Abstract
My introduction to pet birds was meetmg a wonderful Cockatiel who lived at my Vet's office. This little guy talked and sang and recited poetry. l just had to have one of my own. l bought a Cockatiel from a local breeder and shortly thereafter purchased two pairs of finches; a pair of self-chocolate Society Finches and <1 pair of English Zebra Finches. I really wanted all Goulclians burl couldn't get two local breeders to sell me any. They felt that raising Goulds could be too disappointing for the beginner.
My two pairs of finches shortly expanded to three pairs when both of my Societies turned out to be males. That first spring the Society and Zebra parents raised about 15 youngsters. I was hooked
Sol added to my flock; more Zebras, more Societies, and finally Goulds. l converted my finches to an extruded diet, supplemented with a "Universal" mixture with insects and dried eggs. 1 also provided 'greens' every couple of clays. I set up my breeding pairs again and waited ... and waited ... and waited.
Nest after nest of hatched but dead in the nest or hatched butthrownoutofthe nest was presented to me. I was horrified to find all these unfed, dried up little bodies in my breeding cages. The parents were eating well, but they weren't feeding with their babies. (In retrospect, l believe they wouldn't feed pellets to their babies because the pellet conversion was too short and too close to the breeding season.)
l read magazine articles and books on finch breeding, spoke to several breeders, and concluclecl that dead chicks represented "Nature taking its course." No one advised hanclfeecling.
Out of 10 breeding pairs, five babies survived. I was heart broken. With more fertile eggs being incubated, I panicked. When the first egg hatched under a pair of Zebras, who had previously let their clutch starve, [watched nervously for a couple of hours waiting for them to feed the chicks. After about 12 hours 1 decided not to wait any longer. I removed
the tiny, pink chick from the nest and placed him in a small Tupperware container with a plastic juice bottle filled with hot water, covered with a dish towel. I had some Kaytee Exact handfeec.ling formula on hand and mixed it up a tiny amount in a shot glass. l also had sterilized syringes and catheter type feeding tubes from my days as a dog breeder. I drew the watery mixture into my syringe, opened the baby's beak, slid the syringe down the right sic.le of the mouth, into the crop. l c.lecic.lec.I not to put him back with his parents and took on the responsibility forthis tiny life myself.
I continued to feed the chick evety two to three hours as his crop emptied. I also fed at 10 p.m., at 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. l took the baby to work and continued to feed him every couple of hours. When I returned home that afternoon, another Zebra baby was discovered in the same nest. l took this one out and fed him as l
had the first one, then 1 put him back in the nest to see if the parents wou le.I take on their duties. Before l went to bee.I, the baby's crop was empty, and 1 fed him again. l did not feed him again, hoping the parents would get the idea and take over. The next day I left for work with my first chick; when 1 returnee.I home that night, the second chick was dead. l was disappointed.
When I arose the morning of the fourth day, my chick's crop had not emptied from his 2 a.m. feeding. 1 took him to my avian veterinarian who was amazed that 1 had kept the little finch alive for four days. The vet did not know of anyone handraising Zebras. I-le advisee.I me to buy some Pedialyte, a human baby preparation with electrolytes and sugars. The Pedialytet should be substituted for the handfeeding formula for the first 24 hours or so.