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Lorikeets 619

brooder temperatures too quickly can cause erratic temperature swings and careful monitoring is
warranted until the desired temperature is stabilized. External room temperatures have great influ-
ence on the brooder temperature and care should be taken to stabilize both.
Brooder temperatures are guidelines. Visual inspection of the condition of the chicks is crucial.
Watch for signs of overheating and stress: panting, unrest, hyperactivity, and dry, reddened skin.
Cold temperatures may result in death, poor gut motility, crop stasis or other digestive disorders,
failure to feed or beg, inactivity, or shivering (Clubb and Clubb 1986). Never feed a cold chick. They
will not be able to process food and may develop crop stasis.
Continue adjusting temperatures downward slowly until room temperature is reached. At that
point, the chicks will have pinfeathers and be better able to thermoregulate and can be moved into
plastic tubs without external heat, as long as the ambient room temperature does not fall below
78 °F (25.5 °C).

Older Chicks
At 3 weeks of age, chicks are ready to be moved from the brooder to a tub where temperature con-
trol is not as crucial. At this age, chicks start climbing out of the small containers in the brooder
and have developed pinfeathers (Figure 40.5).
Tub preparation: Sterilite 20‐quart plastic tubs, or similar plastic tubs are acceptable. With the lid
on the tub, drill 3/4 in. (1.8 cm) holes, approximately 1 in. (2.5 cm) apart in a series of rows and
columns (Figure 40.6). These holes provide adequate ventilation and are the appropriate size to
hold the sanitized 10 cc syringe to be used only for the chicks in that tub. Line the tub with a scent‐
free tall kitchen plastic garbage bag (13 gal/42 l) and place newspaper on the very bottom for absor-
bency. Place approximately 2 in. (5.1 cm) of equine bedding pellets in the tub on top of the
newspaper. Equine bedding pellets eliminate odors and disintegrate when wet, preventing the crop
impaction that is sometimes experienced with pine shavings. Change the bedding pellets every
other day or as needed. These pellets work very well to keep chicks dry.

Figure 40.5 Swainson’s Lorikeet chicks at 4–5 weeks old. Source: photo by Carol Stanley.