Arifical rearing

[GregH]

Does anyone have pointers on raising abandoned chicks? I lost yet another point of fleging nestling today, having kept it going for almost two weeks. I've tried on a number of occasions and I can only keep then alive for so long using parrot rearing mix + egg yolk all mixed together with water water and administered with a crop needle. I'm pretty certain they die of from complications of electrolyte imbalance but I just don't know what to do. The only time I've managed to rear an abandoned chick is when another bird takes pity and starts feeding so I'm just tidng them over for a couple of days. If I get some society finches in a breeding cabinet - what are the odds that they will do this for me even if they areb't breeding or even a true pair?

[jusdeb]

Veta farm make a complete chick raising powder that is simple to mix , only special requirements are that all utensils and water are sterile ( boiling does this ).
My Quarrions didnt mind the taste or texture , the biggest pain was getting the feed spoon to the right shape for the birds beak .
Ive never been game to crop feed as Ive seen pics of birds who have been incorrectly crop fed and its not pretty .
Only other thing was I weighed each bird b4 feeding and after this gives you an idea of the amount of food they are taking in
Next I guess is to keep them at a stable temp. and in a quiet area although I think they should be able to see and hear you so they get used to people and so less jumpy at feed time .
Hope that helps as I said I have only hand fed small parrots and the finch breeders may have more suggestions for finch babies.