FINCHforum

Please help! My parent Java Finches threw a half hatched Java egg out of the nest and abandoned the rest of their eggs. I put the other eggs in an incubator at 99.6-99.8 Fahrenheit I put the chick in a brooder and he is now fully hatched. When do I start feeding and what do I do? Please help ASAP. Do I need pedialyte?

I think he will be ok for at least 24 hours. I have only raised a nest of baby wild finches, so can't help much. For them, I used Harrison's Neonate formula for baby birds. You can use most any baby bird brand at a pet store. Some use Kaytee. It comes in a dry package and you follow the directions. With the neonate, I heated water and checked the water with a meat thermometer. It was to 100 - 103 degrees. Then I mixed in some neonate formula to a consistency that was thick enough, but not too thick that it wouldn't move easily through a syringe. I used a syringe to just place a little bit in their beak as they begged for food. I don't know for sure how old these were. When they stopped begging, I stopped feeding. But about two hours later they were hungry again. I did not feed during the night, between about 11 pm and 7 am. Yours are younger. I would follow directions on the formula you get. It is very unusual for Javas not to feed babies. It would be so much better to have them feed. For them to do that, they would need some hard boiled egg shredded or finely crushed with maybe some shaved broccoli tops mixed in. All the food that they would feed would be soft. There is more about feeding baby birds on the forum in older topics. I hope this helps.

Here are some links to some articles on hand feeding:

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12441
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36559
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36591

I did a fair amount of hand feeding in the past. I found that I preferred LaFeber's hand feeding formula, seemed to be a bit smoother, but you will have to use what you can find locally.

When I first started with this, I got up every couple of hours during the night the first few days. I found I was having to wake the babies, and then I worried about aspirating them, since they weren't really begging. I found that a schedule of last feed at 12 midnight and first feed at 6 am worked for me, and every 2 hours during the day for the first week or so. You will gradually be able to stretch it out to last feed at ll pm, first feed at 7 am, with feeds every 3 then 4 hours.

Two things to watch out for: don't let the formula be too hot, as it will then burn the crop of the baby. I fed formula when it was warm to the touch. and, don't force the baby to eat, let it beg, as that helps get the food to the right place.

Good luck with it, hand feeding can be so very rewarding. I would think, with Java finches being so intelligent and easily tamed, that you could get a great tamed Java finch out of this experience.

wildbird

Thank you so much for your help! The chick that was thrown out ended up dying yesterday. His wing and foot had red spots so I think he was hurt from being thrown out.
The eggs in the incubator are doing well. One actually hatched last night. It was really neat to see that. The chick is doing pretty well. I’m keeping him warm and I’ve been feeding him throughout the day. He begs and I even heard him chirp quietly. He’s a fawn chick (the parents are a normal grey split to fawn male and a fawn female) so I’m really excited. Two of the other three eggs have been hopping around a bit so I’m expecting them to hatch soon. I candled the third egg and it looks like it’s still alive. Is there anything I need to watch for or do?
It is odd for the parent Javas to abandon their clutch. They’ve raised chicks before so I don’t know what happened this time. I guess they got scared or something. I would love to be able to put the chicks back in their nest but the parents have totally abandoned it.

Thank you again for your help.

Sally
Thanks for all the info and the links. I just fed him for his last feeding tonight. I’m so scared but so far everything seems to be going well! He made it through his first day!! I’ve fed some canary chicks in the past for the first few days while their parents learned what to do but I haven’t fed the chick for the full time so I’ll probably have more questions especially during the weaning stage. wildbird gave me some helpful input too! I’m worried about aspirating him. Do you have any tips on how to avoid this? Thanks again!

To avoid aspirating, don't give too much at one time and don't feed if the chick isn't begging.

I'll repeat what wildbird said--go slow, not too much food at one time, and don't force it. If the baby wants food, it will beg, and the begging action puts the baby's body in the right position to help avoid aspirating. No begging, no food.

wildbird and Sally thank you!

Here are some pictures of the chicks. They’re doing well and enjoying their feedings!

Sally and wildbird

The two chicks are doing well and getting bigger. I think they are 7 and 8 days old. How many days until their eyes open and they get feathers? When do I lower the temperature?

Their eyes should be opening any day now. Feathers will probably start to come out in about a week. They are looking good! Hand fed babies sometimes are a little behind parent-raised babies in development, but they catch up quickly once weaned.

Here is a chart on temperatures for a brooder at various stages. This comes from the Finch Information Center:

Stage of chick's development
Temperature of brooder
Newly hatched
92-94°F (33.3-34.4 °C)
Older, but still unfeathered
90-92°F (32.2-33.3 °C)
Pin feathers present
85-90°F (29.4-32.2 °C)
Fully feathered
75-80°F (23.9-26.7 °C)
Weaned
Room temperature

Here is another article on Java finches:

http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/ ... parrow.php

finchescb

Those hatchlings are dehydrated- and need re-hydration liquid immediately. You can see by the skin/eyes and also the age of the babies.....
I would also note the crops are not sufficiently full- so while it is important to not aspirate, not getting nutrients say (30min-1 hour during waking hour) can be determinant.

Thank you for your help Sally and Mishka!