Measuring newborns weight gain per day can be a useful tool to determine if these baby chicks are growing as expected for a healthy bird. Although its importance is acknowledged, current information on what is the expected weight gain/day of a newborn psittacine is limited. The general goal of the present thesis is to determine the standard value of weight gain/day in selected species of psittacines. This study aimed to provide charts and tables and supply a reliable framework for those interested in pediatric psittacine health. All data was obtained in Loro Parque from chicks incubator-born or nestborn from January 2011 to December 2011. For the descriptive analysis SPSS/PASW 20 IBM was used. Disease was taken into account, so animals were stratified into healthy and sick groups. Weight mean in grams by day and respective upper and lower confidence interval (CI) were found. A CI of 95% was applied. All growth curves were obtained with these data. When N8 both upper and lower CI stood close to the media line, increasing the confidence of the results. These results are in conformity with what was expected. Curves from the following species reached this study’s purpose, being representative of their growth: Ara glaucogularis, Aratinga solstitialis, Cacatua galerita, Poicephalus robustus, Psittacus erithacus, Pyrrhura perlata and Trichoglossus haematodus. This is the first study on weight gain/day for these species. With this study it was possible to elaborate and provide tables with the expected weight/day of a healthy psittacine chick from hatching until fledging.

Orientação : Maria Margarida Ferreira Alves ; co-orientação : Filipe Miguel Reis Martinho