source, at a temperature of around 25 °C and 50% relative humidity. At first they only stayed in this brooder for short periods of time to get used to the new surrounding, but from day 26 they stayed there throughout the day, placing them only back into the incubator at night. While in the brooder, the birds mostly sat on the edge of the nest, or left the nest completely to sit on one of the perches in the brooder. From day 34 onwards the juveniles stayed in the open brooder day and night. Golden-headed Quetzals need a sufficiently high humidity and the possibility to bathe. Therefore, the birds were
regularly showered using a spraying bottle with lukewarm water, which they obviously enjoyed.
When the birds were almost 60 days old they were brought to a big aviary. The chicks from October, which had been housed together until then, were separated at this point. Initially, the food was still held in front of the bill to point them in the right direction, but a short time later the birds could be observed to take food from the food plate on their own. After 80 days the young Golden- headed Quetzals were completely independent.
The food of our raised young consists now of small pieces of papaya, mango, blueberry, melon, wine grapes and occasionally pear. Additionally, the birds get soaked T16 and H16 pellets from Versele Laga, which they like very much. Currently, three grown-up Golden-headed Quetzals are sitting in their aviaries, and the success of last year is continued in 2013: at the end of January a fourth chick, at the end of February the fifth chick of this species hatched in Weltvogelpark Walsrode, both being raised by our dedicated hand- rearing team again.
We look very much forward to further breeding with this extraordinary species!
3 Day Old Chick
Literature: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds (2001). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 6. Mousebirds to Hornbills. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
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