Hand Feeding Baby Birds

You've got your baby parrot hatched successfully - what a great moment of excitement. Next step is getting it to grow up. If you have no idea what should be done you would be just overwhelmed with all kind of fears and uncertainties. So don't worry and lets get down to work to make sure your small baby parrots grow successfully to increase you happy family.

First of all lets understand why is it such a complicated task. Baby parrots like human babies can't take care of themselves and therefore have to be taken care of for several weeks by their parents. You are very lucky if you parrot couple takes care of their own kids because in this case everything is done the best way - nature's way. But in case if you have to take a role of a feeding parent you have to follow strict rules of nature to be successful.

Second task is to understand how digestive system works. When food gets into digestive system it has to be broken down mechanically, after that it has to be predigested by friendly bacteria, after that it gets broken down chemically by enzymes and only after that nutrients can be absorbed by a body to grow and receive energy. So what is different with babies - they don't have their enzyme mechanism fully developed and they don't have friendly bacteria in their digestive system. That explains why parent birds usually swallow food and then belch it into babies beak - what happens in parent's bodies is they predigest food for their cuties so that they can readily get nutrients from the food. You might say - "Do I have to do that myself?" Luckily there is different way but principle is still the same - food must be predigested.

So what you will need: syringes, pipette or eyedroppers, a heating pad, clean towels, aquarium or cardboard box, bedding for the bottom of aquarium or a box. Next you need to get hand-feeding formula. Study content of formula - it should be proper fat content (usually around 9% or up to 12% for Macaw), there should be beneficial bacteria in formula and it has to contain digestive enzymes. Now you are fully equipped for feeding your babies.

First days they can't warm they bodies on their own and therefore you will have to keep temperature in aquarium around 85F to 92F. Use thermometer to make sure it is not too cold or not too hot. Make sure that your bedding is not too soft - so that babies don't swallow its pieces. How much food you need - just enough to fill up babies' crops. When do you need to feed? Feed only when crop is completely empty after previous feeding. This way you will be sure that food doesn't spoil inside of babies' body.

Mix formula with warm water and use formula heater to bring it to temperature 107F. Do not overheat - it may kill friendly bacteria and break down enzymes. If you do so food will become hard to digest for nestling. Formula should be gravy like condition. Fill up syringe with formula and get one bird at a time for feeding. Hold it with two fingers and open it's beak with third finger. Feed it with small portions over their tongue close to left side (your right) - make sure they swallow before giving them more. Feed until crop is full. Now you can go to next bird.

Make sure that left over food is discarded. Keep open formula in cool place of freeze it for better freshness. If you don't have formula use ground pellets, mix them with hard-boiled eggs and add yogurt. Make sure that there are no big pieces.

One of the reasons breeder hand feed parrots is to make sure they have bond with grown up birds. Hand feeding alone doesn't guarantee that - you have to communicate with them to make sure that they are aware of you presence and love. Parrots have one of the highest IQ among birds and therefore communication is very important for them. Give them all the good you can provide and it will be paid back with many years of joy and happiness.