Hand Rearing zebra finches

[Nebelung97]

Hey everyone! After a zebra couple lay their eggs and the chicks hatch , when is it a good time to take the baby and hand raise it so its tame? THanks!

[MiaCarter]

Hi there!
I sent this to you in a note, but I thought I'd post here too since others may have the same question!

Finches are a bit different from hookbills like parrots. With parrots, you need to take over handfeeding full time for proper taming. This is NOT the case with finches.

It's important to understand that finches are MUCH more fragile than parrots (the most common birds that people handfeed for taming purposes.)
Even with years of handfeeding experience, you would be VERY lucky if you had a 10% survival rate amongst finches that are handfed from day one. If you start handfeeding later in the game, those odds increase a bit. But it's still poor.

They're just incredibly fragile and if your method is off just a tiny bit, you risk aspirating them or they can develop yeast or bacterial infections or they can get hypothermia and die if you're just 2 degrees off with your brooder. The list of problems is just so long.

So here's what I recommend:
Around day 7-10 -- right when the eyes open (it varies according to species. Zebras open around day 7; gouldians a bit later around 9 or 10 days) -- start handling the babies 2x per day and handfeed a snack. Of course you must be careful to ensure you don't overpack the crop. So you may only feed a tiny bit. The amount you feed isn't all that important (unless you're supplementing a baby who's delayed/failure to thrive). It's the act of feeding that's key - it helps the bird view you as a food source and as such, they develop an inherent trust of you.

You must remember to keep them warm. I'll remove them all from the nest, put them on a heating pad where they hang out until it's their turn for a snack and handling. I return them to the nest one by one after they've received a snack and handling.

You can handle before their eyes open, but I've found it doesn't make much of a difference since they're not very aware of their surroundings at this point. I prefer to leave the parents to do their thing undisturbed for the first week.

You simply continue with snacks until they no longer accept food from you. Some will refuse handfeeding around fledging age. Others will continue until weaning.

Once they become more interested in eating independently, you can offer snacks by offering a treat in your hand (egg food, millet, cucumbers - whatever they love.) Offering food is a very effective way for enabling them to confront their fear. Over time, they come to realize that you're trustworthy and you won't do anything frightening or unexpected.

I still handle them at least 2x daily, even if they don't get a snack. The key time is just before fledging age (right when their feathers have come in) to weaning, as that's when they naturally become frightened of humans.
You must extend the amount of time you work with them 2-3 days before fledging age (I aim for at least 90 min/day and sometimes add a third session together around fledging age.) Around this time, I'll usually pick to focus on the birds who are naturally most friendly. Some really enjoy getting head rubs and attention. Others are naturally more shy and don't really enjoy human interactions. I'll just aim to keep the latter group comfortable with me, while I'll focus more intensively on the ones who really love human attention.

Every bird is unique, but on average, you must handle them daily for at least 9-12 months or they will lose that tameness. So it's a commitment. You can't skip a day or you'll regret it. It's shocking the amount of backsliding that can occur. Once they reach about a year of age, that tameness becomes more engrained. But you still need to be consistent about handling daily to keep them tame.

Some opt to skip the handfeeding entirely and simply start handling the babies a few days before fledging. If you've never handfed before, I recommend this approach. Handfeeding snacks does give you a bit of an advantage in the taming process, but it's dangerous. And I'd rather have a live wild bird vs. a dead tame bird.
So simply handling the bird a bit extra, starting 2-3 days before fledging can do the trick. And then, once they're comfortable eating independently, you can start offering treats in your hand.
You can even tame adults using this approach.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of proper handfeeding technique. It must be the right consistency, the right temperature and you can't over-feed. So do some research in this regard if you're going to attempt it.

I also caution that any time you tamper with a nest, you risk the parents abandoning. So you must be prepared to take over straight away, with the brooder and formula at the ready. If you have an abandoned clutch, you generally don't have time to go out to the store to get a brooder (made out of a baby wipe warmer) and formula.

I DO NOT recommend removing a finch from its parents and handfeeding exclusively (unless they've abandoned and you have no choice.) The risks are too great and there's no real benefit. You can achieve the same degree of tameness by offering snacks or just handling them regularly.
I don't feel it's fair to risk a life for the sake of tameness. Especially when that tameness can be achieved later, without risking their life. (The older birds take longer to tame, but with patience, it is definitely possible.)

I've got some articles on my site for taming adults. Some great tips in there that could also apply to the little ones.
Check out this page; the finch-specific posts are lower on the page: http://www.petfinchfacts.com/?s=taming

I hope that helps!

[MiaCarter]

Oh, I forgot to mention tonic seed!

LOVE it!
I feed it to the parents when they have babies and during the weaning process. They're super soft seeds so easy for the babies.
I also give them during moulting.

Millet is also a super popular weaning food.
And of course, the soft foods, like egg food, fresh and dried greens, mealworms.

[lnlovesorange]

MiaCarter I totally robbed this person's post, so I'm going to start a new topic under general, and move our convo to there... Sorry Nebelung97 !!! Good luck with your taming!!!

Or maybe Sally could move the last couple of threads for me? The best Forum Admin / Mod Extraordinaire!!! If not it's ok, I just felt bad that I Shang-Hai'd this post....

[Sally]

lnlovesorange Certainly, I can split the last few posts about your personal experience into a new topic of their own. Do you want to start a new topic, or should I set one up for you? I can title it whatever you want.

[lnlovesorange]

Sally I just started a new one, I called it My new White Baby in Genetics. If you don't mind moving it there, that would be great, i just felt like Mia & I were having more of a PM conversation via this poor person's post!!! Thanks Sally, as I said you're the best!!!