handfeeding pigeons

Question
Hello, I am currently hand feeding 2 squeakers. I have been feeding with a syringe with a eye dropper on the end to simulate natural feeding.They have been doing well for a week now, had a little sour crop scare, but organic suger free apple sauce saved the day.Anyway I have one thta is vomiting hand feeding about a half hour after feeding. I suspect I over feed him ,he is a very loud begger and strong feeder.They both still feed well and are quite between feedings. I feed 3 times aday. I use my own formula of ground hen scatch, baby cereal,avian vit. and a small amount of the apple sauce.The smaller one is not growing as fast as the large. bumper is about twice the size of pepper, but peep eats well. I have also noticed this size difference in the nest.They were pulled for hand feeding because a hawk killed thier mom and dad just could not keep up and abandonded them. Any suggestions on the vomiting. Anything I could do different to help them out. Thanks Lilly

Answer
Hi, Lilly.  Thanks for posting!

How old are these babies?  How much are you handfeeding at a time?  Is the one vomiting the younger/smaller bird?  What temperature is the food when you feed the babies?     

You most likely are over feeding the one bird, but I would think the other bird would also be vomiting if this were the case.  However, this depends on the size difference between the 2 birds (you may need to feed one a bit less than the other at each feeding).  Also, the smaller one might be sickly (this might be part of the reason it's smaller than the other).

Handfed babies are always smaller than babies fed by the parents.  This is why it's so important if at all possible to let parents feed or use surrogate parents (when one parent has died).  

Why are you using a homemade handfeeding formula versus buying baby parrot handfeeding formula?  The parrot handfeeding formula would have more that the squeakers require in their diet than the homemade food you are feeding.  I don't think these babies are getting the nutrition they need.  This might be why the one baby is vomiting.

Let me know.

Chrys