In the wee hours of the morning on December 1, a raid on the nest box of Mama Grey netted a 12 day old small pink ball covered in white fluff. Only the small black beak hinted that it might soon become a sweet, playful African Grey parrot. After weighting in at 92 grams, it was put to bed in a plastic margarine tub inside a heated (88° F.) aquarium to rest and work up an appetite.
At 6AM I began what was to become a frequent ritual of boiling water, pouring it over and in the cups, syringe, and thermometer, and cooling some to mix with the dry mash. Having prepared this soupy mixture, the fun began. With both the baby and myself learning the hand-feeding ritual at the same time, it was slow going at first couple times as I supported his head in one hand and dribbled a few drops of food from the syringe onto his tongue, but he got the idea and started swallowing so that I could give him more. On the second day I noticed a large bubble of translucent skin on his right shoulder that seemed to bulge after each feeding. It was so different from the rest of his body that I worried in spite of my precautions regarding formula temperature (105-110° F.), that I had burned the tube leading to his crop. I was worried and inspected it carefully at each feeding but it didn’t seem to change. Because of my concern I did not want to overfeed him the first couple of days and gave him only 6cc per feeding 6 times a day but by age 15 days this rose to 16cc per feeding and 2 days later it was 25cc at which point we had settled down to 4 feedings a day (6AM, noon, 5PM, and 10PM). I continued to fret over his "burned crop" for a couple of weeks by which time I had decided that it must have healed although he might forever have a bald spot on his neck!
His early growth was phenomenal and at 17 days of age and 134g. (before feeding) he was threatening to escape from the small tub and when placed in a deeper tub, looked like E.T. as he stretched his neck to peer over the edge. His head was bald and wrinkly looking with his ear showing and his black beady eye open. The only incongruity with E.T. was the black beak. A few days later the look changed as he began to acquire his second, thick grey down.
By 21 days of age, his personality was already beginning to show as he fussed for attention and used different sounds to communicate his pleasure or needs. Already 188g. and wearing his new closed leg band, I switched to a larger syringe as he now ate as much as 30cc at a time. His secondary wing feathers were just starting to emerge. He wanted to move around more at this stage and was placed on a diaper directly in the heated aquarium.
As he reached 4 weeks of age, a film crew was scheduled to do a short feature item on captive breeding in Canada for broadcast in the Soviet Union. Naturally I wanted the little one to look his best so I carefully (or so I thought) cleaned all the you know what off his legs, leg band, and rear end. Much to my dismay I noticed that I had cleaned so vigorously as to cause his rump to begin bleeding. In spite of my worry and feelings of guilt, the filming went well. It wasn’t until 2 days later as I inspected the area to see if it had healed that I realized that what I was seeing was actually the beginnings of his new red tail!
By five weeks of age he weighed 352g. and his primary flight feathers were just starting to emerge like a row of paint brushes with black feather tips peaking out of the sheaths. With his head feathers erupting and his egg tooth gone, he actually looked like a baby Grey instead of E.T.! He could now hold himself erect most of the time and began nibbling on Cheerios.
At six weeks (408g.) he was covered in feathers and thick grey down and started to play in a small cage (actually a hamster cage) for a few hours each day so that he could have a low perch to practice gripping and more room for food and water dishes and toys. As he disliked being put back in the heated aquarium even at night, I placed a cover over one end of the cage and a heating pad under it and retired the aquarium to the basement. At this point I was tired of washing diapers and the baby’s feet, etc., so I went shopping for 1/2 inch wire mesh which Rosemary Low recommends. What an improvement! The baby stayed clean, the cage could be cleaned twice a day instead of every half hour and the baby started using his feet to grip the floor instead of thumping around on his elbows! In the future I will put babies on a wire mesh floor as soon as they outgrow the plastic tub.
By seven weeks of age the baby looked very much like a Grey parrot but some of the lighter grey plumage was still down. He could now perch on a very low perch for a few minutes at a time and even balance on one foot on occasion. Most of his time was spent, however, on the cage floor investigating pellets, Cheerios, apple slices and grapes. He enjoyed playing with a toy made of a leather strip threaded through alternating pieces of large macaroni and dried apricots that I suspended from the side of the cage.
At eight weeks he was climbing the cage walls for excitement! He willingly climbed on my hand when it was offered, albeit slowly as he struggled to gain a good grip and his balance. Speaking of grip, I discovered that baby Greys have claws that are sharper than most hypodermic needles and eventually used an emery board to blunt the points so my hand could heal. At this point he was allowed to come out and play on a large chair in the family room for and hour each evening and he quickly became accustomed to this treat and called out to me as I passed his cage after supper.
As he now weighed 452g. and was starting to eat on his own and reject his hand feedings occasionally, his feedings were reduced to 3 per day with thawed, warmed, frozen corn niblets, peas and carrots offered several times a day in addition to pellets and fruit.
By nine weeks he was fully feathered except for...you guessed it...his neck! However, his neck was covered in down now and there were feathers coming in also. (By the end of the week it was fully feathered also!) I now believe that delayed feather development in this area is normal and I will not be concerned about it with future chicks. He now spent all his time in a small parrot cage with the perches as low as possible and no supplement heat. (The heat could have been removed sooner in summer without the draft from an outside wall.) During his play time outside the cage he became quite an explorer and could scale my sweatshirt to get to his preferred spot on my shoulder. This was not my preferred spot though as his beak was now noticeably stronger and I did not really fancy pierced ears even if it was love in disguise. He delighted in playing with the big bird toys and showed no fear of our Golden Retriever whose nose he offered to bite!
At ten weeks of age there was time for a final portrait of my "first baby" and then he was off to a new home to delight his new family with his sweet, charming personality!
In retrospect perhaps it is best that there was only one the first time as I had time to learn along the way, enjoy the baby and avoid a nervous breakdown!
I place a closed leg band on each of my domestic babies when they are approximately 2 weeks old. The foot then grows to adult size and the band cannot be removed unless it is cut. Unless the band is causing medical problems (and closed bands are less likely to do so than open ones) I recommend leaving it on as evidence that the bird is a domestic bred bird. Not only are wild caught birds becoming less available now, but some state and provincial governments prohibit or limit the sale of wild caught birds. This band may increase the value of your bird at some future time.
"He" turned out to be "She" when the results of the blood sexing arrived!