Hand-rearing a baby bird can be quite difficult and requires feeding every few hours by an experienced foster mom. On the other hand, purchasing just-weaned or about-to-be-weaned birds who have no problems and eat readily can be a very rewarding experience.
When do I start hand-feeding a baby bird?
Before weaning, a chick can be taken from its parents at any point, but many advise keeping the babies with the parents for up to three weeks. Older babies may have more difficulty accepting hand-feeding.
Spoon-feeding is just as it sounds. Stretch the neck of your bird straight up and support its head with one hand. Place your thumb and forefinger gently beside the upper beak, near the skin’s edge. With the other hand, tilt the spoon of formula. Let your bird swallow, and keep doing so until he’s got the recommended 10 percent.
The majority of baby birds do quite well when raised by hand using a commercial formula designed specifically for your species of bird. These complete diets are convenient since they’re easy to prepare. It’s crucial to combine these preparations exactly as instructed; unless your veterinarian instructs you otherwise, do not add ingredients. A formula that is too thick can form a hard ball in the crop and not be properly digested, and a formula that is too thin won’t have the right nutrients.
Raising a baby bird by hand can be challenging and necessitates frequent feedings by a skilled foster mother. However, buying recently or soon to be weaned birds that are healthy and eager to eat can be a very fulfilling experience.
If your bird still has food in his crop—the enlarged section of the esophagus at the base of the neck—from the previous meal, it’s important to avoid giving him more food. If food remains in the crop for longer than three to four hours, the crop is showing signs of stasis, or slowing down. It may also be the start of a fungal or bacterial overgrowth that could cause illness in your baby bird.
To feed your baby bird with a syringe, support his head as you would with a spoon and insert the syringe into the side of his mouth, aiming for the back of his throat. As he opens his throat, give him the formula. First, practice using the syringe because it frequently squirts out too much at once.
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.
FAQ
Can you overfeed a baby bird?
How much should I feed a baby bird?
What do you feed a baby bird that fell out of its nest?
How do you know if a baby bird is hungry?