My Handfed Gould Baby

BirdCrazy · Post by **BirdCrazy** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:48 pm

My baby Gould is growing right up!! He will be 4 weeks old on Monday. He is so cute now! When he hears us preparing his food he starts chirping. This morning I woke up early because my husband was being a little too loud getting ready for work. I went out to ask him to be a little quieter so I could go back to sleep. The baby was in the other room chirping to tell my husband to hurry up and finish his breakfast so he could feed him. It was really funny! I am lucky in that my husband feeds the handfed ones too and does a really good job. That way neither one of us get totally tied down to feeding them. Here are a few pics of our latest baby. Ignore my husbands working man hands, LOL!

FinchezRule · Post by **FinchezRule** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 12:01 am

Oh wow he's a cutie pie....I love little gouldian babies, I love the little blue balls on the sides of their face....so cute

. Can you share your hand feeding experience? How do you keep him warm? How often do you feed? What tool do you use to feed him? How old was he when you started?

Thanks!

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 12:09 am

Awe....mine looks yours except mine is 6 weeks old, he was slow to grow at first but he caught up, he has been eating a lot more on his own now and instead of his crop being full of furmula its full of seeds now. My little babies growing up.

BirdCrazy · Post by **BirdCrazy** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 12:13 am

He was thrown from the nest as he was hatching. Fortunately I saw it happen and was able to grab him and get him in an incubator which I happened to have running at the time to hatch Button Quail eggs. He finished hatching and I have been feeding him right from that time. I let him dry off some but fed him not too long after he was born. I watched for him to beg and got food ready as soon as I saw it happen. Here is a link to my and Sally's handfeeding methods:

Handfeeding Finches

Not every method works for everyone. You have to try it and figure out what works and feels comfortable for you. Good luck if you ever have to do it again!! I don't like to have to do it but it is very rewarding when we are done. I don't have the option of fosters so it is me doing this or nothing at all.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:52 am

Congrats on a great job. He is a beautiful baby bird.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:53 am

He looks terrific! Congratulations

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:07 am

How sweet....awwww!

That is wonderful your Hubby helps out....it does make it a little easier with the feeding when you can share the effort.

toof · Post by **toof** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:02 pm

Bird Crazy,

Can you tell us how you physically feed the little guy? Do you inject food into his crop with a syringe or just into squirt formula into his mouth? I understand that you have to be careful not to aspirate any food or water. How about the feeding schedule? I'm sorry for all the questions. What you've accomplished is really impressive, and I hope to learn from it. Congratulations in raising the little guy.
Stefan
Charlotte,NC

GOULDYGIRL · Post by **GOULDYGIRL** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:04 pm

What an adorable baby

Best of luck!~

Renee

BirdCrazy · Post by **BirdCrazy** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:34 pm

toof wrote:Bird Crazy,

Can you tell us how you physically feed the little guy? Do you inject food into his crop with a syringe or just into squirt formula into his mouth? I understand that you have to be careful not to aspirate any food or water. How about the feeding schedule? I'm sorry for all the questions. What you've accomplished is really impressive, and I hope to learn from it. Congratulations in raising the little guy.
Stefan
Charlotte,NC

I have used pippettes and syringes in the past but now prefer to use a flat ended toothpick. I scoop the food up with it like a spoon and put it in his mouth while he is opening and begging. He basically just sucks it in. When he was really tiny he would swallow some of the toothpick into his crop but now he just eats it off the tip with his mouth. I have aspirated some in the past but that is when the formula was made too thin or they weren't begging but just opening their mouths. I make the formula like pancake batter in consistency.

I didn't realize they gasped for breath while eating. You really have to make sure they are begging not breathing. Their nostrils are shut at first. His feeding schedule started out at every hour and a half but now is every two hours and will be until he is weaned. I do not feed at night ever. Their parents do not so neither do I. I have fed several birds now including Zebras, Goulds, Owls, and a Cordon Bleu. I lost a few at first but now have it down pat. It feels like quite the accomplishment when I am done since they are so tiny to begin with! Here is a link to a post about my handfeeding here too:

Handfeeding Finches

toof · Post by **toof** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:14 pm

I've had so many birds tossed that I'm having to do something differently. It's disheartening to find a tiny little bird dead at the bottom of the cage after waiting anxiously for the eggs to hatch. Being able to handfeed seems like a necessary skill in breeding finches, and I certainly appreciate your accounts and recommendations. What temperature and humidity do you incubate the finch eggs?

Thanks again, Stefan

BirdCrazy · Post by **BirdCrazy** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:26 pm

I keep them at 99.5F or 37.5C. My incubator is an R-Com and uses Celcius. I don't usually keep track of humidity and just keep the water topped off. I also have used a regular styrofoam incubator and do the same temp and keep the water chambers filled. I like to hand turn and you pretty much have to for Finch eggs. I turn them 4 times a day. I have read that humidity should be 40-50% for the first several days and then bumped up to 70% for hatching. Humidity is important at hatching time so they don't dry out and not be able to hatch, however you can drown them in the egg with too much too.

If you decide you have to incubate or handfeed I will be happy to help you in any way I can. I know a lot of people use Societies too but I have never had any good ones. Maybe I should try them again sometime but I only want so many birds and while they are very cute I don't really want to have any if I dont have to. I would prefer that all my birds would be parent raised but I do what I have to do to keep them alive if I can. I don't incubate unless they have already tossed one. I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt each clutch.

toof · Post by **toof** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:16 pm

As my interest in these little guys has snowballed, I've started to buy more birds and more cages. My weekends have been spent chasing the next bird show across the SE US. Recently, I've come to realize how much we depend upon importation of wild caught birds. It's been a great source of new species and new bloodlines but, it may not last. A case of the bird flu in an exporting country would prevent further importation. Further, these wild caught birds seem easily stressed and prone to illness. My desire has been to reproduce these little birds to improve domestic numbers and share with others. I realize that my impact might be minute but, it's better than no effort. Like you, I have a pair of societies but, would rather save time and space for more of the exotics. Perhaps the best, most predictable, way to raise exotic finches is to incubate their eggs and handfeed the babies. Sorry for drifting off topic.
I recently purchased an incubator and started incubating Senegal firefinch and Dybowski Twinspot eggs. My Senegals have tossed the last 2 clutches immediately after hatching. The Dybowski frighten easily and let the eggs chill before returning to the nest. It's difficult to feed and water without scaring them. I certainly appreciate any advice you, and others on the forum, can give me.

Best regards, Stefan

BirdCrazy · Post by **BirdCrazy** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:13 pm

Already the import of the Strawberry Finch has stopped because of bird flu. They are becoming harder and harder to find because they are also hard to breed. I have several buy haven't had much luck with them yet. I have not gone the route of handfeeding with them but may to help bring the population up some. I think everyone who owns them should be breeding them. I know someone who has a pair but won't set them up as she doesn't believe in breeding her birds. It is too bad! Good luck with your Fires and Twinspots!! Let us know how it goes please.

toof · Post by **toof** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:30 pm

Yes, the Strawberry's have gone from $80/pair to $250+/pair. I've heard rumors of them selling for $350/pair. What will happen to the less popular nuns and mannikins? It's a shame that your friend doesn't have any desire to breed her Strawberry's. What will she do when they are no longer available? I enjoy having these little guys around and hope they aren't ever lost to us.
Thanks for the luck, I'll take whatever I can get.
Kind regards, Stefan