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19 Jun 2014

Hand Raising Baby Birds

Posted By : Guest

Hand raising a baby bird is a wonderful experience for bird lovers. Whatever the reason, for love or necessity, when you decide to hand raise a baby bird it is a responsibility – and it is rewarding. Perhaps you have found a dove on the foot path, a finch or budgie from a fall, or an orphaned bird? Or maybe you may find a bird discarded by it’s parents in the home aviary, or you want to bond with a pet bird? A non hand raised bird can be tamed to a degree with many hours of handling and training, but they will never love you the way a hand raised bird will. It is truly a wonderful experience to hand raise a baby bird – the young bird will see you as their own kind, their parent perhaps?

What age to start hand rearing baby parrot’s?

There are 2 methods of hand rearing baby birds. The first is right from the egg, the second is rearing them from 2 or 3 weeks of age. We recommend to hand rear birds from 2 or 3 weeks old for a number of reasons. A bird egg that has been incubated and raised by humans from the moment of hatching does not receive any of the good bacteria from the parent birds, which effects the birds ability to fight decease/bacteria.

It is very important for the chicks to spend a number of weeks with their mother. Right after they hatch they get essential crop milk from the hen, which is full of antibodies and nutrients that the chicks need to ward off disease until they can develop their own immune system. During the first few weeks they need fed almost constantly day and night until they grow in size and can fit more food in their crop. They are also very small at first and it is much easier to harm them during the hand feeding process. Deciding on an age to pull them at is very important for their health and well being, and should not be rushed if you can help it.

We recommend hand raising your bird from 2 or 3 weeks of age especially for beginners.

Please note: If the bird is too old they can still be quite wild and difficult to hand raise this is why birds are hand raised from a certain age.

Correct environment to hand raise baby birds

Your chicks will need a safe and easy to clean place to stay before they are fully feathered and ready to move into a cage. We recommend using small plastic fish or reptile tank or anything similar in size and shape to a nestbox, even a plastic icecream container is suitable. Place a light towel over 3 sides of plastic container to hold in added heat as well. It is important that they are not too large if your home stays at a normal temperature and you are not planning on adding an additional heat source, because the larger they are the less heat will stay in, and they will not function the same as a nestbox would naturally in terms of heat.

What to put on the floor of container will to some extent depend on the size and age of the babies. Typically for smaller babies you might use some folded up newspaper covered with paper towel.

You can buy a professional brooder with thermostatiacally controlled heating element if you plan on hand raising many parrots but is reasonably expensive to purchase and not necessary for someone who is only raising a clutch or one baby. Any plastic container is fine or even a cardboard box. Try not to place them in anything glass as this can be a bit cold.

Heating the Brooder

There are various ways that you can heat a brooder. Commercially available brooders will have a thermostatically controllable heating element. If you are using an aquarium or plastic container, heat mats and heat cords for reptiles can be a suitable source of heat, especially if used with a thermostat (all available from pet shops that sell reptiles). Using a desk lamp over part of the brooder is another method, however use a red bulb so as not to disturb the chicks and keep a close eye on the temperature. The use of hot water bottles, whilst popular, should not be used except in extreme emergencies as controlling the temperature is too difficult and fluctuations can be detrimental to your chicks.

Whichever method of heating you use, always have a temperature probe or thermometer in the brooder so that you can monitor the temperature. Ideally, a thermostat attached to the heating source is preferable, as this will prevent temperature fluctuations (such as from day to night), and maintain a constant temperature.

What temperature should the brooder be?

Chicks, depending on their age, will need to be kept between 26°C and 37°C. The younger the chick, the warmer it needs to be. Exact temperatures are dependent on many external factors (such as the species of bird and the number of chicks), however the following temperatures give you a general idea:

36°C – Day 1 to 5

35°C – Day 5 to 10

33°C – From 10 days until they have enough down on their bodies to be considered not naked 29-32°C – While they have mostly down feathers

26-28°C – When feathers cover the wings and the head and breast are partially covered

In general by the time a baby is around 3 to 4 weeks old it can regulate it’s own body temperature, but providing an environment with the ideal temperature is good for chicks. You must keep a very close eye on the temperature – too hot and the chicks will overheat, often with fatal consequences, and too cold and they will not pass food through their crop leading to digestive problems. Always have a thermometer to monitor the temperature..

What to feed baby birds

There are many different hand rearing formulas commercially available some better suited to one species and others. It is important to choose a good formula that will provide all of the nutrients for your growing chicks, such as Roudybush formula 3. We are very happy with this formula so far! It is rice based, unlike other brands which are corn based and the consistency and weight growth of the chicks are very good.

Whatever formula you choose to use, make certain you always check the expiration dates and that it is fresh, and that it is properly stored and mixed correctly following the instructions for the specific brand as they will differ. Roudybush Formula 3 is easy to mix with water and is vitamin and mineral fortified to help you raise healthy chicks. This nutritionally balanced formula is ideal for granivorous (seed and grain eating) birds from hatch to weaning and no supplements is necessary. Roudybush Formula 3 can also be fed to squabs older than 7-14 days (7 days for small species, up to 14 days for larger species).

Some people have used home made diets to feed baby birds, but these should be critically assessed for the nutritional value and suitability for young birds as this can effect the development of the bird and long term health and immune system.

Feeding chicks

Always feed them warm formula but be careful not to burn the baby birds crop as it will die. Do not microwave food this can create hot pockets in the formula. Only mix enough food for one feed at a time. Never feed a bird with feed still in the crop as this will cause the old food to curdle and will probably kill the baby bird if there is food in the crop (which is the sac under the birds head) wait until it is completely empty. Do not fill the crop until it is bulging and very full as this can stretch the crop. Always mix food according to manufacturers directions. Hygiene is essential, so always disinfect all feeding instruments and dishes. You can feed baby birds using a syringe, crop needle or a specialised spoon. Be gentle when using a crop needle.

When feeding with a syringe or spoon only feed when the bird is begging which is when the bird’s head is bobbing up and down.

Guide for Feeding intervals

The older the bird is, the longer they can go without the need to feed. This is a rough guide for most parrots but this may vary, depending on species.

1-7 days old - will need hourly feeds, 24 hours a day

7-14 days old - will need a feed every 2 hours with around a 5 hour break at night

14-21 days old - feed every 3 to 4 hours with a 6 hour break at night

21-28 days old - feed every 4 to 5 hours a day with a 7 hour break at night

28 to 42 days - feed every 5 to 6 hours

By the 8th week, feed every 8 hours when your bird is starting to eat fruit, seed and pellets. Only feed morning and night and only stop when your bird no longer wants to eat hand rearing formula as some birds take longer to wean than others.

Signs of illness in birds being hand raised

If your inexperienced with birds, always measure their weight every day and do frequent health checks. Baby birds are very susceptible to bacterial infections.

Sign of illness include, but not limited too:

Lethargic not willing to feed

Not gaining weight or putting weight on

Skin changes to red or white

Skin more wrongly than normal – this is dehydration

Vomiting

Change in droppings

Crop emptying slowly

Weaning

When the feathers have opened out on the wings and the chest, the chick can be moved into a cage. Put a low perch in so that it can start learning how to perch. Provide a small dish of seed, some millet sprays, pellets of a suitable size for the baby, and some fresh fruit and vegetables. Sprouted seed is an excellent first food for baby birds. Your chicks will still need feeding 3 or 4 times a day, but will start experimenting with eating different foods. When they start to actually eat some of the food you provide, rather than just mouthing it, provide a dish of water.

Gradually, their enthusiasm for hand rearing mix will diminish, and they will eat less and less at each feed. This process can be as quick as one week or last for four to six weeks depending on the baby. During this time the babies will start to fly. At first they will be rather clumsy and fly into walls. Keep window curtains drawn and mirrors covered during this time so as to prevent serious injury from collision with the glass. After a couple of days, your bird will learn to control its flight and to land properly. This is an important time for your bird, as it will learn much of its co-ordination skills at this time. It is also a time where most of the weaning process takes place. Typically, a baby bird will come out of the cage, have a few mouthfuls of food, then fly off in search of something else to do.

If you need to clip the wings, only do this after it has completed this learning period and has acquired good flying skills - allow at least 2 weeks. This initial period of flying is important for the bird to develop balance, to improve muscle development, and to develop good air sac volume.

Once the baby bird has ceased to eat hand rearing mix, it is very important to ensure that it is eating enough fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouted seed and pellets or dried seed to sustain itself. Keep a close eye on its weight to ensure that there is no rapid weight loss (although a small amount of weight loss is normal for weaning birds).

Tags : Hand Raising Baby Birds , Handfeeding baby birds , Roudybush Handfeeding Formula Bird Diet South Africa , Bird Pellets , Birdfood