by Roger & Patty Morris
Much has recently been written regarding the intricacies, or not, of
handfeeding finches. This article is not intended to be a primer on
handfeeding and assumes some knowledge and experience on the part of readers.
Many of the current articles in BirdTalk or Bird Breeder indicate a
preference towards using toothpicks as the delivery tool of choice. We would
not advocate using even a blunted instrument of this type given the
possibility of puncture wounds. Instead try a small eyedropper or 1cc
syringe. Despite their small size even the tiniest finches mouths are capable
of receiving food in this manner.
Contrary to popular belief even the youngest finches usually have a
natural feeding instinct and will ‘pump’ while feeding. This pumping instinct
can make it difficult to get the food into the bird rather than onto the bird,
so it is necessary to control the chicks head inasmuch as you would any other
chick. The easiest way I’ve found of doing this is to gently place my index
and thumb on either side of the chicks head and use my fingers to cradle and
control the head motion.
The formula we use is a commercially prepared handfeeding mixture by
Kaytee which we now supplement with Spirulina and Organic Wheatgrass. The
latter two ingredients are not strictly necessary but we feel it enhances our
babies health. If you choose to do so, add only a pinch of either or both
ingredients, mix thoroughly and feed it only once a day.
Monitor the chicks crop frequently while feeding and stop feeding
immediately if food begins to back up into the mouth. We’ve found that even
our zebra finch and cordon bleu finch chicks can, by the 10-12th day, often
eat as much as 1/2cc per feeding several times daily without overstretching
their little crops or otherwise endangering them.
Weaning is accomplished much in the same way as psittacines, with patience
that is. What we’ve often done with our zebra finch chicks is to place them
into the zebra colony as soon as they’ve fledged. Zebras and other finches
will often continue to be fed long after this has occurred even under natural
circumstances but watch them carefully to ensure that other adult birds have
taken over this job and are indeed feeding them. Within as little as 2-3
weeks the chicks have usually reverted to being ‘wild’ without daily
human interaction. Our goal isn’t to produce tame finch chicks but rather
to ensure their survival when the parents can’t or won’t feed them.
In short, handfeeding finches requires no more patience or delicacy than
handfeeding psittacines. There are, however, some pitfalls to be aware of:
Finches do not have the same type of crop as most psittacines and have
faster metabolism, therefore they do require slightly more frequent feedings.
Typically we feed every 2-4 hours depending upon the age of the chick.
Again, due to the size of the bird and the type of crop you must be
especially careful not to make the formula overly runny and pause frequently
to avoid aspirating the chick.
Often the chick will continue soliciting feeding long after the crop
appears full. Do not take this as a sign that it requires more food. They
can and will overeat given the opportunity!
Weighing finch chicks or otherwise attempting to track their weight gains
is an exercise in futility as they weigh too little for even the best gram
scale to really discern.
For those interested in handfeeding chicks of any species, I highly
recommend the book “Handfeeding and Nursery Management” by Rick Jordan and
Howard Voren as an excellent source of information.
