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|   A friend of mine, who is a Gouldian breeder, had a pair of Gouldians that had 3 eggs. On November 1st, she noticed a baby laying on the bottom of the cage and the male bird was picking on it. She immediately picked the baby up. It was motionless and cold. She warmed it in her hand and a few seconds later it started to move. She put the bird in a small Tupperware container and set it on her cage heater. The heater had no controls, so she had to go by feel. She waited until the baby was well warmed up before trying to feed. After the parents threw the first baby out, they were not sitting on the eggs anymore. Sue broke the second fertile egg and removed the baby. It wasn’t moving but it had the look of being alive. She put it with the other baby. The third egg was infertile. She had read that a baby bird can survive a day after hatching without being fed because of the nutrition from the egg still being with them. She left it with the other one until morning. The next morning, they were both moving their heads a little. She fed them a somewhat runny mixture of KAYTEE-EXACT handfeeding formula every time their crops were empty. Just a few drops at a time!!! One Week Old Babies Shop Mascots   My Heart Stopped Beating Then Baby got a respiratory infection. I got medicine from the pet store and called my vet to make sure it would work. She said to go ahead and try it. If it didn’t work, I would have to come in and get something stronger. I described all the symptoms to her and she agreed that it sounded like a respiratory infection. Within a week she was feeling all better!!!!! A True Miracle Baby is now doing great and has been for a long time. She gets around pretty good and seems to be VERY HAPPY!!!!! 
There are a lot of handfeeding books out there that can help, but I’ve gone "BY THE BOOK" many times and had them die. After you do it a few times, you kind of get a feel for it! Here are some BASICS that might help. 1) HOUSING - I keep them in a small bowl lined with layers of paper towels. The bowls shouldn’t be too high on the sides so they can move back to defecate. If they do soil in the area where they are laying, change the paper towel often. Keep a paper towel over them also. They won’t move around much in the beginning. 2) TEMPERATURE - They can’t digest food correctly unless they are warm. You learn how to tell if they are too hot or cold by the way they act. If they are too hot, they keep their mouth open, and kind of shiver if they are too cold. It’s the first few days that are difficult because they are not strong enough to do those things. I’ve had books tell me to keep them at 100 degrees, F. My birds were obviously not liking that. They were cooking and let me know it! If you put two thermometers near them and they both say the same thing, you know it’s right. I found that going by feel works best. I keep the surrounding air somewhat warm with a light bulb. A regular 60 watt bulb is fine. I put a thermometer near them, and a paper towel over them. If there is more than one baby, they kind of keep each other warm. I hold them in my hand for a few seconds to see if they feel hot. They should feel warm to the touch, not hot or cold. Adjust the light according to how they feel. 3) FEEDING - I use KAYTEE-EXACT handfeeding formula for birds (1-800KAYTEE-1). I use a glass eyedropper so I can see the food. I’ve heard not to use glass because they can bite it and break it, but I figure that those books are talking about parrots because I don’t believe baby Goulds can bite that hard. If they don’t open their beaks for food, DON’T FORCE FEED THEM. Try tapping the side of their beak while making bird noises! Sometimes when you first get a baby, it is common for them to be dehydrated. I give them Gatorade at room temperature- just a drop on the very tip of their beak. Any flavor will do. This will sometimes get them eating too. It gives them a little BOOST. It is not a good idea to do this very often, just a "jump start". If these things don’t work, wait until they willingly open. They will if they are warm and healthy enough to eat. If not - FORCE FEEDING WON’T HELP. I’ve seen babies die shortly after being force fed. When they do open, mix EXACT formula in fresh, warm water, slightly warm to the touch. For newly hatched babies, keep the mixture pretty runny, but not too watery. Never feed birds water except right on the tip of their beak because they can get pneumonia very easily. As they get older, thicken it up. I always mix a fresh batch every time I feed. Clean all utensils every time. I feed about every half hour from 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. but not at night. When the babies get to be a few weeks old, I start feeding them small mealworms. Make sure they are dead. I get those from RAINBOW MEALWORMS (1-800-777-WORM) Make sure that you keep everything refrigerated, clean and fresh. Bacteria loves that stuff and they can get crop infections easily. They have a crop instead of a stomach. The crop can be seen on both the sides of their neck. When full, it looks like a balloon. You can easily see it (when they have no feathers) and it is full. Be careful not to suck up too much air into the eyedropper and get this air into their crop. Feed just a few drops at first. When they are very young, you will have to watch their crop. Don’t fill them so full that they look like they could pop! They will soon let you know when they are full. This may sound difficult, but it really isn’t too bad. The birds help you a lot after the first few days. It does take a lot of dedication for about a month, but the results are fantastic if you want a very tame pet! Article © lady gouldian finch.com 2000 |
