Hand-Rearing of Three Lesser Flamingo Chicks (Phoeniconaias minor)

Letizia Fiorucci; Francesco Grande; Roberto Macrelli; Petra Schnitzer; Lorenzo Crosta

doi:10.3390/ani10081251

Hand-Rearing of Three Lesser Flamingo Chicks (Phoeniconaias minor)

Animals (Basel). 2020 Jul 23;10(8):1251. doi: 10.3390/ani10081251.

Authors

Letizia Fiorucci¹, Francesco Grande², Roberto Macrelli³, Petra Schnitzer⁴, Lorenzo Crosta⁴

Affiliations

¹ Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Arucas, 35416 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
² Loro Parque Fundación, Avenida Loro Parque, 38400 Puerto de la Cruz, Spain.
³ Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate, Università di Urbino, 61029 Urbino, Italy.
⁴ Avian, Reptile&Exotic Pet Hospital, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden 2570, Australia.

Abstract

There are few published studies regarding lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) reproduction, crop milk composition, and hand-rearing under human care. Between the end of June and the beginning of August of 2017, three eggs were laid in a group of 29 lesser flamingos kept under human care. Two eggs and one chick were abandoned by the parents, and three chicks were hand-reared. This report describes diet composition, dietary intake, feeding protocols, and growth index, from the first day to 60 days after hatching, for three lesser flamingo chicks.

Keywords: diet; growth index; hand-rearing; lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor); spirulina (Spirulina platensis).