Hand-feeding baby birds is a substitute for parents raising birds, but it does have certain advantages. Hand-raised baby birds usually make better pets, as they have been completely socialized with humans. Hand-raised babies grow up with less fear of humans or other potential dangers such as cats, dogs, and young children.
Hand-feeding is a huge responsibility and requires time, patience, and commitment. Hand-fed baby birds are entirely reliant on you for everything. Hand-feeding is a job best left for the experienced bird breeder or aviculturist. If you are considering hand-feeding a baby bird, you should contact your local bird breeder or avian veterinarian for help. This handout is designed to provide some basic guidelines on how to hand-feed.
How do I feed my baby bird?
All food must be prepared fresh for every feeding. Food retained from one feeding to another is an ideal medium for the growth of harmful bacteria and yeast. Any food prepared or heated in a microwave oven must be mixed thoroughly to ensure that the food’s temperature is uniform and that there are no hot or cold spots. Food temperature should be at 102°F-106°F (39°C-41°C) throughout the mixture and should be measured with a thermometer.
Food that is overheated could burn the crop severely. Baby birds may reject food that is too cold and their digestion may be slowed down. Hand-feeding formulas come with packaging that provides precise mixing instructions.
Generally speaking, the mixture should be thinner the younger the bird At one day old, the chick needs a more diluted mixture (90 percent water), as it is still using the yolk sac as a source of nutrition. When a chicken is older than one or two days, it should be fed food that is roughly 75% liquid and 25% meat.
The best feeding instrument is a syringe, but some bird owners use a spoon with inwardly bent sides. Accurate feeding volumes are better recorded with the syringe. Charting daily feedings is important. A baby bird’s instinctive feeding response is to quickly bob its head up and down. Applying light pressure with your fingers to the corners of your mouth can trigger this action. The trachea closes during this head bobbing, allowing for the relatively rapid administration of large amounts of food. It is not advised to use feeding tubes because they could harm the crop or come loose from the syringe and need to be surgically removed.
Feeding should not be attempted if the bird is not showing a strong feeding response because there is a higher risk of food aspirating into the lungs and trachea, which can be fatal. When the crop is empty is the ideal time to feed. The sac that dangles over the chest at the base of the neck is called the crop. When full, the crop will be visibly distended.
What should I feed my bird?
There are numerous commercially available hand-feeding formulas for baby birds. Use a single formula until the infant is weaned. Changes in diet may be stressful on the babys digestion. Make sure you speak with your avian veterinarian, a skilled bird breeder, or an aviculturist about dietary options.
How often and how much do I feed?
The amount and frequency of feeding depends on the age of the bird and the formula. The frequency of feeding for young birds is greater than that of older birds. The following are general guidelines.
For the first 12 to 24 hours after hatching, the yolk sac provides the chicks with nourishment. Less than a week old chicks should be fed six to ten times a day, or every two to three hours.
Some birds benefit from feeding at night during their first week of life. If they haven’t opened their eyes yet, chicks may need five to six feedings a day, or every three to four hours. Birds can eat three to five times a day (one every five hours) once their eyes open. They might require feedings only twice or three times a day (every six to twelve hours) once their feathers begin to grow in. Their crops should appear full when they are done.
Feeding between 10:00 p. m. and 6:00 a. m. is not required because the baby bird should be sleeping at this time. A robust and healthy feeding response at each feeding, along with regular droppings (feces) production and crop emptying in between feedings, are the best indicators of a healthy and growing chick.
Using a scale that weighs in grams at 1-gram increments, track and record weight gain at the same time every day to identify minor increases or decreases in weight. The weights of birds may vary daily, but they should generally trend upward over a few days to a few weeks. An avian veterinarian should examine birds that are not gaining weight as soon as possible.