Young and Weaning Bappies

The weaning of young parrots is best left to experienced caregivers, however based on the calls and emails we receive, it is clear that many people are being sent home with parrots that are not fully weaned. T
 

The proper weaning of a baby parrot is critical to its health and future well-being as a companion parrot. It is a myth that an owner MUST hand feed and wean a young parrot in order to bond with the bird. We have had many calls from people who's parrots are sick or injured because of improper feeding and weaning technique.

For instance, a call comes in from a concerned caregiver because their baby parrot is "screaming" constantly. Upon further questioning we learn that the person has been told to feed the bird on a certain schedule and not at other times. It is often the case that the young parrot is starving for food.

Many breeders wean parrots to the breeder's schedule, rather than the parrot's schedule. It is also more cost-effective for some breeders to sell a bird unweaned and let someone else finish the job of weaning. Some people are sent home, especially from chain pet stores, with what they are told is a weaned bird, when in fact the young bird still requires some hand-feeding.

Weaning really does require expertise and experience. For this reason we feel it is unethical for a breeder or pet store to sell an unweaned baby bird.

Here are some resources if you have a young weaned, or unweaned, baby parrot:

Please review our listing of selected Back Issues that address weaning and feeding young parrots.

There are also some articles on our web site that might be helpful to you: Articles.

Especially read the following articles:

Food Independence and Transition Weaning, by Sally Blanchard

The Basics Of Nurturing Guidance as it applies to Companion Parrots, by Sally Blanchard

The Importance Of Co-parenting From Parrots & People, by Chris Shank

Questions to Ask the Breeder and/or Pet Shop before You Buy a 'Bappy', by Sally Blanchard

What is this Bappy Word? by Sally Blanchard

Sally's Companion Parrot Handbook covers all aspects of parrot care and behavior, including raising young parrots with Nurturing Guidance.

The Companion Parrot Quarterly has many articles that address this and all other aspects of parrot care and behavior with in-depth, incisive articles.

Finally, if you need more help, you might want to consider a behavioral consultation. This is a fee-based service which can be done by phone. Sally Blanchard's time is limited but if you can reach her by phone at 970-278-0233 and have your credit card ready, she may be able to spend some time talking to you about your parrot's behavior and logical positive solutions to the problems you are having. The best time to reach her is Tuesday thru Fridayy afternoons from 1:00pm to 5:00pm Mountain Standard Time.

If this article helped you and you appreciated the information, The Companion Parrot Quarterly continues to have in-depth, practical articles such as this one. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE