This summer, we welcomed two Pelican chicks to the Paultons Family! Rearing pelicans is extremely rewarding although it is very messy and smelly! Find out all about them in this blog.
Species: Pink-backed pelican Pelecanus rufescens
When did the chicks hatch?
The chicks hatched in August and have been hand reared by our Animal Keepers here at Paultons. Did you know, Pelican chicks can take up to two days to hatch from the egg!
What are their names?
The pelican chicks are called Chandler and Rocky, Chandler is the eldest.
What do they eat?
When they first hatched they received five feeds a day until they were 12 days old, this then reduced to four then three feeds a day as they got older. They even start trying to feed for themselves at just two days old! They were fed a mixture of fish which included smelt and sprats, these were offered in tiny pieces. As they got older they progressed to eating whole fish.
Where do they live?
Both were reared in an incubator together to start with, as they started to get bigger they were then under a heat lamp in a rearing room. At around a month of age they are moved out of their rearing boxes and onto nest sites. This allows them perch and start to stretch their wings. They have now moved to the pelican enclosure to be introduced to the rest of the group. If you take a look you may see them sat on the nest site under the heat lamps during the day.
