dogger 100 Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 whats the best thing to feed a young chaffinch on? had a young lass appear at the door with one yesterday been giving it squashed maggots up till now but having to force feed it slightly how do i eventually get it on seed? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 10,794 Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 I do know they need plenty of live food and you could try a softbill eggfood type mix some places do as well(my local avairy center is junglegold.com,look in the softbill food section ),i got some when a neighbour brought round a blue tit his cat had nabbed and it did ok on that and i've had young blackbirds and sparrows eat it ok while they were poorly in my care.Squash out the guts from mealworms as the shell/skin is undigestable to most youngsters but mini meal worms and even white large mealworms (they shed their skin regularly and are white and soft skinned before the new skin rehardens) also get a umbrella and hold it open upside down under a bush and shake the bush and you will collect a lot of bugs and insects and these are just what mum and dad would be feeding it in the wild but i'd say it'll have to be quite big and have well fledged before it'll eat a full seed diet by itself.Good luck and well done for trying with it Dogger .. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J Darcy 5,871 Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Dog food...tinned, in a syringe. I've hand reared a few. I also add baked beans, peas and banana.... little and often. very often! The first feed has got to begin early morning, i would say about 5.30, then hourly all day. Thats giving the bird a full crop each time. Once you've got the bird up and ready to 'fledge' then pm me and i will tell you how to get it eating for itself.... 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dogger 100 Posted June 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Dog food...tinned, in a syringe. I've hand reared a few. I also add baked beans, peas and banana.... little and often. very often! The first feed has got to begin early morning, i would say about 5.30, then hourly all day. Thats giving the bird a full crop each time. Once you've got the bird up and ready to 'fledge' then pm me and i will tell you how to get it eating for itself.... its fully feathered its tails stubby so not long jumped nest by the look of it its started grabbing from the tweezers so fingers crossed im feeding it every 2 hours due to working 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mule1943 291 Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 your half way there mate & what you need is plenty of patience good luck Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dogger 100 Posted July 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 got it throu the first night soaked some ferret food which is 36% protein and mixed it with scrambled egg it seems to be liking it along with the squashed maggots heres hoping Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J Darcy 5,871 Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Forget the maggots mate, try get some live mini mealworms. Feed the white ones. Once the chick is feeding from tweezers/fingers readily start offering the mealworm lower and lower until you're actually holding it on the floor. Then its a case of simply moving your finger/tweezers away bit by bit. Thats how they will feed for themselves. By the description i would say that it will be a few days yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
moss 70 Posted August 7, 2014 Report Share Posted August 7, 2014 Don't feed maggots deadly for hard bills you have a high risk of botulism I know it's late now but mealworm for first week is good just bash there heads to kill them as they can eat the chicks insides then you can use hand raisingfood or mix eggfood to a paste Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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