Page 771 - Hand rearing birds second

774 Hand-Rearing Birds

­ Hand-feeding­Diets

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Kaytee exact Hand‐Feeding Formula was used successfully. This is a conventional hand‐rearing
formula more often used for parrots. Start with 1 part Kaytee Formula to 6 parts water and increase
the strength of the formula to 4 parts water to 1 part Kaytee Formula on day 5 (Figure 50.3).

­ Feeding­Procedures

On day 1, feed the chicks every hour from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. At day 18, reduce feeds to every 2
hours from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and at day 25 feed every 2 hours from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Java
Sparrow chicks are blind until day 12. A soft whistle feeding signal was used to announce the
approach of the caregivers. Alerting the birds in this way also helps to regulate defecation (Figure 50.4).

Figure 50.3 Pipette used to feed newly hatched chicks. Source: courtesy of Lesley O’Connor.

Figure 50.4 Java Sparrow chicks at 10 days of age.