Page 475 - Hand rearing birds second

470 Hand-Rearing Birds

a YBCUs parents will abandon them. Check for lack of plumpness on the bird’s breast and any
signs of starvation, like greenish tinged urates and no or scant stool.

­ Diets­and Feeding

When the chick is warm, has been hydrated, and has passed droppings, slowly introduce pulver-
ized insects mixed with enough fluid to make an insect slurry. Another option is to slowly give
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about 1 cc of diluted Emeraid IC Carnivore (Lafeber Company) with the insect slurry. YBCUs are
used to being fed only insects; consequently, very wet fluids are hard for them to understand how
to swallow. Be careful to not aspirate the bird with too much liquid food at once. The bird should
be fed an insect diet as soon as it begins producing normal‐looking droppings.
Sometimes lack of food or a high‐stress situation will cause the bird to start to shut down and
become stoic. If the bird does not willingly open its mouth after being warmed up and hydrated, it
may be necessary to force‐feed the bird for a few feedings. Use squished waxworms and water‐
soaked live mealworms or pupae in a bolus. Usually young fledges do not take more than 24 hours
to understand that their new caregiver is the source of food and they should open their mouths
willingly. If a stoic bird that will not eat is received, provide a calm and noise‐free environment
when force‐feeding. If the bird does not normalize after 24 hours, try placing it with a buddy, which
can be a soft fake bird or maybe a nice American Robin chick of similar size. Also try playing YBCU
bird calls. The chick should be willing to eat when offered food by 36 hours. Because of their
extremely fast growth rate, it is not a good idea to have to force‐feed a young cuckoo for days on end.
Keep in mind that these birds need to grow up really fast, so feed, feed, feed! Day old nestlings
are fed slightly pulverized food (mostly caterpillars) by their parents only for the first day or two.
Thereafter, they are fed whole prey items, mostly live or slightly stunned caterpillars and other
fairly large insects. In rehabilitation their diet should be mixed gut‐loaded insects. The preferred
diet would be waxworms, mealworms, mealworm larvae, blue bottle fly larvae, black soldier fly
larvae, grasshoppers (with legs removed), and as many natural bugs as can be gathered. Drown live
mealworms in water, dab once or twice on a paper towel to eliminate excess water, and feed to
make sure the bird is getting enough fluids. Watch the birds’ droppings to make sure the birds are
properly hydrated and well fed. Weigh the birds daily.
YBCUs rely on an all insect diet to grow, but because feeder insects have certain nutritional defi-
ciencies, additional supplements must be used to make sure the birds are getting the proper nutri-
tion. See Chapters 43 and 44 for information regarding supplements necessary for feeding all‐insect
diets. Commercial diets of use include Harrison’s Recovery Formula (Harrison’s Bird Foods) or
Wombaroo Insectivore Rearing Mix (Wombaroo Food Products); either formula powder should be
mixed up like a thick pudding and can be syringed or have several insects dipped into it and then
fed to the young cuckoos at several feedings. Dip the insects into the mixture for needed supple-
mentation and then feed. Make sure any formula “dips” do not spoil and are made fresh every day.
Do not use mixed formula as a primary food source. Use mixed formulas only as a supplement (see
Figure 41.4).

Feeding­Schedule

Young YBCUs have an odd feeding schedule; they can eat a lot in one sitting and then, depending
on what they were fed, may not be hungry for a period of time. This is unlike most songbird chicks
that seem to be hungry every 15, 20, or 30 minutes like clockwork. The cuckoo’s hunger seems to