Page 556 - Hand rearing birds second

556 Hand-Rearing Birds

Some food items that are found in the captive adult diet may not be needed for hand‐rearing, but
adding them prior to weaning may increase the likelihood that the bird will consume a well‐
balanced diet as an adult. It is far easier to introduce new items to a dependent chick that is being
hand‐fed versus one that is already weaned. Soaked dry dog or cat food and processed meat
products are two such items. Anoles are added to the diet of Guam Kingfishers because they are an
item that is usually available, and the male uses them in courtship when feeding the female.
Because none of these adult diets have a significant amount of a commercial avian pellet as a
nutritionally balanced component, all of the diets used for hand‐rearing are supplemented with
calcium carbonate (1% of the amount of food fed the previous day) and a liquid B‐complex high
potency vitamin (Nature’s Answer Hi potency liquid dietary supplement for humans). This product
contains 3.3 mg Vitamin B 1 (thiamine), 3.3 mg B 6 (pyridoxine), and 6.6 mcg B 12 (cyanocobalamin)
dosing 1 ml/50 g of the amount of food fed the previous day. For instance, if 50 g of food was fed the
previous day, the calcium supplement would be 0.5 g of calcium carbonate and the vitamin supple-
ment would be 1.0 ml of the liquid vitamin B for the following day. Crickets and mealworms are
gut‐loaded with a commercial calcium‐based feed for 3 days prior to being fed.
The frugivorous hornbill neonates are fed approximately 70% high‐protein items (neonate mice
and insects) with 30% fruit for the first 10 days. The proportions gradually shift to 75% fruit and 25%
protein items by approximately day 28. Papaya has traditionally been used in this facility as a
source of hydration in some high‐protein hand‐rearing diets. By 30 days of age there is a change to
a fruit mix composed of melon, apple, and other fruits as seasonally available.
The carnivorous ground hornbill chicks are fed 100% protein items. A ground meat product is
introduced gradually at about 2 weeks, as is fur from adult mice (Table 36.4).
Determining when to make these changes was initially by trial and error. Once success was
achieved, that became the starting point for other closely related species. This underscores the
importance of keeping careful records. Actual intake may vary from the target as the response of
the chick and the rate of growth are taken into consideration (Figure 36.3).

Feeding Procedures

There are three basic concerns to be addressed when hand‐feeding chicks: when to feed (frequency),
how much to feed (quantity), and how to feed (technique). Each of these factors changes during the
rearing of a chick. These transitions are what make hand‐feeding such a dynamic process.
Changes in frequency of feedings occur related to each species’ capacity for larger quantities of
food and the greater periods of time they can go without food. As greater quantities are fed, chicks
will stop eating and make it clear that it is time to reduce the frequency again. Healthy chicks are
never fed by force. Keepers learn to “read” a chick’s behavior and modify what they are doing to get
a strong feeding response. The small bee‐eaters were started at 13 times a day (every hour); all the
others were started at 7 times a day (every 2 hours). Feedings occur between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Forceps or curved spoons are used to feed chopped fruit or prey items (Figure 36.4). Diet items are
cut into small bite‐sized pieces and are gradually cut larger as chicks grow and can easily swallow
larger bites. Using blunt‐tipped forceps, the food is dipped in bottled drinking water and placed far
back into the mouth. By feeding in this manner, chicks are less apt to spit the food item back out.
Chicks may regurgitate all or part of a feeding if they are fed too much, too fast, or if either they or the
food items are too cold. Curved spoons have been used for hornbill chicks as they get older, and a tea-
spoon that was modified with the sides bent up was more efficient for delivering larger quantities.
The quantity fed has been determined differently over the years. At times, chicks have been fed
to satiation or ad lib, but more often a percentage of the body weight has been used to determine