Well-fed parent finches kept in a clean cage can generally give a baby finch everything it needs. He loves to sit on my wife�s laptop screen and just watch her type away. Unfortunately it does not always end in success even when the best efforts are made to save the bird's life. He�ll peck at it, but don�t expect him to eat just yet. He�ll start pecking at dark spots on the carpet, at your hair, anything he can grab. Walk around the house or apartment with him on your finger. To be sure [if he has eaten on his own], gently grab him and slowly blow around his neck area to expose his [crop]. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. ( Log Out / Change ). However, if you check on him after 5 hours and he�s not chirping at your sight, it�s a good sign. First Lesson: When you open the cage door, do not take him out. You just have to keep pecking at it for a few minutes, and see what he does. The one tame zebra finch that I have kept tame and not introduced back into the flock is DevNull. Now stand a few feet away from the cage, and call out to him (with cage door open obviously). You should do this on a Saturday, so that you are free to check on the bird. The parents will process food in their gullets so the chick can digest it. This is the other critical stage, as the bird may potentially starve to death (wondering what�s going on with the new program?). I used a small Oral Tipped Syringe for the feedings. Check the spray millet you left in his cage. Teaching the bird to eat on his own: here�s a technique I�ve used on every single bird I�ve had. Both babies died after a few days, and I felt just terrible. It has taken months but she will no longer walk on our plates, she sits next to the plate and nibbles off the edges. The following article explains how to voluntarily hand raise a baby finch in order to produce a hand-tame pet bird, as is often done with parrots. ... i was hoping someone in this group has helpful ideas. Please keep in mind that hand raising finches is a very time consuming commitment which may result in adult birds which have special needs. narrow or long tip made feeding … Each chick is different. That�s a good sign he�s ready to eat on his own. You may continue to choose to feed the bird every four hours, letting him eat the millet out of your hand, or simply leave him the food. 10-20 – Every Hour during the day, and a few feedings at night (provide millet for the finch tho it may only play with it at first). Keep him in a warm area in the winter if you are hand feeding during the winter months. At this stage the baby finch will be content just being fed and sleeping; thus there is no need spending a lot of time bonding. ( Log Out / Introducing him to his environment is a good idea. They don�t need to be constantly on the move. Do some exercises with the bird. By now he should associate you calling to him and seeing your finger as "Oh, I need to fly there; I�m being called." You will notice the baby finch is now pecking at things. What time of day to remove and prepare the baby finch for hand feeding? DevNull eats just about everything I do. If you choose to hand feed, you'll want to know a few things first. She does like to be held, and have her neck gently rubbed. I’ve never tried taming an adult bird. I attempted to hand feed a few 3 day old Zebra chicks because they had been tossed from the nest. Baby finches should receive adequate food from their parents. Hunger will kick in, and he will start to look around the cage. Behavior. I have used a shoebox in the past with no problems. Keep children and other household animals away from the baby. This is a critical stage as your baby finch may die if you do not care for him properly. Now however, don�t use your open hand, but use your finger (perpendicular to your chest). Leave a spray millet with the bird and go on to other business. It works best if there is a half an inch on each side of the lid left open so air can circulate. I used a small Oral Tipped Syringe for the feedings. Keep pecking at the spray millet; even put it to his face. If he appears to be hesitating, hopping, and chirping around, taunt him with the syringe. You need to teach him to come to you now. Add in the small bowl or Canary nest with a Kleenex’s to help soak up the droppings. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. All feeding equipment for a baby finch should be boiled in distilled water. She is very people friendly and will fly over to anyone who walks in the house. It is very hard, and the little ones do sometimes die. Make fresh food for every feeding and clean the syringe thoroughly after every use. Of course the baby finch won�t care for the spray millet because you�ve conditioned him to see a syringe. We eat most meals together and she eats right off my plate. Eventually, the millet will become just a treat, and the seeds [or pellets] his regular diet. ( Log Out / Again, keeping at the 4 hour intervals, but rather than hand feeding him with the syringe -- first present him with a spray millet. For years I had been told that it was not possible to tame a finch. Some species, such as the zebra finch and the society finch reproduce easily in captivity. narrow or long tip made feeding the zebra chick easier. Handling a baby finch must also be done with the utmost care. I figured it would be best to start with a young finch. She is a Pied Grey Zebra Finch. Finally, a few years ago I started hearing stories of people with tame, friendly finches, and I decided to try and tame one of my young Zebra Finches. Hand raising finches is not something everyone should try. You may simply just feed and let him rest. Lafeber’s Instant NutriStart hand feeding formula mixed with Gerber’s Rice Cereal with Applesauce and water or Pedialyte worked the best for raising my finches. The millet seed will feel different from the usual formula, and he will spit out the seed. At the next feeding time, try the same procedure again (present millet and peck at it until you can�t bear to see him not eat). Hi there, After I hand formula feed my baby finches (3 days old) they rollover and sleep on their back. Hand feed him immediately. Finches are popular caged birds, well known for their vibrant hues and patterns. Feed every 3 to 4 hours. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Something to measure temp (Keep the temp around 98 degrees). Place him on the kitchen table for example, and start "pecking" at it with your finger. Because he�s still learning to fly, place your hand out about 1 inch away from the door. The joy of seeing this feathered thing flying to you is a great feeling--be warned--just like a puppy running to you as you call out his name. You may switch to regular seeds [or pellets] after about 2 to 3 weeks. You are teaching your bird to fly to your finger. Your finger pecking at the spray millet taught them how to peck at it -- they learn by watching you. If their parents are absent, however, baby finches require hand-feeding. Continue this practice for the next 2 or 3 weeks. Place a thermometer in the incubator and place the lid gently on top. If he hops out and onto your hand, you�ve successfully completed lesson 1. Gouldians are not like Zebras. Allow him to sit on your finger and gently pet and talk to him (as an adult, he will no longer like to be petted). All of the birds I have raised were tossed from the nest or abandoned. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Hand Feeding Baby Finches. A bowl, small aquarium, or plastic carrying case. Now is truly the time to bond with him. Watch your bird and work out a schedule that works well for you and your bird. Continue this for about 1 week, each time staying a bit further away from the door. You now have a bird that�s able to eat on his own. As wild birds , finches will always be flighty and afraid around humans. After two weeks, he should now be able to fly fairly well. She�ll just eat to show them how to peck at the seeds. The syringe will not work for anything that small. That�s the importance of leaving a spray millet in the cage. You will have to prepare yourself for long busy days if you are serious about saving your chicks. Because they�ve not mastered landing yet, he may hop out and land somewhere else; it�s OK, and reward him with feeding. That�s perfectly normal. If you have a chick that is 1 to 8 days of age, you may need to use the flat end of a flat tooth pick. Unlike a human newborn, baby birds need to be fed much more often - like every 20-30 minutes for the first few days! On the second day of this stage, however, hand feed him in the morning (for example) and place a spray millet with him, but wait longer to check on him.