î.lliyticcr{} $ eassr dlrx he Knobbed cassidix, also known as , is a colourful hornbill native to Indonesia. Considering its colouration, size and behaviour in my opinion this species one of the most sensational . Sometimes placed in the genus Aceros, the is the faunal symbol of South Sulawesi province. The male can measure 70-80 cm and weigh 2360-2500 gt; it's a really large hornbill with a beautiful white tail and high colourful casque. The female is smaller but also fantastic. She has a black head and neck, smaller yellow casque and skin throat with smaller black band. Like other hornbills, the knobbed hornbill is monogamous. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, but it will also take insects and small vertebrates to obtain the protein and some extra nutrients they need. In the wild, the breeding season appears to be triggered by a dramatic reduction in rainfall. The female seals itself inside a tree hole for egg laying using its own faeces. During this time, the male will provide food for the female and the young through a small opening in the sealed hollow. The species is currently classified as vulnerable by the IUCN, despite the fact that it is common in several small reserves like Dumoga-Bone National Park and Lore Lindu National Park. The distribution is becoming increasingly more patchy, this is exacerbated by further habitat loss, fires, gold- mining and continued hunting. Around 600/o of lowlands have been deforested. Removal of forest is an ongoing process, especially on the smaller islands, and these magnificent depend on large and mature trees for breeding. At Wisbroek Research & Development Centre we have 80 Asian Hornbills. It's one of the world's biggest captive groups. Among the many species we have 4 pairs and one female of the Knobbed Hornbill. We are very pleased to be able to say that we are very successful breeding the birds of this family. Despite this article being focused on the Knobbed 7 Hornbill, over the past 3 years we have bred, among b.. others, the White-crowned Hornbill Berenicornis comatus, Palawan Hornbill Anthracoceros marchei, Rhabdotorrhinus leucocephalus, Oriental Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros albirostris, Rhinoceros Hornbill Buceros rhinoceros, Luzon Hornbill Penelopides manillae, Rhyticeros undulatus and Papuan Hornbill Rhyticeros plicatus. In May 2017 we had a really good surprise! One of our pairs of Knobbed Hornbills was showing breeding behaviour. In the beginning of |une the female was already sealed in the nest. On the 15th of |une we inspected the nest and we found a fertile egg. We decided to pull it out and finish the incubation artificially. The incubation went for 20 more days at37.2 degrees Celsius and with a weight loss of 157o. The total incubation period was 32 days.

42 fr No. 3 2018 On the 5th of luly 2017 the chick hatched, with no assistance required. Two days prior to hatching, the egg was moved to another incubator with 85% humidity. The process of hand rearing hornbills is already documented for some species, however it's known that many diets that are or have been fed have too much protein for the babies in the early stages of development and it's common to see problems such as cross-beaks and other consequences of growing too fast, therefore and after some research we wrote our own protocol. The chick weighed 32gr at hatching. It was moved to a brooder set at36.5 degrees Celsius. The first 24 hours we only gave a mixed solution of ringers and glucose 5olo. On the second day we started with Mazuri hand rearing formula 107o concentration and we kept that diet for the first 15 days. We fed 10%o of his morning weight in 6 feeds per day. In each feeding probiotics and avian eîzymewere also added. During these frrst 15 days the chick went from 32gr to 190gr. Also the temperature of the brooder was reduced 0.1 degree per day. It was now getting difficult to give the formula in a syringe because he was starting to develop the biting reflex to swallow. It was now time to introduce the pellets. For this we made a mix of Wisbroek Softbill diet 7.0 soaked in water, plus pieces of papaya and blueberries. It went really well. On the 17th day he opened its eyes. We stopped giving the avian enzyme but we kept giving the probiotics. On the 29th day the first feathers on its wings appeared. By one month of age he already had feathers on the head and tail. On the 6th of August our chick at one month old and 520gr was moved to a box with a heating lamp. He now had enough feathers to be outside of the brooder. On the 18th of August I arrived for the last feeding and the chick was shaking, with diarrhoea and feeling really cold. It also had no appetite. There was no time to make tests so I decided to give it a shot of doxycycline intramuscularly. The was 10609r so I gave it 2ml. Then I also gave warmed glucose subcutaneously and of course probiotics were given orally as well. I barely slept that night. The next day by early morning the baby looked better. It still did not have too much of an appetite, therefore I gave it some Mazuri hand rearing formula to make sure it had the proper nutrients. This was done for 2 days and on the 3rd day he was back to normal and eating the pellets and fruit again. I am sure it was a fulminant bacterial infection, possibly caused by the box it was in not being properly disinfected, maybe transmitted by me, or even via the food...it is difficult to know for sure. By the wa¡ I want to say in this article that the use of antibiotics without proper diagnostics with cultures and resistance

No. 3 2018 n 43 tests is not advised because it can create resistances in the bacteria's, as we know. However it's important to remember that sometimes we need to act fast and if the decision is between waiting 2 days for results, during which time the bird may die or to give a large spectrum antibiotic, I always go for the second choice. After this the rest of the hand rearing process went really well. Within 2 months our baby had reached 1200 gr. He was moved to a bigger box and into one of our inside aviaries. Also with a heating lamP, but the general temperature of the room was lower than in the hand rearing room. It takes approximately 100 days for these hornbills to be fully weaned; therefore it's really important that when the chick reaches 213 of the hand rearing process it be introduced to its final environment. It's crucial that the chick leaves the box by himself, the same way that it would do in the nest if it was parent reared, and Knobbed Hornbill when this happens, he can do so chick with 45 days in his new environment instead of us transporting him there. Also, he is now more exposed to bacteria and fungus, which will make his immune system fortify slowly. It's a deadly mistake, in my opinion, to only move the birds from the rearing room when they are weaned. I really believe that the final process of the hand rearing should be completed in the enclosure the bird will be housed in. If we think, manybirds leave the nest and still get the food from the parents for some days, even weeks. Some just leave the nest to a complete new world when they feel prepared. Imagine how stressful it can be for a bird when it leaves the rearing box and we just put him in a completely different environment, different noises, temperature, and bacteria... It's so easy for a hornbill to damage its casque because of this kind of handling. Weaning is a process, not a moment. To make this process easier for our young cassidix, we placed some branches extending from the inside of the box to the outside, nothing more. The young bird was then given 30 days to get used to this new environment before any further changes were

44 fr No.32018 made. Just a few days after we moved him, he started to eat by himself, he sometimes needed some stimulation but he would finish all the food .-. -1, very quickly (soaked Wisbroek softbill diet 7.0, ?T papaya and blueberries). This was very good to see. The process was taking its natural course. l,tt At this point we carried out DNA sexing and we found out that we had a male! At this point we stopped weighing the bird because we wanted to avoid further human contact as much as possible to avoid imprinting.We could see if he was healthy and in a good shape with close observation and occasionally faecal tests. On the morning of the 4th of October 2017 our beautiful chick was on the perch! Albeit the lower perch, close to the box. We know that once they leave the nest, normally they will not come back, so it was time to change the husbandry. If we continued to place the food inside the box we would be reinforcing the behaviour of going back to the box, so we installed a hanging dish close to him on a lower perch. We persevered with this method and within one week he was First time outside eating out of the feedingtray, and within two the broodinE;box weeks he was on the higher perch and making short flights. He displayed a beautiful shape, perfect feathers, undamaged beak and casque. We are really huppy with the results. And also very importantl¡ he showed no real signs of imprinting, even less than we expected. It was really fantastic. He is currently housed in a socialisation aviar¡ side by side with a2year-old female, separated by mesh. We believe that if he socialises for some months with this young female, he will start to display mature behaviour earlier. Also he is able to socialize with his own species, which is absolutely vital for future breeding success. To summarise, we can say that it was an outstanding experience that enriched the whole the team. For me personally it was fantastic being a part of this process. Thanks to all of my team for the dedication and support and thank you to Wisbroek for giving me the privilege to work with such an amazing collection. ffi ffi

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