Raising juvenile birds
Raising juvenile birds: Diets
You should also be aware that birds have high-energy requirements. This is due to their high metabolic rate, high body temperature (around 41 - 43 C) and a fast heart rate (exceeding 400 beats per minute in small birds). Their energy requirements will be increased further by disease, injury and their stage of development. Young birds require large amounts of food to survive. However, there is not a standard percentage of body weight that will work for all birds. Factors you will need to consider about the bird when deciding the quantity and frequency of feeding include:- size;
- age;
- sex;
- species;
- size of the bird’s crop (if present);
- size of the bird’s ventriculus (stomach or gizzard);
- reproductive status;
- disease or injury;
- energy content of the diet;
- appetite;
- ease of force-feeding;
- level of exercise during hospitalisation;
- level of anxiety produced by hospitalisation; and
- ambient temperature.
Here are some other tips:
- Feed adult small birds every two hours during daylight.
- Adult kookaburra and tawny frogmouth sized birds can be fed once daily.
- Feed nocturnal birds at night
- Feed as much live food as possible to enhance self-feeding (e.g. mealworms wriggling in a bowl of insectivore mix crumble).
- Have water available in a dish the bird can get its whole beak into.
- Drinking water should always be available, even if you never see them drink.
- Spray or drizzle water on the corner of the beak everyday.
- Cover the front of the cage for anxious birds.
Quantity and frequency of feeding
As a guide, juvenile parrots have been successfully hand-raised on the following quantities:- 30g parrot – 2g per feed; and
- 300g parrot – 30g per feed
Although this is about 10 percent of their body weight, this is not a rule to use in isolation from the other considerations listed above. Overfeeding can lead to crop dysfunction, aspirating and death. Remember that young birds are generally poor judges of how much they should eat.
Juvenile birds will need to be fed every 1.5 to 3 hours until they are weaned. Diurnal birds feed their young from dawn to dusk. For the hand rearer, feeding from 6.30 am until 11.30 pm works quite well.
Adult birds weighing less than 50g, particularly insectivorous birds accustomed to hunting, may need to be hand or force-fed every 2 to 3 hours until it is established that they are feeding themselves. A 50g bird should be fed about 0.2-0.5g (up to 1 percent of its bodyweight at each feed). Care must be taken to ensure that the airway is not blocked by any food after each feed.
A fasted bird will die in a few hours to a few days (e.g. kookaburras), depending
on its size. To succeed with birds it is essential that you get their identification
right, know what diet you should feed them and feed it regularly while it recovers
from its injuries. If the bird is only producing a small amount of faeces, then
it is not getting enough food. Remember that it is always better to add the
stress of force-feeding than to let a bird starve to death in your care.
Cockatoos and parrots
You can identify cockatoos and parrots by their distinctive bills. These birds will eat from a bent spoon, as it resembles the parent’s beak. To feed them, insert the first part of the spoon into the beak. Feed the young bird until its crop is well rounded. Do not feed it again until the crop is empty. You can learn to identify when the bird’s crop is full by feeling it before and after you have fed the bird.|
Young parrots need to be fed three to four feeds a day. Always make sure that the feed mixture is warm as these birds will refuse or spit out food if it is too cold. Young cockatoos and parrots become tame very quickly. To reduce human impact, never pat or cuddle a bird. You should also place pictures of adult birds of the same species around its cage and avoid eye contact. Try to feed the bird in such a way that it does not see more than your hand and the spoon, and cover your hand with a sock that is the same colour as the adult bird (i.e. white for sulphur crested cockatoos and green for redwing parrots). A tame parrot is very difficult to release. |
 Baby galah |
 Heinz high protein baby cereal |
The following are suggested diets for young parrots:
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Store this mixture in an airtight container and take out as much as you need each day for feeding. Mix with warm water to make a slurry.
You can also buy commercial parrot hand rearing products, such as Paswell parrot hand rearing food and Wombaroo granivore rearing mix. These products should be made up according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
In the early stages young parrots can be kept in a hospital cage (solid walls and a mesh wire front). It will be easier to the feed the bird if the cage has a door that opens from the top. Young birds can be kept warm with a heater pad, hot water bottle or a lamp with a 40-watt bulb. The young birds should be able to move from the heat source if they become too warm. Young birds that are able to perch can be transferred to a “cocky cage” that has two or three solid walls. Cover the top of the cage with a towel for added protection.
| As the young parrot grows, thicken the porridge (add less water) and add soaked budgerigar seeds to the mixture. This will teach the bird to crunch on seeds. Commercial bird seed mix can be spread over the bottom of the cage along with shell grit, nuts from native trees, greens, pieces of firm fruit (e.g. apple), and vegetables (e.g. broccoli, sweet potato, beans) and sprouting seed mixes. The frequency of feeds should be reduced to encourage birds to start feeding for themselves. The bird will also pick up foraging tips from adults of the same species in the area. Eventually the young bird will start to crack and eat seeds by itself. Keep a good eye on the bird’s weight at this stage as some difficult birds will refuse to eat and may start to lose weight. |
 Plate of seed |
Another good way to start them eating for themselves is to put a bowl of “parrot porridge” in the cage and gently push the bird’s beak into the mixture. After a few times the young bird may start to drink the mix itself.
Slowly add more solid food to the mix (e.g. rolled oats and small soaked seeds) and over a week or two the young bird will start eating seed for itself.
Once the young bird is eating well by itself for at least two weeks it can be transferred to an open aviary.
Finches
These are small birds with relatively broad beaks. They have black or coloured spots inside their mouths, which help identify the species.| Finches are best fed with a syringe or eyedropper. To feed
them, tap the “nest” and the young bird will open its mouth (gape) for food.
Place the tip of a 1ml syringe or eyedropper in the bird’s mouth and slowly
release the mixture. Do not overfill the crop (it should be visible and
about the size of the birds head). Do not feed the bird until the crop is
empty. These birds need three to five feeds a day. The following is a diet for young finches:
|
 Gouldinan finch |
Store this mixture in an airtight container. In the early stages, young finches can be housed in a small hospital cage (three solid walls and a wire mesh front), preferably with a lid lifting at the top to make feeding easier. The young birds can be kept warm using a heater pad, hot water bottle or lamp with a 40-watt bulb. The young birds should be allowed to move from the heat source if they become too warm.
 Plate of seed |
As the finches grow and start fledging they can be moved to a small budgerigar cage with perches. The porridge mixture should be slowly thickened. A mixture of soaked budgerigar or canary seed, shell grit, sprouted seeds, finely chopped greens (e.g. spinach or lettuce), native seeding grasses and, occasionally, insects (e.g. mealworms) can be spread over the bottom of the cage. To encourage the finches to eat seeds, place the cage near an adult bird so the young bird can watch and copy its actions. If this is not possible, tap the seed with your finger at regular intervals throughout the day to encourage the finches to come to the ground to eat. You will also encourage them to eat for themselves by reducing the number of syringe feeds to one a day over a period of two weeks. Keep a close eye on their weight as some birds may refuse to eat for themselves and start losing weight. |
When finches can eat seed for themselves, move them into a larger cage (at least 1sq.m.) or an aviary to allow them to develop their flight muscles. Make sure the cage wire is not too far apart as the young bird may get out.
Seed eating pigeons and doves
 Brown pigeon |
Seed-eating pigeons and doves are fine-billed with a small bump or rise at their nostrils. These birds feed by placing their beak inside their parents’ beak. To stimulate the parent feeding method, hold your left hand (or right hand if you are left handed) over the chick with its beak between the upside “V” created between the web of your index and middle finger. By applying slight downward pressure, you can make the bird gape. Use a syringe to introduce food as they gape. The birds should swallow periodically. This is messy process at first and will take a few feeds for both you and the bird to perfect. Do not overfill the crop (it should feel soft) and wait until it is empty before feeding again. You should only need to feed the bird three or four times a day. |
A suggested diet for these birds is as follows:
- 1 cup Wombaroo granivore rearing mix
- 1 cup Heinz high-protein baby cereal
- 1 pinch of calcium powder
- 1 pinch Ornithon (or other powdered bird vitamin)
Store the dry mixture in an airtight container and take out as much as you need for the day. Add warm water to make a slurry.
Before fledging, the bird can be housed in a hospital cage (three solid walls and a mesh wire front), preferably with a lid lifting at the top to make for feeding easier. The young bird can be kept warm with a heater pad, hot water bottle or a lamp with a 40-watt bulb. It should be able to move from the heat source if it becomes too warm.
| As the bird begins to show perching behaviour, move it to a small cage with perches in it. This will give it an opportunity to exercise its legs and wings. To encourage the young bird to begin feeding itself, spread a mixture of soaked seeds shell grit, sprouted seeds and finely chopped greens (e.g. spinach or lettuce) over the bottom of the cage. Another dove or pigeon within sight of the young bird will also encourage it to feed itself. |
 Plate of seed |
You can also stimulate feeding by placing a bowl of “dove porridge” in the cage and gently pushing the bird’s beak into the mixture. After doing this a few times the young bird should start to drink the mix. Slowly add more solid foods to the mix (e.g. rolled oats and soaked seeds) and over a week or two the young bird will be eating seed for itself. Keep a close eye on the bird’s weight during this period as some young birds may refuse to eat for themselves. Once the young bird is eating for itself it can be moved to an aviary so it can get flight practice and develop its muscles.
Insectivorous birds
These birds include pardalotes, trillers, flycatchers, bee-eaters, wood swallows, dollarbirds, cuckoo-shrikes, babblers, drongos, mudlarks, cuckoos, pratincoles and nightjars. The chicks of these birds range in size and shape. Dusky woodswallow |
They also tend to have a wider mouth than you would expect when comparing them to an adult bird of the same species. In general young birds will gape for food if you tap the “nest”. To stimulate feeding behaviour in nightjars, touch the top of the beak where the feathers start. To feed these types of birds, place small food items in their mouth with tweezers, forceps or the blunt end of a toothpick (for the smaller types). You should keep feeding them until they stop gaping. It is a good idea to dip each food item in water to help the birds swallow and to increase their water intake. Smaller insectivores, like pardalotes, flycatchers, trillers and bee-eaters are very high-energy birds and require frequent feeding (this can be as often as every half an hour). Larger birds will need to be fed every two to three hours throughout the day, or, for nightjars, the night. |
The following two recipes are suitable for insectivorous birds:
1.
- 100g low fat mince (preferably preservative free; if you have your own mincer, mince up heart)
- 1 finely chopped hard-boiled egg (include the finely ground shell)
- 1 heaped tablespoon of Wombaroo Insectivore rearing mix
- Mix to form a most crumble.
2.
- 100 g low fat mince (minced heart is best)
- 1 finely chopped hard-boiled egg (include the finely ground shell)
- 1 heaped teaspoon of ground dog kibble
- 1 heaped teaspoon of unprocessed bran
- 1 pinch of calcium powder
- 1 pinch of Ornithon (or other bird multivitamin)
Mix together to form a crumble.
Meat mix should be kept in the fridge and made daily. You can also freeze the mix in small portions, and take a portion from the freezer daily.
Note: It is important to give these birds a variety of insects (e.g. spiders, moths (not colourful ones as these are usually poisonous), grasshoppers, beetles, cockroaches, thrips, weevils, ants, wasps, flies, caterpillars, mealworms crickets or maggots) every day Insects for very young birds should be killed just before feeding and spiky legs like those found on grasshoppers and crickets removed. Larger insect eaters such as babblers and cuckoo-shrikes can be fed baby mice (whole or cut into pieces) and small lizards.
Cuckoo-shrikes and mudlarks are prone to becoming imprinted on humans.
To avoid this, raise these birds in small groups or pairs. Do make eye contact with the birds and feed them with a sock over your hand that is a similar colour to the adult bird. If you cannot raise them as a pair, put the orphan somewhere where it can see an adult of the same species.
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It is also important that these birds are exposed to direct sunlight (not through glass) for a short period each day. This is to provide them with vitamin D3, which is required for growing healthy bones. If you are unable provide the bird with direct sunlight, vitamin D3 is also available as a vitamin/mineral supplement. These supplements are available through veterinary clinics or pet stores. Young nest-bound birds can be housed in a hospital cage (three solid walls and a mesh wire front) with a lid that lifts from the top. The young birds can be kept warm using a heater pad, hot water bottle or a lamp with a 40-watt bulb. They should be able to move from the heat source if they get too warm. When the young bird becomes fully feathered and starts to perch it can be moved to a small cage. Covering the cage with flywire will make it easier to keep live insects inside. At this stage, the bird should begin feeding for itself. To aid in this process, place a bowl of insects alongside some meat mix. Meat mix that is left in the cage should be changed twice daily as it tends to go rotten quickly especially during humid conditions. When you are sure the bird is eating, reduce the number of handfeeds until it is feeding itself. Note: You should reduce the number of hand feeds over a two week period to make sure that the young bird does not lose body condition during this time. |
 Nankeen night heron |
After the young birds are feeding for themselves they can be moved into an aviary. You can begin to teach them to catch food while flying by releasing moths and other flying insects into the cage and by throwing mealworms and little balls of meat mix in to the air. They will soon get the idea and start swooping for their food. This is a very important process, as some bird species will need to learn how to hunt for their food. It is also important that the bird does not see that the food is coming from you. Try to hide behind a bush when you are throwing the meat mix and mealworms.
 Rainbow bee-eater |
Pratincoles are ground birds that catch their prey while walking along the ground. Encourage these birds to hunt by placing insects in the leaf litter. The smaller insect eaters such as pardalotes, trillers and flycatchers tend to drink water from dewdrops on leaves so it is a good idea to place fresh leafy branches in the cage and spray them with a water bottle a couple of times a day. Some ways that you can attract insects to the aviary naturally are by planting some small trees and bushes, by placing an insect attracting light next to the cage at night and by leaving a small amount of spoilt fruit next to the cage. |
Small carnivores
Small carnivorous birds include kookaburras, kingfishers, butcherbirds, crows, pheasant coucals and tawny frogmouths. These birds gape for their food, which can be given to them with forceps or tweezers. It may take these birds a day or two to get used to you feeding them and, as they grow older, they are less likely to want to take food from you. These small birds can also become imprinted on humans. To overcome this, raise the birds in pairs or put the orphan where it can see an adult bird of the same species. Moreover, avoid making eye contact with the orphan and put a sock that is the same colour as the adult on your hand when you are feeding it. These birds need to be fed four to five times a day.Kookaburras are extremely territorial. Therefore, it is a good idea to foster a young orphan with a family group of birds. To do this, place the bird in a covered box with a large entrance hole in a tree close to where a family of kookaburras is nesting. The family group will probably accept the chick if they have chicks of their own of a similar age and the new chick is a “baby” that calls out for attention. If you adopt this rehabilitation method, you should only feed the bird once in the morning before you take it out and once in the evening after you bring it in. You will need to keep a close eye on the bird’s weight in case supplementary feeding is required. Even if the family group is not feeding the young kookaburra it is still very important to raise the baby close to where a family of kookaburras lives.
In this way you can mimic the stages that the wild baby birds are going through and the kookaburra family may be more likely to accept the orphan in their territory when you release it.
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Following are three recipes for food for small carnivorous birds.
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 Tawny frogmouth |
The meat mix should be made daily and kept in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the mix in small portions.
It is also important to include natural foods in the bird’s diet. Insects, baby or adult mice, baby rats and day old chickens should be fed to the birds daily, as the fur, feathers and bones of these animals are an important source of nutrition and roughage. It is normal for birds to regurgitate a pellet of fur or feathery material. The regurgitated matter is the indigestible portion of the prey. Some species may also have particular food requirements. For example, some species of kingfisher have a high proportion of fish and crustaceans in their diets. Mosquito fish or guppies are easily bred at home in a fish tank or you can catch live fish with a net in a local creek. These live foods are much more nutritious than frozen fish. Tawny frogmouths should be fed at night whenever possible and should have a high percentage of insects in their diet.
If you are feeding frozen food to a carnivorous birds, sprinkle a pinch of multivitamin powder (e.g. Ornithon) over the food once a day to make up for the vitamins and minerals that are destroyed in the freezing process.
When small carnivorous birds are nest bound they can be housed in a hospital cage (three solid walls and a mesh wire front), preferably with a lid that lifts from the top to make it easier to feed the bird. The young bird can be kept warm with a heater pad, hot water bottle or a lamp with a 40- watt bulb. It should be able to move from the heat source if it gets too warm.
When the bird begins perching it should be moved to a small cage.
Pheasant coucals can be kept in a rabbit or guinea pig cage, with one end covered and low perches placed inside. Meat mix and insects can be placed in a bowl inside the cage. Feed the bird directly from the bowl so it understands where the food comes from and starts taking food itself.
Reduce the number of hand feeds it gets (so that the bird is a little hungry) over a fortnight to further encourage the bird to feed for itself. You will need to keep a close eye on the young bird’s weight during this time, as some birds refuse to take food themselves.
Move the bird into a large aviary when it is able to feed for itself. Smaller insect-eaters will need to be taught to catch their prey. You can do this by introducing them to live insects when they are fledging. Moreover, you can encourage the birds to catch their prey by throwing balls of meat mix or dead mice into the air. However, you should make sure that the bird does not see that the food is coming from you. Since birds like kookaburras and butcherbirds often take prey from the ground you can encourage them to catch their prey by tying a piece of cotton around a dead mouse or day-old chicken and slowly drag it through the leaf litter at the bottom of the aviary. The bird will usually jump down to investigate. Let them take the carcass from you.
Large carnivores
Inexperienced carers should not rear large carnivorous birds, such as raptors and owls. Special permits are required for their rehabilitation. White-bellied sea eagle |
All raptors must be taken to an experienced raptor rehabilitator. The QPWS will give you the name of a raptor carer. To be able to care for raptors, you must undertake training with an QPWS-approved raptor carer. Moreover, you will need to have a minimum 4m long aviary in which to house the animals. Rehabilitating these birds takes a lot of time and money. The large carnivorous birds are easily recognised by their curved beak and strong claws. Raptors and owls are easily fed with forceps, but will quickly learn to grasp and tear their food from the instrument. These birds can become imprinted on humans, making it very difficult to release them. You can prevent this by putting a hand-puppet that resembles a hawk on your hand when you feed the bird. |
| Although these birds can be fed meat mix, like the smaller carnivorous birds, it is extremely important that natural foods are included in their diet. Bones, fur and feathers are a very important part of their diets. Usually these products are regurgitated up as a casting. If you are unable to get a constant supply of mice or chickens, meat mix can be supplemented with small amounts of cotton wool to take the place of feathers and fur. |
 Day old chickens |
Raptors and owls must be taught to hunt their prey and many experienced raptor rehabilitators use a form of falconry to teach the birds how to catch food. This involves using a rabbit, chicken or other small mammal tied to a piece of rope on a pulley system so that the dead prey can be pulled quickly through the grass.
Nectivorous birds
Nectivorous birds include small honeyeaters, friar birds, blue faced honeyeaters and miner birds. As a group these birds are quite easy to identify, as most species have a wide, bright orange-yellow mouth (except for the blue-faced honeyeater which has a black mouth when it is young) and a long, thin beak. Brown honeyeater |
Although these birds are called nectivorous (nectar feeding),
a high proportion of their natural diet is insects. They are very easy to
feed as they gape for food. However, they also have high energy requirements,
which means they must be fed frequently, sometimes every 30 minutes. Unfortunately, they imprint on to people, which makes them difficult to release. To prevent this, raise them in pairs, avoid eye contact, place a sock that is the same colour as an adult of the species on your hand when you feed the bird and place pictures of adult birds around the cage. |
Following are two feeding mixes.
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Nest-bound birds can be housed in a hospital cage (three solid walls and a mesh wire front) that has a lid that lifts from the top. This feature makes it easier to feed the bird. The young birds can be kept warm with a heater pad, hot water bottle or a lamp with a 40-watt bulb. However, make sure that they are able to move from the heat source if they get too warm. As the bird starts to perch it can be transferred to a small cage with sheltered sides, including one with flyscreen (this will keep the live insects in). The amount of meat mix in their diet should be reduced as they get older.
| Wombaroo honeyeater mix can be placed in a small container
in the cage with them. An upside down bird water-feeder which clips to the
outside of the cage is good for this as there is only a small space for
the birds to drink from and they do not to get it all over themselves. If
you gently push their beak into the mixture the young birds will soon get
the idea and start drinking. Small pieces of fruit and flowers should also
be included in their diet. Nectar-rich flowers such as eucalypts, grevilleas
and bottlebrushes are a good choice. You can encourage honeyeaters to select
these flowers by rolling them in dry Wombaroo honeyeater mix. Transfer honeyeaters to an aviary when they have been feeding for themselves for about two weeks. Planting small trees and bushes within the aviary will give them somewhere to hide and additional food. A moth attracting light next to the aviary and a small amount of rotting fruit outside the enclosure will attract edible insects. Studies of honeyeaters have shown that birds that have not been taught to feed or find food themselves, or are imprinted on people, have a poor chance of surviving in the wild once they are released. Most of these birds will return to a carer sick or die shortly after being released. Therefore, it is extremely important to release these birds only after they have learnt how and where to find food. |
 Spiny-cheeked honeyeater |
The miners and blue-faced honeyeaters are extremely territorial birds. You must be extremely careful where you raise and release these birds. If possible, raise orphans near a family group of the species. Place the young bird in a sheltered cage outside. If the family has young of their own, they may accept your bird and feed it through the bars of the cage.
If this occurs, release the young honeyeater at the fledgling stage as it will probably be taken into the family of honeyeaters. Keep an eye on the bird, making sure it is not bullied. If problems arise, retrieve the baby, raise it in an aviary and release it in an area where there are no other honeyeaters.
Frugivores
Frugivores include lorikeets, figbirds, orioles, bowerbirds, Torresian pigeons and rose-crowned fruit doves. Superb fruit dove |
Lorikeets have a beak similar to a parrot’s and a tongue that is covered in hair-like structures to help them to extract nectar from flowers. Lorikeets will eat a slurry-like mix designed for parrots off a bent spoon. Figbirds, orioles and bowerbirds are all similar birds. They have a wide gape to their mouth and a long, thick beak. They are mainly fruit eaters. |
Fruit pieces can be placed in their mouth with forceps. Torresian pigeons and
rose-crowned fruit doves have a long beak with a bump at their nostrils, similar
to other pigeons and doves. They can be fed in a similar way to seed-eating
pigeons and doves, using a syringe and placing your hand over the top of the
bird’s beak. Feed the bird until its crop is full. Wait until the crop empties
before feeding it again.
Birds in this group are very easily imprinted on people and therefore should
be raised in pairs. Alternatively, reduce imprinting by avoiding eye contact
with the bird, putting a sock the colour of the adult of the species on your
hand when you feed the bird and place pictures of adults around the cage. You
can also play recordings of the calls of the adults near the cage.
Lorikeet food recipe:
Add water to make it runny. As the bird gets older, add small pieces of fruit to the mixture. |
Figbirds, oriole and bowerbird food recipe:
Add water to make it runny. Dip small pieces of fruit and meat mix in equal portions in this mix and feed to the bird. |
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Young birds can be kept warm with a heater pad, hot water bottle or a lamp with a 40-watt bulb. They should be able to move from the heat source if they get too warm. These birds should be moved to a small birdcage when they begin to perch. |
 Rainbow lorikeet chick |
You can teach them how to feed for themselves by hanging a bowl of fruit in
the cage and taking fruit from the bowl when you feed them. Bunches of fruit
(e.g. grapes) can be hung in the cage. It’s a good idea to surround the fruit
with a few leafy branches to simulate conditions in the wild. Pigeons eat fruit
wýýýý, so do not feed them anything larger than a grape.
Other fruit-eating birds, on the other hand, will pick at larger fruit or pieces
of fruit, such as paw-paw or rockmelon. Lorikeets should also be offered nectar
mix and wild flowers. Nectar-rich flowers such as eucalypts, grevilleas and
bottlebrushes are a good choice. Once fledging, the other birds in this group
will not need additional nectar mix.
Transfer these birds to a large aviary to give them some flight practice once
they start feeding for themselves. It is a good idea to plant small trees and
bushes in the aviary to give the birds shelter.
Mainly carnivorous ground birds
These birds are born in a precocial or relatively well-developed state and are covered in downy feathers. They have long, thin legs and are able to feed themselves from birth, only requiring a bit of encouragement from their parents who collect the food and place it in front of them. With a small amount of encouragement from you, the young can also learn how to feed for themselves. You should start by tapping the food and picking it up and dropping it in front of them, just as an adult bird would.|
These chicks can very quickly become imprinted on people. Therefore, it is advisable to raise them in pairs. If another curlew or masked lapwing cannot be found, they can be raised with baby chickens. The chickens will teach them how to eat and prevent the bird imprinting on humans. These birds are mainly insect-eaters but will also take seeds and greens. Curlews will eat small mammals, while lapwings will eat small fish caught from the edge of creeks and waterways. One third of these birds’ diets should be meat mix. The remainder should be seeds and greens. |
 Bustard |
The following is a good diet for these birds. Meat mix
Mix to form a moist crumble. Or
Mix together to form a crumble. |
To this meat you can add a small amount of the following ingredients (1:2 meat mix to greens and seed): chopped mixed greens (lettuce, spinach, celery, parsley, Chinese green vegetables) and mixed seeds (finch seed and cracked corn).
Initially curlews can be housed in a large box with a “house”, such as a rabbit hutch or guinea pig cage, Lapwings can be kept in a box or fish tank lined with newspaper and a little bit of leaf litter. A desk lamp with a 40- watt globe should be placed at one end of the box for warmth; however, make sure there is enough room for the bird to move away from the heat source if it gets too hot. To help the young chick feel secure, hang a new soft string mop head or a clean feather duster close to the globe.
These birds can be moved to a large aviary when they begin to fledge.
Ideally the aviary should contain small shrubs and other plants that the young bird can use as cover. Aviaries should have a dirt floor or concrete floor that is covered in thick mulch. The dirt or mulch, combined with an insect-attracting light, will attract live food to the cage. Curlews can also be tempted with baby rats and mice.
Omnivorous water birds
Ducks and geese are born in a precocial or relatively mature state and are covered in downy feathers. Typically they have webbed feet and are able to feed themselves from birth, only requiring a bit of encouragement from their parents. In captivity, they learn how to feed themselves with a small amount of encouragement from you. Providing the young with live food will make this process easier. Magpie geese with chicks |
Unless you get a bird that has just hatched, young geese and ducks will imprint on people. However, magpie geese will become very tame. Therefore, it is important to avoid eye contact and limit your interactions with them. Burdekin ducks can be difficult to rear, as they never seem to settle with people around and often try to get away. Moreover, they will not accept people tapping in front of them to stimulate feeding. You can overcome this by getting a young chicken or domestic duck that is already eating to teach these birds to eat in captivity. Alternatively, a Burdekin duck with ducklings will foster an orphaned duck. Since water insects make up part of the natural diet, their diet in captivity should also include protein. Ideally, their diet should be one third meat mix with the remainder greens and seeds. |
To this meat mix you can add a small amount of the following ingredients (1:2 meat mix to greens and seeds): chopped mixed greens (lettuce, spinach, celery, parsley, Chinese green vegetables); mixed seeds (finch seed and cracked corn); and duck weed.
Food should be placed in a shallow bowl of water to stimulate their natural, dabbling behaviour. Make sure the ducklings have enough water to dip their bodies into as they start to grow contour feathers. However, it is important that the dish is not too deep or the bird will drown. An upside-down esky lid makes a good bowl.
In the early stages of life, ducklings should be housed in an enclosure with solid walls and a wire top. If you house them in an open cage they are likely to become upset and injure themselves as they try to find their mother. A desk lamp with a 40-watt globe positioned at one end of the cage will keep them warm and a new soft string mop head hung near the warm area will make them feel safe.
The following are good recipes for these birds.
Mix together to form a crumble. |
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To this meat mix you can add a small amount of the following ingredients (1:2 meat mix to greens and seeds): chopped mixed greens (lettuce, spinach, celery, parsley, Chinese green vegetables); mixed seeds (finch seed and cracked corn); and duck weed. Food should be placed in a shallow bowl of water to stimulate their natural, dabbling behaviour. Make sure the ducklings have enough water to dip their bodies into as they start to grow contour feathers. However, it is important that the dish is not too deep or the bird will drown. An upside-down esky lid makes a good bowl. In the early stages of life, ducklings should be housed in an enclosure with solid walls and a wire top. If you house them in an open cage they are likely to become upset and injure themselves as they try to find their mother. A desk lamp with a 40-watt globe positioned at one end of the cage will keep them warm and a new soft string mop head hung near the warm area will make them feel safe. |
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Ducklings can be moved into a large, covered pen as they get older. A large rabbit hutch is good, as these usually have a covered area at one end for shelter. When the young birds are fledging they should be introduced into an area containing a dam. Make the area predator-proof by installing a 2m-high dog-proof fence. The birds can eventually be released directly from this area.
Last updated: 11 January 2005
