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Hand feeding baby birds must be the reason I was created. I remember the first baby I fed - Thunder...
oh what a nervous wreck I was. The circles under my eyes lasted for months after he weaned - but of
course, that was nothing compared to the huge black rings under my eyes after hand feeding thirteen all
at one time... Many of my "human" family would just shake their heads and wonder how long it would be
until I lost ALL my marbles... There was a point when I demanded that my birds stop breeding. I did everything I could to change their minds. New toys. New cages. Different room in the house. No box. No shreddable material. I replaced eggs with fake ones. I addled eggs. Guess what? THEY ALWAYS WON. They made those shells so hard that nothing shook up the yolk! Silly me...thought I could outfool a bird! I've watched as tiny finches hatched, grew up and fledged, as well as cockatiels. ABSOLUTELY amazing! I have not hand fed those species - I was busy with the lovebirds - who are constantly breeding! But I played with the tiel babies often, and they were quite tame when they left my home. I also enjoyed budgies and a couple of canaries. I am hopelessly addicted to lovebirds, though. At some point, I would like to add more species to the flock...you know, when the lovebirds stop breeding (ha ha) ... like senegals, caiques, mid-sized parrots. Before I hand fed, I researched and obtained all the information I could get my hands and eyes on. I lived in Alaska back then, on an island, and had no place to go so I could be "taught by demonstration." The desire to have TAME babies was just too strong - I determined to learn, and practice without a baby - until I got the hang of it. I urge any new breeder to learn how to hand feed and care for a baby before there is an egg in the nest box. There are so many things that can go wrong. The environment around the baby, as well as the humidity, must be perfect. The hand feeding utensils must be sterilized. The toweling under the baby must be changed frequently. The formula must be a certain temperature so that the baby is not burned or rendered incapable of emptying his crop. There must be a back up source of heat and the means to warm water - as well as a wind up alarm clock - in the event of a power outage. The formula must be fed to the baby at his pace - so he doesn't breathe while swallowing and get formula in his lungs. I never used tap water - always bottled water... Whew, I think it might be easier with human babies! Recently I experienced a HORRIBLE nightmarish episode. I do not understand it, still. Lightening absolutely mauled her babies. Only one had not been killed. Did he survive? Yes. At this time he is just learning to fly. Why Lightening did this is anyone's guess, but I believe the move from Alaska, new noises, new environment, etc., just stressed her out. The hardest thing about hand feeding? When the baby goes off to a new home after he is fully weaned. What would I tell a new breeder? HAND FEED - but be fully educated beforehand. |
