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(Shirley is specialist hand raiser of all varieties of birds) |
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The
main thing is to keep the bird warm - it has got to get to the right
temperature first before it will take food.
For the first week, keep at 32 degrees C and after that 30
degrees C. If
it has just hatched and has not been fed, it requires something
consisting of fluids greater than the need for solids.
When birds are hatching they assimilate the yolk from the egg
which supplies their first, second and third feeds.
If you feed before the yolk has
gone through, you will have trouble! I
feed these babies Gastrolyte, (powdered form) made to directions
(fluid), for the first couple of feeds.
A bird is usually dehydrated when you find it.
I feed the gastrolite off a spoon (the same as food), after
warming it. Must be
mixed with boiled water. After
two or three feeds, until 48 hours I feed just Complan 1 to
4 water.
Don't overfeed, most birds die from being overfed, not starved. 48
hrs - 4 days - 1/2 complan, 1/2 rice cereal consistency milk-like. From 4 days to 1 week 1/3 complan, 1/3 rice cereal 1/3 hi-protien. 1
week - 10 days 1/3 complan, 1/3 hi-protein cereal, 1/3 cerevite. 2 feeds
a day, add small amount fruit or vegies. After
10 days to 14 days I give 1/3 Hi-protien,
1/3 cerevite, add egg and biscuit gradually. To this I add garden
vegetables (which contain carrot and spinach.) From
10 - 14 days the egg and
biscuit makes the mixture a bit thicker - like yoghurt.
Mix with very hot water,
then add more water to cool.
Always boil water. If
it is too cold, the birds will go off it, - make it 40c.
Mix in double boiler - if heated in microwave, stir well to mix. 2
weeks on - 1/3 high protein, 1/3 cerevite 1/3 egg and biscuit. Now
add calcium (off the Sales Table) Santos Calcium Syrup. Some birds, i.e.
Australian parrots, need more than other parrots but do not overdo the
vitamins and never use baby vitamins. How
often to feed?
The best guide is to feel the crop, if there is anything in it do
not feed, if empty O.K. Never
let a small bird's crop empty, feed once overnight.
Feed 1 1/2 to 2 hourly at hatching, 4 - 5 hourly at 3 - 4 weeks.
Feed at night for first few days. Regulate so the food goes
through the crop every four hours. I
feed the last meal at 11.30 p.m. then wait till 6 a.m.
If a bird is sick, feed at 3 a.m .Start with an comparitively
empty crop in the morning - leave from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. this is all
right. Most
common setback is a slow crop when something must be done.
Food sits there and goes bad.
Give gastrolyte or glucose or molasses in water. Do
not give
food. Check in 2
hours. Try again in 4
hours. Weaning
is
the worst time. I would rather feed a one day old bird than an eight
week one. They play and
refuse food, but this is normal, don't give up feeding.
They lose weight when they fly and then come back to their food.
Place some tinned corn on the floor and in one day they will start
to pick
around, eating but not eating enough.
When the food disappears, cut out the midday meal. Never let them
go through the night with an empty crop.
Next cut out the a.m. or p.m. meal. It is three or four weeks
before you cut out all feeds. Do
not wean too quickly or all your good work could be gone. Start
weaning when they fly. . For
black cockatoos add grated sunflower after four weeks,
and conures need 1/3 fruit and vegies. If
you start feeding birds at four weeks old for the first time, add
amprolmix. Use instead of water when mixing the food.
Mix every meal afresh, do not re-heat left-overs.
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Copyright S Boyd 3.5.2000© |