Aussie Finch Forum

Hi,
I am looking after a friends aviary while he is away ( watering, feeding etc) to-day found baby blue faced parrot finches that left the nest 2 can fly okay, one can't fly and is on the ground. I have brought it home as it will probably be dead in the morning from cold. My question I have hand raised baby zebras but has anyone tryed to feed these. I thought I might put it back in the aviary tomorrow and let the parents come down and feed it go back in the arvo and get it the only problem it's a bit of a drive to be doing every day. Any suggestions

Sorry to take so long to answer Lyn,not knowing the condition of the bird ,but have bred these birds before i would put in a large amount of straw and place the young bird in it,not removing it,the parents will be rather guarded and reject it if taken out of the aviary,best left to the parents and what happens ,happens imo,hope this helps garyh.

If you have seen the parents feed him or acknowledge that he is there.If they have then there taking care of them.They usually will look after chicks quite well.If not noticing him then i would hand feed him.

Thanks for the quick reply,
My friends aviary is 4 aviaries joined together so it is not just one big area and impossible to put straw in all of them. I know it would probably die as he has told me he has lost quite a few babies when they have fledged from the cold. All the aviaries have dirt floors and there is now where for it to get out of the cold. Just not sure what to do....do I put it back and see if it survives or try and feed it.

I think you did the right thing to keep it safe & warm lyn.
At least you are giving the little thing a chance. I don’t know about hand raising parrot finches or if they have special requirements, hopefully someone who has will check the forum tonight for you.

The basic principles would be the same as when you raised the zebra finches. If possible, try to give it a top up and put it back in the aviary in a safe spot for the daytime. You can then check later in the day to see it the parents are feeding it. It might need a few days of
help to until it gets its wings and can fly to roost with the others.

Otherwise just keep it with you and feed it until your friend gets back, when it starts feeding itself it can go live with the others.

I've reared red-faced/headed parrot finches and found no difference to their needs than other finches hand reared. Never kept blue-faced. Often mine leave the nest before they can fly properly. I place these "under cooked" young in the enclosed shelter which walls and the entrance for the bird about 1m up. When they can fly out the entrance they are ready for the flight. The shelter is warm, dry and the parents are very good about going to feed the little one / one's left in there.

I hope you manage to find a solution to the predicament you've found yourself in.

Ive found the easiest way to help an early fledged is to put a nest box on the floor with the lid open near to where I first spotted it. This keeps baby off the floor and warm, it wont hurt itself leaping out of a normal height box and as the is lid open both parents and baby can see each other.

If you do decide to hand rear. I used Passwells hand rearing food and the finches accepted it very well.

I have never h/reared Zebs, and only one finch, a BFP (lutino)

Very easy task.

I used 'Roudybush' parrot h/r mix, but have heard of others simply using egg & biscuit made into a paste

They will not accept it cold

Best of luck

Thanks for all your replies, I took the little finch back early and left it there all day went back late in the avro it looked like the parents had fed it but I noticed some of the other finches pecking it. I decided to leave it in one of the aviaries with some bush when I went back this morning he was huddled on the ground and he had not been fed as the crop was empty. I brought him home warmed him up in the hospital cage and try to feed him, kepted him warm but sadly he died. It is really upsetting when this happens but I am glad he was in a nice warm place instead of the aviary considering what the day has been like.

That's sad lyn, but you did your best.
The reality is that when finches are small and weak there is often other factors at play so hospital cages do little more than provide a comfortable death.