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260 Hand-Rearing Birds

or if chicks need to be removed from their housing for any length of time, it is important to have a
temporary housing area for them that has the appropriate level of heat support so they do not get
cold. For the smaller single chicks, feather dusters can act as surrogate cohorts; for other single
chicks, mirrors and decoys can be used.
Cormorants are communal nesters, thus chicks can be housed with other healthy cormorant
chicks of similar size and demeanor. Down‐less chicks should be housed in an incubator, such as
an Animal Intensive Care Unit (Lyon Technologies), at 100 °F (37.8 °C) with 50–60% humidity, and
there should be a makeshift nest consisting of a small bowl lined with towels/tissue and, prefera-
bly, sticks that mimic natural nest materials. The same type of caging environment is adequate for
the first 10–14 days post‐hatch until the chicks are down‐covered, although the ambient tempera-
ture should be lowered if birds begin to show signs of hyperthermia (i.e. gular fluttering). Nest size
needs to increase as the chicks grow to afford them some freedom of movement, but the nest
should not be so large that the birds cannot easily travel from one side to the other.
Once the birds outgrow the incubator, they can be housed in a hard‐sided cage with a makeshift
nest and one of three types of heat support: a heating pad on medium beneath half the nest, a heat-
ing pad on low beneath the entire nest, or a ceramic heat emitter hung above the nest. All nest
bowls should be lined with towels or tissue to help absorb feces and create padding. Small sticks
may be placed at the bottom of the nest to help birds practice grabbing and gripping and to ensure
normal foot and leg development.
When the birds are beginning to stand in their nests, the ambient temperature can be lowered
and heat support can be confined to a small area in the enclosure by placing a heating pad under
the nest or similar area. As birds grow larger, nests are modified into flat, padded areas or com-
pletely removed, and enclosure size is increased to encourage birds to roam. Birds will start to
become curious about their surroundings and venture farther away from the nest to explore their
enclosure. Older chicks that have begun to explore should be offered some enrichment items to
discover, such as feathers, sticks, grass, and fish. These items should be replaced or cleaned daily.
Vinyl mesh mat or rubber matting works well for maintaining foot health and for ease of cleaning
once chicks are old enough to stand and walk.
Once birds are walking well and utilizing the space in their cage, advance them to a large indoor
cage, for example a tarp‐sided, wooden‐frame cage with netted ceiling 7 ft. deep × 5 ft. wide × 7 ft.
tall (2.1 × 1.5 × 2.1 m). By this age, heat support should not be needed but can be offered via a heat-
ing pad on the ground or a ceramic heating element hanging from a stand or from the enclosure
ceiling (placed so as to not be a fire hazard). Offer flat nests to give birds the option of using them,
but note that they may choose to use them only rarely or just for sleeping. The floor should be pad-
ded with towels or similar, which should be changed two to three times a day to remove excess
feces. As the chicks start to become more active, introduce them to the outdoors using a play pen
during the day in an outdoor aviary (Figure 15.7). The play pen is a small fenced area 5 × 3 ft.
(1.5 × 1 m) inside a large outdoor aviary. This gives the young birds time in the sunshine as well as
time to start interacting with other species in care that they may interact with in the wild (e.g. peli-
cans, gulls, other cormorants). Throughout these housing graduations, weight checks and exams
should be performed regularly, and nutritional/fluid support should be provided as needed.
Cormorants can have access to water at around 5 weeks of age, when most of their body contour
feathers have grown in. It is important to note that in the wild, cormorants that nest on piers/roof-
tops/bridges/etc. fledge directly into the water. While they may have great success with this type of
fledging in the wild, it is recommended that captive‐raised cormorants be introduced to water in a
more controlled fashion, by allowing them access to a pool of clean water with either gently slop-
ing banks or ramps that allow the birds to easily get in and out. When introducing chicks to water,