FEATURE
Rearing notes • After the chick hatched in the AB brooder the chick was placed in a plastic basket lined with blue tissue and a few small twigs to prevent the legs from splaying. (Though hand-reared turacos occasionally get splayed legs, it was not a problem for this Lady Ross chick.)
• As you can see in the rearing protocol above, the chick was given distilled water via syringe when the rearing mix was given.
• The rearing mix was made up fresh daily and was stored in a refrigerator to keep it fresh.
• The chick’s cloaca was stimulated after each feed to encourage defecation and faeces were monitored for signs of dehydration.
• On day five the turaco chick was exhibiting signs of constipation, so the amount of banana was reduced and replaced with pawpaw.
•Within three weeks the chick was moved from the brooder into
a brooding cage and was then encouraged to wean, which only took a day or two.
• By the fourth week, the chick was observed perching on low natural perches spaced out to encourage the chick to fly, though the flight feathers were not fully formed at this stage.
• When moved to the brooding cage the chick was given a shallow water dish in which it could bathe, as well as a food dish.
• The chick’s distinctive red head feathers started to appear when the chick was between four and five weeks of age.
• At six weeks of age the chick was moved to a large indoor aviary, where it spent the next few weeks before being placed in an outside exhibit.
• It is important to keep human contact with turaco chicks to a minimum to discourage imprinting as this may lead to problems later on.
Growth rate chart comparing weights for: Lefty (blue line) and Chick 2, hatched 12/08/08 (pink line)
BIRD SCENE 45
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