Meet the adorable fluffy flamingo chick being hand-reared by caring zoo staff

Suoer-cute video shows the fluffy flamingo chicks being cared for by specialist staff at Whipsnade Zoo. The American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) were imported as eggs from Chester Zoo, then incubated and hatched at a specialist bird nursery, as part of their involvement in the European conservation breeding programme.  In the video, head bird keeper, Tim Savage, says: “The chicks’ arrival ensures that Whipsnade Zoo has a healthy and genetically diverse flock of flamingos, so that they can continue to play an important role in the species’ conservation and breeding by introducing different bloodlines to the flock.” 

Round-the-clock care

Devoted keepers have their hands full, caring for the tiny hatchlings around the clock by feeding, monitoring, and weighing them to ensure they are in the best of health. The chicks are fed four times a day with a concoction designed to mimic the ‘crop milk’ produced by their flamingo parents. The delectable milkshake consists of a whole boiled egg blended with extra yolks, boiled water, corn oil, vitamins, and minerals, providing the chicks with a protein- and nutrient-rich diet as they grow.  From about ten days old, the chicks will be slowly introduced to solid foods, in the form of pellets, as they wean off of their milkshake. Alongside vitamins and fish proteins, the pellets contain the carotenoids which give the birds their distinctive pink plumage.  

Wetland birds

The fluffy fledglings are expected to join the rest of their flamboyance family, including four chicks which have already hatched in the flamingo’s habitat, when they are two months old. Tim adds: “Once the chicks are strong enough to feed on their own and look after themselves, they will be introduced in stages to their peers, and then eventually to the whole flock in their wetland home.”