This chick was parent-raised to 44 days of age. I do not know what was the cause of death. The letter I found attached to these notes indicated that the parents consumed meat while feeding the chick but not at all after the chick died. It also indicated that the chick was taken out daily for photographs and weights.
December 30, 1984 Day 1: Chick has been fed this morning by its parents and looks healthy.
December 31, 1984 Day 2: The chick seems to be to light in color. The crop has food, but certainly is not full. Perhaps the chick was chilled. It is quivering, can’t hold its’ head up and does not cry.
Day 3 to Day 7: Chick observed once or twice daily. Adult bird, usually the male, reluctant to leave the nest barrel. Red marks appear on chick, but are not long-lasting.
January 5, 1985 Day 8: Weight is 53.6 grams at 9:00 AM with a full crop. Could hear the chick crying when I entered the aviary.
Day 9 to Day 14: Chick observed once or twice daily when the adults were fed. Extra rations include chicken, beef bones, corn, peanuts, fruits and vegetables plus extra quantities of seed. Chick continues to be bruised from time to time. A light was installed so that the adults would be able to ward off rats or other predators at night.
January 12, 1985 Day 15: Weight is 132.6 grams. Crop full. Bruises over the mantle and on the chin. Under the mandible, the 2 red marks could possible be from overzealous feeding by the adult.
Day 16 to Day 20: Chick continues to develop, but very slowly. The adult birds are attentive and have to be chased out of the nest barrel when the youngster is checked.
January 18, 1985 Day 21: Weight is 201.6 grams. Slight indication of feathers and normal development.
Day 22 to Day 23: Chick continues to have some bruise marks in spite of constant light at night. Checked for red mites but did not secure any in the barrel.
January 21, 1985 Day 24: Weight is 250.5 grams. Parents less attentive to the chick, however, the crop is always full.
January 22, 1985 Day 25: Continue to supplement diet.
January 23, 1985 Day 26: Adult birds are almost always out of the nest barrel. The most attentive is still the male. The chick continues to be well fed. Plants were chewed up and dropped under the nest barrel, so green beans were fed to them for the first time.
Day 27 to Day 28: Feathering is coming in nicely. The crest is barely starting to show. The chick is almost always sitting upright when the nest is checked in the morning.
January 26, 1985 Day 29: Weight is 305.2 grams. Feathers continue to expand daily. Chick was very aggressive when photos were taken. It reacts well to movement and is very alert. Feet are formed normally. Put in new mineral supplement.
January 28, 1985 Day 31: At the 10:00 AM check, the chick had not been fed much. The adults are much less interested in the nest barrel and in food. The crop was not completely full at 3:30 PM either, but the chick had been fed.
January 29, 1985 Day 32: Weight is 343.2 grams. There is wood chewing in the enclosure and some has been dropped by the nest barrel. Can’t tell if any has been taken into the barrel, but the chick stands in a clean area.
February 5, 1985 Day 39: Weight is 437.3 grams. Pin feathers are in but none have broken yet. The bird blushes pink and makes a variety of calls now. It walks well in the nest barrel and moves from place to place daily. Crop about ¼ full at 8:30 AM and full at 1:30 PM.
? Black Palm Cockatoo was checked by Richard Hart, local representative of the American Federation of Aviculture. He commented about the length of the unbroken quills. The bird seems to develop slowly, and Richard is going to see if he can find any information about other closely related species.
February 8, 1985 Day 42: Weight was very difficult to get today because the chick constantly moved; it is about 456.2 grams. As the bird becomes upset, the color change in the cheeks is clearly visible.
February 9, 1985 Day 43: The crop is very low; the chick is not being fed much. There is wood chewed outside the nest barrel, and also a few pieces inside. The first quill feathers on the back are open at the tips.
February 10, 1985 Day 44: I have been increasingly concerned about the quantity of food being fed to the chick. An 8:00 AM check increased my concern because the crop was completely empty. By 9:30 the adults had gone to eat; the walnuts, peanuts, corn and fruit had been scattered (but feral birds are also in the cage - although they could not have cracked the nuts). At 12:30 PM the chick had been fed a small amount. At 4:00 PM there was about 1 tablespoon of hard material in the crop. The vigor in the bird today was what I would expect, a nice change from the lethargy observed yesterday.
Chick died.
This chick was the first palm cockatoo chick this person has ever tried to raise. They have been raising psittacines for many years. At first they thought the problem with the chick was "reflux" - a type of digestive problem. After reading The Large Macaws by Joanne Abaramsom, et al., they feel the problem their chick had was "crop stasis". When this condition occurs in macaws it is recommended in The Large Macaws to use a proventriculus tube to bypass the crop. I do not know of anybody who has tried this with palm cockatoos.
Black Palm Cockatoo hatched May 25, 1995 or late May 24th, 1995 by foster parents -- African grays; fed by foster parents for the first 24 hours. Pulled chick May 26, 1995 to be sure it had been fed, which it had. Baby kept on bottom heat (92-degrees) with cup of water in same container as chick, this was covered with strawberry container so chick would not fall into water. Psittacine chicks naturally gravitate to water and will drown in 1 cc or less.
Chick was perfect and appeared to have perfect hatch, nothing wrong with the shell.
weight 12 or 14 grams
Started on Pediolyte--used 0.3 cc insulin syringe.
May 27, 1995: Started on dilute formula mixed with Pediolyte.
Formula
3 parts Monkey chow
2 parts ground sunflower
2 parts ground peanuts
3.5 parts Gerber Hi-Pro
Aquarium salt
Powdered soy milk
(Not my recipe--put together by Ralph Small for African gray parrots and I have used it since 1982 on cockatoos).
May 28, 1995: Continued formula diluted with Pediolyte (approximately 1 cc per feeding). Continuing to feed every 3-4 hours, as needed.
May 29, 1995: Weight 18 grams.
June 1, 1995: Eye slit showing.
June 2, 1995: Little tail stub--looks like macaw.
June 3, 1995: Crop slow in emptying. Dropping’s color changed green to black. Started powdered Nystatin with formula x 2 daily.
June 4, 1995: Weight 24 grams--weighing chick with the crop the same size because it is not totally emptying.
June 5, 1995: Fecal cultures for bacteria and yeast done.
June 7, 1995: Weight 38 grams. Started Baytril for bacteria and Fluconazole to prevent Candida which antibiotics cause in chicks. (Fluconazole more effective because it is systemic Nystatin is only topical.)
June 10, 1995: Feather tracts appearing.
June 13, 1995: Shoulder and head feather tracts appearing. Chick wants more food and less heat. Formula increased small amount max 5 cc.
June 14, 1995: Last day of Baytril. Continued Fluconazole 3 more days x 2 daily--can develop yeast infection if you don’t do this.
June 15-16, 1995: Quiet; no problems, eat, sleep and potty.
June 17, 1995: Still feeding small amounts 3-4 times daily. Cannot feed as much as suggested in chart, chick simply could not hold it.
June 21, 1995: Weighed twice, 1 weight was 80 grams, second 90 grams (problem with scales).
June 23, 1995: Continuing to grow, feathers appearing, weight 92.6 grams; crop not empty but same size as in previous weights.
June 26, 1995: Weight 107 grams. Feeding 9 cc z 3 daily. Repeat cultures negative.
June 30, 1995: When chick through with formula crop appeared to get larger, as if formula was going up instead of down, and I called it a reflux.
July 1, 1995: 145 grams; crop not empty but approximately same size as when previously weighed.
July 4, 1995: White cheesey looking stuff in back of chick’s mouth. Culture done--negative. Stuff disappeared when chick swallowed. I was afraid of fungal infection so started Nystatin then switched to Fluconazole for 10 days.
July 6, 1995: 183.5 grams; after talk with Charlie Osterbrink changed formula; started
3 parts Kaytee Exact
2 parts Gerber Oatmeal
Something just was not right at this point in the chick’s life. Vet suggested Ensure Plus-High Calorie. I was apprehensive about the high sugar content, but fed some anyway.
July 17, 1995: Finished Fluconazole.
July 26, 1995: 9 days later from time we finished the Fluconazole saw white stuff back in the mouth again; did not want to put chick back on medicine so went to Health Food Store (See copy of Candida causes, cure and alternatives); bought lactobacillus and caprylic acid thinking we possibly were dealing with a fungal problem. Chick had been crying a lot as if hungry so went back to original formula and added lactobacillus and caprylic acid. This seemed to have a very soothing effect because chick quit crying so much, pottied more and slept better.
July 27, 1995: Much better day; white stuff gone; cheeks more flushed; continuing lactobacillus and caprylic acid x 2 daily. (Nutrition encyclopedia-caprylic acid is an essential fatty acid made from coconut.)
NOTE: Somewhere along in here I talked with M. Hayes and she felt the white stuff was something that was disagreeing with the chick and asked what the formula had in it. When I told her the contents of the formula she did not feel that there was anything in the formula to cause this problem.
July 28, 1995: Very small amount of white stuff in back of mouth.
July 30, 1995: White stuff is gone.
August 6, 1995: Mouth still clean; discontinued lactobacillus and caprylic acid.
August 9, 1995: Chick crawled out of box x 2. Chick still on low heat--seemed to still want the warmth; was put in taller box.
August 10, 1995: Chick picked up Cherrios and played with toys.
August 11, 1995: Crop started to empty slowly again; crop still not totally empty. Repeat cultures negative. Chick almost fully feathered. Back on Lactobacillus and caprylic acid x 2 daily.
August 14, 1995: Increased caprylic acid to 3 times daily.
August 22, 1995: Crop not emptying as much as should--turned sour--to Vet--crop aspirated. During second aspiration chick closed eyes as if it might pass out. Blood panel done. Weight 400 grams. Gave Infalyte (which is ricelyte) plus Earth’s Best apple sauce (no preservatives no additives).
August 23, 1995: Talked with M. Hayes and she said Dr. Graham told her to keep formula thin and oily. In the past she had used dietary supplements like Nutri-cal and Stat (an animal sterol).
August 24, 1995: Crop not emptying well in spite of aspirations or being cleaned out.
August 25, 1995: Continued Pediolyte and alternating with Infalyte and dietary supplements.
August 26, 1995: Gave small amount of formula diluted with Pediolyte. Added ½ teaspoon Stat to 5 cc of Pediolyte. Fed only as chick cried and acted hungry. Do not remember number of times chick fed. Slept 16-20 hours straight that night, as if totally exhausted.
August 27, 1995: Weight 355.8 grams. First feeding added papaya enzyme to diluted formula. No contractions felt in crop. No sour odor. Small amount of fecal material. 1 PM chick wanted to pump as if being fed. It held onto the finger of one hand and the other hand was on the crop, felt good contractions, first time in 2 days. 8:30 PM got in touch with Mathew Bond, D.V.M..
August 28, 1995: Followed through with his instructions needed to get digestive system working again. Blood transfusion, 5 cc fresh blood; 2 hours after that (6 PM) fed 15 cc of Kaytee Exact. Crop bra put in place due to stretching of crop from regurgitation. 10 PM crop felt empty, 15 cc Kaytee Exact given.
August 29, 1995: 12:45 AM chick died. 1 AM owner fixed strong drink!
Riverbanks Zoological Park raised two chicks in 1996. They had no problems with the first chick. The second chick did not want to wean, but it turned out fine. They used a commercial diet - Kaytee Exact Macaw Hand Rearing Formula.
Day 1-2
36.8 °C and 80% RH (we left the chick in the Grumbach for several days).
1 part Kaytee Exact : 6 parts lactated ringers, fed every 2 hours from 08:00-22:00.
A probiotic was added to the food (Lacto Plus) and Nystatin was used to prevent Candida overgrowth; dose in cc’s = body wight / 400 BID. With the second chick, we decided not to use the Nystatin. There have been no problems and we continue to clean the mouth religiously after feeds.
Day 3-4
Dilution of food varied from 3:1 to 4:1, depending on rate of digestion. Feed interval increased to about 3 hours.
Day 5-onwards
Feed interval increased to 4-5 hours. We were not completely happy with the rate of digestion; on the advice of ABRC we started adding peanut oil to the Kaytee diet of the first chick. The oil made up 10% of the whole formula. The second chick did not have peanut oil added and seemed to grow as normally as the first chick. Liquid feeds of lacted ringers were also given between main feeds, which significantly improved the rate of digestion/crop motility without affecting weight-gain.
Day 47
2 feeds per day of up to 75cc. Bird kept at room temperature.
Day 60
Starting to pick at food items.
Kaytee Exact
Crude protein (min) 22%
Crude fat (min) 8%
Crude fiber (max) 5%
Moisture (max) 10%
Weight gains of two chicks raised in 1996.
Age/Day |
First |
Second |
1 |
17.95 |
18.9 |
2 |
21.1 |
21.4 |
3 |
18.0 |
24.3 |
4 |
20.7 |
27.8 |
5 |
21.3 |
31.4 |
6 |
24.5 |
36.6 |
7 |
27.7 |
41.9 |
Age/Day |
First |
Second |
8 |
33.3 |
43.4 |
9 |
37.2 |
52.9 |
10 |
45.5 |
61.4 |
11 |
48.6 |
69.1 |
12 |
56.5 |
75.5 |
13 |
65.3 |
81.1 |
14 |
76.9 |
89.2 |
15 |
83.3 |
101.2 |
16 |
88.2 |
110.9 |
17 |
101.3 |
122.8 |
18 |
114.0 |
135.1 |
19 |
121.5 |
140.0 |
20 |
135.9 |
151.0 |
21 |
149.2 |
174.9 |
22 |
150.0 |
176.0 |
23 |
169.4 |
192.2 |
24 |
177.7 |
214.1 |
25 |
193.4 |
231.3 |
26 |
214.5 |
238.0 |
27 |
233.1 |
247.4 |
28 |
256.3 |
259.4 |
29 |
269.3 |
275.6 |
30 |
289.7 |
293.0 |
31 |
300.3 |
312.7 |
32 |
314.5 |
336.7 |
33 |
323.6 |
354.9 |
34 |
339.2 |
368.7 |
Age |
First |
Second |
5 weeks |
353.2 |
390.4 |
6 weeks |
461.5 |
463.4 |
7 weeks |
501.0 |
504.5 |
8 weeks |
555.0 |
532.7 |
9 weeks |
598.8 |
615.7 |
10 weeks |
544.4 |
627.1 |
11 weeks |
510.0 |
|
12 weeks |
515.0 |
655.0 |
27 weeks |
570.0 |
|
32 weeks |
528.0 |
