socialize the babies beginning at 2-3 weeks and continue doing this several times each day until they go to their new homes. This way they are as tame as any handfed baby, but they also know they are birds and how to raise their own babies when the time comes.

The only time I handfeed is when I have a baby who is in danger and needs it to survive. Even then I will not pull the baby unless it is absolutely necessary. I have had excellent success with giving supplemental feedings to small babies with empty crops and returning them to the nestbox. If a clutch is more than four babies those supplemental feedings can get the smaller babies over the hump until they learn to eat on their own. I give the parent birds every opportunity to learn to care for their own babies.

I do put more soft foods in the food dishes and move all of them closer to the nestbox so the parent birds don't have to work so hard keeping their babies fed. Birdie bread is a wonderful food for this along with finely chopped vegetables and sprouts. When parent birds are feeding babies they will not be picky about what they eat even if they are normally very selective. They needs lots of food to keep their wee ones filled up.

[summoora]

All great info. I agree with the overall concept, and would prefer a co-parented bird, but my options were essentially a non-socialized bird in a holding cage sharing air with sick budgies or a chick from a more sheltered flight to hand-feed, with no in-between.

The reality is that Eggplant is here now, and is an only chick (though based on his response to youtube videos, knows he's a bird), and I want to make sure he gets the right balance of rest and enrichment. :)

[Lindades264]

When I socialized my baby birds, I held them several times a day. There were 4 of us in the house, so we all took turns. I also had friends over who held the babies. I was very careful to sure the birds were safe when being held. They are not afraid of anyones hands as a result of this. Best of luck to you. You're off to a good start!

[summoora]

I hope so. I don't know if it's because he feels safe in a corner/wall area or because he wants to be warm, but he tends to head straight for my hands when he is out anyway. When I hold him, he heads straight down my arm into my elbow.

[Mummieeva]

I did 10-15 minutes a day and once they had more fleathers/fluff I made it longer. I took cues from the baby as to how long. My birds were on a little later schedule then most because my husband works nights. So sometimes out of cage time was at 9pm. I just made sure they were in a dark room or covered in the early am.

[summoora]

So Eggplant is starting to come out of his little hut on his own now to explore his rather tiny enclosure (made tinier by the inclusion of his hut, of course), and I've been handling him regularly. Something I've noticed, though, is if he has a chance to run "home" (I take out his hut sometimes when I'm preparing to feed him so he can stay cuddled till his food is ready), he will. Does this mean he isn't comfortable with outside time yet? He really doesn't seem to like being out of it when the alternative is my hands. Maybe I'm too abrupt with my hands during feeding time? another thing he will do is make a run for his hut IMMEDIATELY when he no longer feels like eating, which makes a chore out of me cleaning his front after his messy meal. :lol He's learned to stay still until I'm done wiping, but I can tell he hates it, especially if I pick him up from between his legs (they wiggle all around and he loses balance, but It's the only way for me to be sure I'm not putting pressure on his crop right after a feeding.

[summoora]

When should I start discouraging beaking? He pretty much sees my fingers a source of food and immediately beaks them when they get close to his mouth. Then again, he's been beaking his toes, too. Maybe I should introduce some larvae. I'm also trying not to man-handle him now except for feeding time. I figure he knows how to climb in my hand on his own if he wants to cuddle, though he hasn't taken up my offer yet.

[Ken4me]

I have a recently hatched baby lovebird...much to our surprise. The baby is around 3 weeks old now, and we want to socialize this baby also. but my question is: wouldn't the parents object if I were to pull their baby out of the nest box? I'm more worried what the hen will do when I put the baby back in the nest box.

I am so confused, because I was originally going to set the baby in a brooder and handfeed it. But after reading this thread, I'm not so sure if this is a good idea now.

Any advice would be a great help.

Thanks