In an emergency, young birds can be given meat cat food mashed up finely with a few drops of water.
This can be offered in tweezers or on a cocktail stick or plastic coffee stirrer. Most young fledglings will gape and take some food.
If they refuse try making up a small amount of rehydration fluid such as Lectade or Critical Care.
Dab it gently onto the side of the beak with a tiny artist’s paintbrush or cotton wool bud; the bird should take some sips.
If shocked and frightened, add 1 drop of Bach Rescue Remedy or brandy to the fluid.
Emergency rehydration fluid: 1 tablespoon tepid, previously boiled water, 1 small pinch of sugar or glucose, 5 grains of salt.
 

These are fed chopped maggots at regular intervals for 10 hours of the day. Very young nestlings need feeding ½ hourly.
As they grow larger& develop feathers you can change feeds to hourly and when eventually they begin feeding themselves, 2-hourly.
(First or last feed of the day should have a pinch of vitamin & mineral supplement)
In their cage, when ready to begin to feed themselves, tits should be given a small bowl of insectivorous food, (Sluis/Bogena or similar),
live maggots and /or small mealworms, plus a small bowl of water.
Tits will need to be hand fed with tweezers much longer than other garden birds.
Even when they are outside in an aviary and seem to be feeding themselves, they need to be hand fed at least 4 times a day.
They follow their parents around for 2-3 weeks being fed in the trees, so continue to offer food until they are all no longer interested.
 

These are fed finely chopped maggots. Feed half hourly / hourly depending on age.
(First feed of the day should have a pinch of vitamin & mineral supplement added)
In their cage, when ready to feed themselves, give a small bowl of sluis and live maggots, plus a small bowl of water.
 

 Put a measure of Orlux 100% Insect mix in a small bowl, cover with almost boiling water and leave to soften.

Liquidise and sieve into a clean bowl. It should be the consistency of soft ice cream and can be stored in a fridge for 3-4 days.
Take out just enough to feed the swifts (adults have approx. 3 ml each) and warm in a small dish set over a bowl of boiling water.
Add a pinch each of Nutrobal and Avipro and a drop of Abidec to the first or last feed of the day and stir well.
Suck up the warm mix into a 5ml syringe fitted with a small soft tube about 3” long.
Make sure all air is expelled, by tapping the syringe with the tube pointing upwards and depressing the plunger until only food is left in the syringe and tube.
Wrap the bird up in a small piece of towelling or paper towel to confine the wings, or get someone to hold it for you.
Pass the tube gently down the bird’s throat to the crop (avoiding the air passage at the base of the tongue) and ease between 2-4mls into its crop.
You may need to wiggle the tube gently to help the bird to swallow it.

They have 5 well-spaced feeds a day e.g. 8am, 11am, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm and should rest quietly in a darkened cage between feeds.
 
Adults need about 2½ - 3½ ml per feed but if unwell can only cope with about 2 ml.
Healthy adults and large juveniles have 4 feeds a day e.g. 8am, noon, 4pm, 8pm.
If unable to take a full feed, try giving 5 smaller feeds a day, unless they become over stressed by the extra handling.
Watch the bird’s gape at all times to make sure the mixture does not come back up its throat.
Stop immediately if it does and clean the beak and face.  Babies and adults are all fed in this way.

These are fed on chopped maggots mixed into a little finely mashed cat food.
Offer in plastic tweezers or a coffee stirrer at 1-2 hourly intervals, depending on the age.
(First feed of the day should have a pinch of vitamin & mineral supplement added)
In their cage when ready to feed themselves give a small dish of sluis and live maggots plus a dish of water.
They will show interest in the wiggly maggots and it encourages them to peck.
Finches and sparrows should be offered mixed small seeds such as millet as well as Sluis.
 

If young enough they will gape and can be fed mashed cat food and chopped maggots in tweezers or a coffee stirrer.
If they are older and refuse to eat they should be tube fed as for swifts until they begin to pick up food.
In the cage put small dishes of egg food, insectivorous food with live maggots or mealworms on top, mashed cat food with chopped maggots,
a securely fixed peanut feeder and fat ball, plus a small bowl of water.
They can then choose what they want and are more likely to thrive.

Very young pigeons and doves with yellow feathers are fed Kaytee Exact or a parrot rearing food through a soft tube attached to a 5ml syringe.
Measure the tube against the bird's beak and neck to get an idea of the length needed and take great care not to force the tube down too far.
They need to be fed 2 hourly if very young.
Always check their crops before each feed. If the crop is not empty when the next feed is due, allow more time to digest their meal.
They must have warmth, quiet and food regularly supplied, whether by hand or placed in the cage for them to help themselves.

They are fed mashed cat food and finely chopped up dead day old chicks by plastic tweezers every 2-3 hours depending on age.
(First feed of the day should have a pinch of vitamin & mineral supplement added)
In their cage, when ready to feed themselves, give a small bowl of cat food and chopped chick, plus a heavy bowl of water.
 
Do not give the crow family low flat dishes to feed from, they stand in them and get foot problems.
Dishes must be placed to the side of the cage; if they are at the front the birds will stand in them and may develop foot problems.
 

BIRDS OF PREY

If fluffy feathers are still present, feed tiny pieces of chopped chick using tweezers. Avoid feeding beak, legs or egg sac until older.
Add a vitamin and calcium supplement daily; Nutrobal plus ACE vitamins or SA37 are suitable.
Feed 2-3 hourly to begin with and adjust accordingly as the bird gets older and more self-sufficient.
Leave a small dish of finely chopped chick or a small defrosted mouse in the cage last thing at night to encourage self-feeding.

Hand feed chopped maggots and mealworms, also tiny pieces of washed whitebait.
Provide a small bowl of sluis with a few live maggots/mealworms and a small bowl of pond water in the cage.

These eat chick crumbs soaked in pond water. Place this in bowls that are too small for them to sit in.
If they get wet at this early, fluffy stage they get cold and lethargic and are unable to feed.
They do not become waterproof until the adult feathers develop so need on their mother to provide warmth and stop them getting waterlogged.
They will need a towel over a layer of newspaper in their cage, a mop-head “Mummy” to cuddle up to and an overhead heat source.

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