The transition from hand-feeding formula to eating solid food on its own — a critical milestone before a young bird is ready to go to a new home.
Weaning starts when a chick begins refusing formula in favour of solid foods, and ends when the bird can reliably maintain its weight on solids alone. Depending on species, this typically happens between 8 and 16 weeks of age.
An unweaned bird that is sold prematurely is at serious risk: skipped feeds cause crop infections, slow growth, and a much higher chance of behavioural problems including biting and feather-plucking later in life.
Reputable sellers (us included) refuse to release a bird until it has been fully weaned. If a seller offers you an unweaned chick at a steep discount and asks you to finish hand-feeding, decline — the savings are not worth the risk to the bird.
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