How much should I be trying to get this crossbeak to eat daily? And can I train her to eat sideways?

[Abriana]

This is my Crossed beak Gladys. She is over 2 years old. I feed her crumbles. The rest of the birds get pellets.
View attachment 1472775

Oh my goodness what breed is that?! She is absolutely stunning!

 

[cmom]

She is a Rhode Island Red. The picture doesn't really show her true color.

 

[Bweis13]

View attachment 1477016 She is a Rhode Island Red. The picture doesn't really show her true color.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful RIR! She’s obviously well loved.

 

[Kiki]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE National Academies! The book is available as a free PDF, and as a researcher I even already have my free account set up. Bonus! Thanks so much @KikisGirls !!

 

[cmom]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful RIR! She’s obviously well loved.

She is a (heritage) pure standard RIR. I won't breed her but she has her own coop and pen and once in awhile she might share with a friend. Her last friend I had to give away. He was a (heritage) pure RC RIW that was getting picked on in one of the bachelor pens and could hardly walk so I put him in with Gladys. She did an excellent job getting him straightened out to a point. She stayed near him and each day he got better and better until he was well again. He decided to jump me a few times then my hubby so he had to go. I told the fellow but he didn't seem to care because he was looking for a male to use as a breeder. I wished them luck. Maybe in a new environment he will be at the bottom of the pecking order.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

 

[cmom]

At the time I got rid of him I had well over 100 males of my chosen breeds. I can't keep them all. I did have a place where I could sell my males that I wasn't keeping for breeding but they closed so I'm only hatching around 100 chicks this year. I know around half will be males. I'll keep the best and sell the rest but I do grow them out so I will know what I have to choose from.

 

[vivaciouswoman]

I try not to worry too much about how small they are, instead, I try to get them to make larger daily gains, which you might be able to do by making her food with less water.

I'm just not sure she's drinking successfully either. I need to do some more observing in her run to see. But I'm also using a raw egg in the blend, so that adds moisture AND nutrition: bonus!

 

[Bweis13]

I'm just not sure she's drinking successfully either. I need to do some more observing in her run to see. But I'm also using a raw egg in the blend, so that adds moisture AND nutrition: bonus!

On another thread on here I read to give them yogurt daily! I wish I could remember the name of it. The owner was keeping the crossbeak because her grandkids love it so much. They love feeding the little roo on their laps, and he just acts like a prince or something. It sounded like he was thriving.

 

[cmom]

Gladys has a fairly large bowl that I put her crumbles in. She dives right in and manages. I trimmed her beak today. She's wasn't too happy but did pretty well. I use the toenail clippers for dogs which works well and I use a good quality file to smooth it.