Page 350 - Hand rearing birds second

340 Hand-Rearing Birds

Nestlings­and Fledglings
Blunt forceps or hemostats may continue to be used to feed, until the nestling recognizes cut-up
food on a small plate or lid and starts to pick it up on its own. This can be encouraged by placing
the lid or small plate of food directly in front of the nestlings and picking the food up from the lid
while they watch. Typically, younger nestlings dropping food seem to think it has simply disap-
peared; once they start to discover the food that has fallen to their feet, they are often ready to start
picking it up themselves from a plate. The sooner they eat on their own, the less the risk of sociali-
zation to humans. Picking up small pieces of food from a plate should be expected by at least
2 weeks of age, usually before they can stand, though holding food down with their feet and rip-
ping it up takes quite a bit longer, of course.
Once the birds’ eyes are open and focusing, a puppet should be used for feeding, “ghost” cos-
tumes to disguise human caregivers should be worn, and the babies carefully faced away from the
human feeder during meals. If at all possible, do not house a baby alone. Place it with or in sight of
conspecifics or in sight of adult surrogates, if an actual foster parent is not available.

Expected Weight Gain

It is important to chart weights daily, weighing them at the same time each day, preferably before
their first meal. Weight gain in the first few days after hatching can be expected to be slow but
should be steady. Hatch weight should double within 5–7 days, and will rise very rapidly after those
first few days. With smaller species like the kestrel, approximate adult weight can be reached
before they are even off their hocks and have much of their feather tips out of the sheath, at around
2 weeks of age. With the larger species, like the Red-tailed Hawk or Turkey Vulture, it may take 5–7
weeks to reach adult weight. Again, each species varies, but they should be able to pick up cut-up
food from a plate or lid on their own within 10–14 days and should be placed in a hackbox at that
point, if that is the method of choice.

Housing

Hatchlings should be kept at 85–90 °F (29–32 °C) and around 40% humidity; however, more
important than an absolute temperature and humidity level is watching the comfort of the
birds. A cold baby will be reluctant to eat; a hot one may pant or be splayed out in the nest.
These birds all have some natal down but cannot usually maintain their own body temperature
until the secondary down comes in. This secondary down is very wooly in texture and provides
excellent insulation.
For young chicks, towels (without holes or stringy edges) provide the best substrate. The towels
should be arranged to surround them, as in a nest, giving them something to grip with their feet
and to support them in an upright position with their legs tucked under (Figure 20.5). The hawks,
osprey, harriers, and young kestrels slice their droppings: that is, shoot them either out or up or
both. This creates an obvious challenge to keeping their enclosure clean! Caging should be cleaned
thoroughly at least once a day, wiped down with a disinfectant such as dilute chlorhexidine, towels
or papers changed, or the chicks moved to new housing as necessary to maintain a hygienic envi-
ronment. It is critical that the young, growing feathers be kept clean, including those around the
mouth, which can be soiled during feeding. Whereas adult birds that slice are usually given a tail