My Finches' egg hatched! advice needed

[dogzr#1]

Well my Finches laid an egg around two weeks ago and today I looked in their nest and saw a baby finch! We estimated s/he hatched around 1 hour ago. I need some advice on how to care for him and I need some wishes that he makes it. He looks really cute because he is so small and he doesn't have any feathers. Please give me advice! thanks:) -Monica

ps: I called our local pet store and they recommended special formula. I just need other advice like what to feed him when he gets older. thanks again:)

[jesse_3]

Well, congrats on the little egg hatching! I went out online, and found this:

Brooder
I built my own brooder from stuff around the house. It would be nice to have a real brooder but they are very expensive, and I am only an enthusiastic hobbyist.

Material list:
A bowl, small aquarium, or plastic carrying case. I have used a shoebox in the past with no problems.
A heating pad (set on low)
A small plastic bowl or Canary nest
A washcloth
A small glass of water
Something to measure temp (Keep the temp around 98 degrees)
Many Kleenex's and paper towels
Place the heating pad in the box, or around the shoe box so it covers the bottom and at least some of the sides. Add in the small bowl or Canary nest with a Kleenex to help soak up the droppings. The small glass of water is also kept inside in the makeshift incubator to add the much needed humidity. As the water evaporates add more. Place a thermometer in the incubator and place the lid gently on top. It works best if there is a half an inch on each side of the lid left open so air can circulate. Give it time to warm up and check the temperature. Keeping the temperature 96 to 99 degrees is best for young finches but should be slowly lowered as the chick grows feathers.

I used the wash cloth to adjust the height of the bowl/nest inside the brooder, this allowed me to more finely tune the temperature for the chick as it grew.

EDIT: Here is a pic of the brooder this lady made:
http://www.finchniche.com/f-handraising4.jpg

Hand Feeding Formula
Lafeber's Instant NutriStart hand feeding formula mixed with Gerber's Rice Cereal with Applesauce and water or Pedialyte worked the best for raising my finches. The Bird Care Co. also has a nice hand feeding mix called Gold Label Hand Rearing Formula which works very well. I used a small Oral Tipped Syringe for the feedings. narrow or long tip made feeding the zebra chick easier.

If you have a chick that is 1 to 8 days of age, you may need to use the flat end of a flat tooth pick. The syringe will not work for anything that small. It is best to just let the chick have one small drop at a time and swallow the food on its own.

Mix the ingredients into a thin yogurt like texture for younger chicks and thickening it slightly as the chick grows. Make fresh food for every feeding and clean the syringe thoroughly after every use. Also never force feed a chick, the risk of aspirating is too great.


I hope that helps!! Good luck to you and your baby finch!!
Steph and Splinter

[Giselle]

Are the parents not taking care of the chick??? :confused:

Hand-raising birds is extremely risky and often leads to fatality. You need to learn it from another more experienced breeder to fully understand how to do it. I had an emergency situation where I had to hand-feed a couple of budgie chicks and it was not a pleasant experience. I had nobody to teach me. All I had were a few websites with conflicting information, and by the end of the day, I had a dead chick in my hands. I don't want to scare you, really, but hand-feeding is not simple if this is your first clutch and you've never bred before.

There are many risks involved, including burning the crop of the chick with too hot formula, choking the chick with too cold formula, aspirating the chick by squirting the food down the wrong pipe, and the inevitable feeding too much/too little. I know quite a few beginners who fed too little and their chicks developed much more slowly and had abnormalities due to malnutrition. Once you get the hang of it, however, it's actually very simple. But seeing as this seems to be your first clutch, my advice is to let mom and dad do the work.

Here's a greyt link. I think it's one of the best out there:
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/feeding.html

[dogzr#1]

Thanks a ton!! They aren't really taking care of him like it said in the books I've been reading. They don't sit on him much (they do a little during the day and all night). I think I'll try handfeeding if they don't feed him or take care of him properly. I bought some formula for the chick so I'll give him that. Well again thanks:)

[Giselle]

Honestly, finches aren't the best birds to handfeed :/ Especially since the chick is, what, around 24-48 hours old? He'll need around the clock feedings, LITERALLY. With my two-week old or so budgie chicks, I had to wake up at 6 am to feed them for every three hours after that until 12 am midnight. Of course, finches are different and I suppose they mature much quicker, so you'll actually have to feed more frequently but for less days. I took plenty of naps, but, regardless, it requires a lot of time and effort. Handfeeding is not an easy task and it sounds like Mom and Dad are doing an adequate job. I'm not familiar with finches, but budgie moms are supposed to leave the nest box every now and then for a little foot exercise and water/food breaks. Truly, birds make the best moms :p I would let them handle it and unless you see the chick is being ignored/unfed, *then* I would intervene. Good Luck! They're very cute, rat-looking things at this stage ;)

[bckrazy]

Dogz, are you supplementing your finches diets? They'll need a lot of extra nutrients and special feed to care for their babies.

:) I agree that hand-feeding should be avoided if at ALL possible!