Day 5 - Feeding HOPE

3 March 2012
Hope has become part of our daily routine.   She is the smallest bird I ever tried to feed.   Our relationship is like studying at the university for bird feeding.   We are both learning to understand each other.   After studying what to feed a 2-3 day old baby laughing dove, and viewing a few u-tube demonstrations, I stumbled onto a method of feeding which does not end up redecorating the bird with pro-nutro every time it gets fed.  I was also worried about the pressure I put on the bird’s eyes when I tried to keep the little head still enough to force its beak open so I could aim the small nozzle of a two ml syringe into the back of her throat.

The discovery happened at about feed three and has been described in the previous post.  I think it is such a major discovery that I am repeating it again.
For decades I tried to feed baby birds with no success because they ended up dying from stress.
I wanted to make a bib to stop the redecoration of the bird with pro-nutro during feeds so I cut a little slit into a tissue.  It was just big enough for its beak, but not the head, to fit through the slit.  
The sensation of the tissue around the beak must be similar to when the parent dove feeds it because she opens her beak immediately without me having to restrain her head. No stress for either of us, just an open beak sticking out of the slit in the tissue for me to deliver the food in.   
I make a few slits at a time so Hope gets a new slit with every mouth-full.
It is so easy that I totally overfed her on the first day.  She looked like a little cup-cake with a head decorated on it.

I have learned to give her only two mls. per feed then I wait for her to stir.   It is also easier to use a mall syringe than a larger one.  I use a 3 ml syringe.   It is much easier to judge the amount one gives at any one time.
Pro-nutro or baby serial is a good first-aid feed until you had time to discover what type of food the adult birds eat and then try and give the appropriate feeds.   The Internet is full of advice on what to feed your birds.
Presently I feed hope alternatively on pro-nutro mixed with water to a paste and Pro-nutro, mixed with a mixture of (egg yolk, about a 20th bit of grated calcium tablet (very little) and little water) which I keep in the fridge.   I just dunk the filled syringe in a cup of boiling water for one second and test the temperature on the inside of my arm to make sure it is body temperature.  
Cold water may give your bird an upset tummy, which will make her restless.  It will then be difficult to tell if she is hungry or has gastric upset.

I placed hope on a clean tissue in a little wooden lined pudding bowl into a cage.   My sister simply put her little bird into a shoebox with holes at the top.
I just happened to have thermometers and a small aromatherapy bulb etc.  My sister placed her little bird on a heated padded beanbag in the shoebox and he survived just as well.

They need food, shelter and warmth in cooler weather.   Perhaps if you live in Brisbane in the middle of summer, heat would not be an issue.

The tissue makes nappy change time easily.

Another thing I do is to examine her droppings.  It is easier on the tissue.

1.    Too solid or no poop means not enough food or water in the feed, or both.

2.    Green runny poop means either stress or infection.    Find ways of relieving stress and make sure the feeding utensils are clean (washed with soapy water and rinsed) and the mixed food is kept in the refrigerator between feeds.  Warm cold food by dunking the syringe into a cup of boiling water for one second and then testing the temperature on a sensitive part of your body like the inside of your arm.

3.    Yellow runny stools may mean too much water in the food mixture or too much food or both.

4.    Frequent stools may mean any of above but can also mean overfeeding.


A healthy bird should be alert and begging for food when hungry.  A lethargic bird has less chance of survival.   

Do not give your baby bird more food than its own body weight.   Overfeeding can cause tummy pain and the bird may be begging for more food, which just makes every thing worse.   Your baby bird should be growing a bit bigger every day.

I hope this advice will help someone.   The advice may not be scientific, or even the ideal but it works for tiny Hope and me so far.  I hope that it will work for you as well.

Read about the different types of food for birds here:  http://africananimals.blogspot.com/2012/03/feeding-baby-birds.html