The Hand Rearing industry in Australia has evolved a long way since the 1980's. From the use of turkey starter crumbles, custard or bread and milk we have progressed to complete hand rearing diets based on known nutritional requirements of the birds we rear. We also have a greater appreciation of the growth and development these baby birds should achieve when being hand reared.

One of the great things about ignorance is you don't know when you are wrong - and so it has been with hand rearing. For many years we accepted substandard birds as being normal for hand reared babies. No longer the scrawny, boof headed, fluffed rubbish we thought were wonderful. Most of the early problems related to poor diets and inappropriate housing - particularly birds in cold brooders and low energy diets. Experience and knowledge have expanded and we have gradually come to understand and appreciate what the babies require and what they can achieve. Mind you, we still have a way to go, but progress has certainly been made.

There are some excellent food products on the market now. Coupled with better brooder technology and more experienced rearers there are many really good birds being produced. Interestingly, as well grown birds are generated for the market the demand actually increases as consumers see the quality birds that are available and what wonderful pets they make. 

NEOCARE from Vetafarm is a good example of the improvements in diets for hand reared babies. Based on whole grains, not “millrun” or seconds, Neocare is formulated to the latest known requirements and then extrusion cooked. Following extrusion and milling, Probotic® and predigestives are added to boost the digestion of the food.

Extrusion technology is not new but it has been poorly utilised in the companion bird industry. Extrusion is not pelleting - they are very different processes. Steam pelleting involves pressing the food together in a pellet press - processing temperature may reach 800C but the pellets are not cooked nor are they sterile. Extrusion cooking is pressure cooking of the grains to burst open the starch cells, release the flavours and vastly increase the digestibility. The cooking temperature of 120 – 130C kills any bacteria and yeast in the grains and also destroys plant factors that may be toxic to birds - for example “thiaminase” from Soybeans.

The benefits of extrusion cooking for neonates are well known. By doing most of the breaking down of the grains and opening of starch cells prior to feeding the Neocare formula is easy to absorb and utilise. This transforms into excellent weight gains and development of the bird. Better food absorption means less feeds are required to give the baby all the nutrition he needs – an end to middle of the night feeding!

The following graphs are from two groups of Maroon Bellied Conures reared on different rearing formulas. The graphs show a distinct rise in finished weight of the birds at the end of the rearing period.
Birds began the rearing period with differing body weights as they were pulled from the nest at different times but they all achieved very similar weights by the end of the rearing time.

The 2001 babies had an average weight of 81.5 grams after 24 days of feeding while the 2002 babies had an average weight of 87.5 grams after 24 days of feeding. It is interesting to see that despite significant differences in starting weights (up to 2.5 times between the smallest and the largest in the 2002 group) the babies had similar weights at the end of the feeding period. Birds were transferred to weaning cages at this time.

Other species showed a similar pattern, for example Western Rosellas having an average finishing weight of 62 grams and Princess with 126 grams.

These, and other feeding results, indicate there is a preferred body weight for babies to reach before beginning weaning. The weights mentioned in this article are those found under commercial rearing conditions - not controlled trials. They suggest if we pool results from a number of rearers to determine ideal rearing weights we then have the basis to objectively compare techniques and foods – surely a good thing.

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