Hand feeding baby Lovebirds

[Jolyn Beagley]

:eusa_clap We have just recently purchased a pair of breeding lovebirds. They have had 5 babies. 2 green, 1 yellow, and the rest are too young to tell. We were told to start hand feeding at three weeks. The people we bought them from use a small spoon that they got years ago at McDonalds. McDonalds no longer use these spoons. Does anyone have any advice on hand feeding or perhaps where we could find tiny tiny spoons? We were told that eye dropers or seringes were dangerous, because if not used correctly it would kill the babies. Any help would be appreciated........Jo

[The Outlaw]

Jo:

I kind of feel that its a bad idea to instruct folks on the internet how to handfeed baby birds. Its just too easy to kill them. You should ideally go to a local breeder, handfeeder or even vet and have them SHOW you how to properly do it. As for using syringes, its actually the preferred method.

THE OUTLAW

[Melika]

Syringes are generally preferred because you can measure out the ammount for each bird. With a spoon the chick can refuse it or not eat enough causing mal-nutrition and stunted growth. But if you are not taught by a person (think of on-the-job training) you can put the formula down the chick's trachea (they have no eppiglotis to close their trachea while swallowing) and the bird will drown.

There's more than just feeding the bird. The forumla has to be at the correct temperature and thickness. Too thick or cold and crop impaction occurs. Too thin the bird is mal-nourished; and too hot will cause crop burn. Each forumla usually has a different heating instruction but the thicknesses don't vary much. Also, the ammount and thickness of the forumula increses as the bird ages.

You'll need to learn what a full crop looks like, as you don't want to overfeed. Many breeders rely less on times and more on how much food in in the crop to determine how often they feed.

The only way to learn all of this is from an experienced breeder or hand-feeder.

You are allowed to let the parents raise the chicks. With some of my old pairs I would take the chicks out every day to make sure they were getting fed and also get them used to people. Those chicks turned out just as friendly (if not more since they came with manners) as those that were hand-fed from three or four weeks of age.

When you've learned how to properly hand-feed, you can always do that with the next clutch. ^_^

[Joel]

Hi Jo and welcome........I agree with the advice you were already given, please, please follow it.......I would not pull those babies from the parents this time unless they don't feed them or because of some other emergency. Get those lessons ASAP and a brooder and an incubator and all the supplies and books needed to do it properly........

[Winged_Victory]

Jo,

I would not take the babies away from the parents unless they are not taking care of them. Once you take them away some birds will not take them back and you have to be prepared to feed and care for them. An incubator and feeding supplies is a must if you are going to hand feed. Syringes are best for feeding as already stated, you can tell how much you are feeding. You will want to keep a log as to how much you are feeding and may want to keep weight log, you need a gram scale for weight checks. For handfeeding technique I would buy a book or two on handfeeding and then have one that has done it show you how.

Make sure you purchase the correct feeding formula, learn how to heat it properly and to what temperature, don't use the microwave to heat. Learn what tools you need, syringes, incubator, etc.

Everyone is here to help you but it is very hard to explain how to hand feed in just a few paragraphs, pictures and hands on experience is certainly better.

Good luck!

gary