upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

your new chicks? My GCCs are hatching and I am not sure what is the window for banding them is. I pre ordered my bands and have them ready. Same question for Amazons, they are due to hatch next week.

I mainly raise Pionus but even with the Amazons it's along between 2 to 3 weeks of age and it can vary a little depending upon growth rate of each individual chick. Parent raised babies will need to be banded a little sooner than say like chicks that were hand fed from day one. Parent raised babies upto 2 -3 weeks old will have fatter feet and ankles than those babies that are hand fed from day 1.

I have a few times pulled babies long enough to band and then put back in the nest for a bit longer so they have a little more feeding time with parents. I will sometimes pull older babies to band when ready then don't return to the nest whiling keeping younger babies in the nest longer until ready to pull for banding. I like for all my babies to get the same time frame of feeding time from the parents. However, I do not like leaving babies in the nest any longer than 3 weeks as by that time, chicks can be a bit more difficult to take over onto the hand feeding than if a little younger when pulled. Some babies don't do so well on seeing you and tend to freak. Some people like pulling babies at about the time their eyes open so the chick sees you as their parent. Some chicks that have had their eyes open for a while and see you and do not seem to care while other do seem to have a problem with you at first but it does not take them long to adapt!

I banded all my Green-cheeked Conures around 10 days. I prefer to use smaller sized bands so there is a less of a chance of the bands getting caught on something so I band early.

Amazons won't need to be banded until around 3-4 weeks. My cockatoos are generally banded at 4 weeks and they could easily be banded much later. The larger birds take longer for their feet to get big enough to band and have the bands stay on.

My finches need to be banded at 5-10 days old, depending on how fast they grow. I slide them on early and check daily, replacing the teenie bands as needed.

I banded two greys at 2 weeks and when I pulled them out of the nest a week and a half later, the bands where gone.

Now at 3 and a half weeks, their feet are far too big to put bands on, even with oil or whatever.

I'm thinking maybe I need to pull chicks out of the nest at about 2 and a half weeks for good, for banding and hand feeding from then on.