baby parrotlets

Question
Hi again, My friend has breed parrotlets for 4 years but never handfed them
so they always end up really wild. This last time the parents started attacking
the babies so we pulled them and I researched everthing I could find on
handfeeding these little guys to pull them through. We constructed a brooder
with the right temp and we decided to spoon feed them so they could do
most the work since we did not know what we were doing. It has been a week
now and they are doing great! My question is the oldest one was 3 weeks 4
days when we pulled her and she has never taken to the handfeeding like the
others. She does not eat unless we make her (which we do) and she takes
forever and she just nibbles on it. She is growing but she never has a full
crop. She just started picking at seeds, pellets and baby food warmed up but
she is not eating on her own enough to stop the feedings. She does not has a
feeding response like the others. Should we keep making her eat when her
sisters eat? Was she too old when we pulled her? Is she trying to ween
herself? We are new to this and because of all the research I feel like we
handled this really well but I am worried the oldest one is not getting enough.
(The baby is doing the best with the eating response!) The oldest one also
does not beg or make noise when she does eat like the younger ones. Anyway
sorry this is so long again! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me.
Diane

Answer
It does sound like the older bird is weaning. Try offering a warm 'mush' of pellets and baby food mix with some good vegetables in there, both cooked and raw.  For example, a 'stew' of pellets, a teaspoon of all natural baby food sweet potatoes or yams, squash or mixed vegetables, some cooked carrots, some chopped raw carrots, a few corn kernals (not too much corn since it's a bit lower on the nutrition scale and often a birdy favorite).
 In another bowl offer fresh fruit like mangoes, melon, oranges, pineapple, bananas and so on.
 
 The important thing is to get weights regularly.  In babies we'll weigh daily or every other day.  You need to use a gram scale (not an ounces scale, not a postal scale) because by the time you see 1/2 ounce loss or more, it's 14 grams!  
 
 As long as your babies are gaining - you've got it handled.  If you see a stall, that's ok for a day or so, but it warns you to increase attention to feeding.
 If you notice a 5% loss (again, in grams) you need to see an appropriate vet without fail.

 Good luck !