handfed en · ADJ
Etymology
From hand + fed.
Meanings
-
(not-comparable) Of an animal or machine, fed by hand.
A handfed baby parrot represents days, weeks, years of feeding, cleaning, and care cycles.
2007, Mattie Sue Athan, Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot, page 2:We are in the great preserves, where hares in herds and troops of handfed pheasants invite the attention of banded poachers, and provoke heartburnings in parishes that ought to be peaceful.
1880 December 14, Blackwood's Magazine, volume 128, page 759:A handfed parrot is one that has been taken from the nest at a young age and fed by hand by a human.
2011, Nikki Moustaki, Parrots For Dummies: