One to two weeks old, they are very restless and will leave the nest even when there is little threat. Their parents still feed them. From meal to meal, little sparrows usually hide. Many birds by all accessible ways protect their children from all kinds of danger, which includes humans.
How to feed sparrow chicks is what you think about when your children picked up a fledgling left without parents and decided to feed it. You will have to work hard, so we advise you to explain to your children in advance that with sparrow parents, the chances of the chick surviving are much higher than at home. It is much more humane to simply transplant it to some hill, or simply plant it in a deserted place. If you yourself don’t know how to feed sparrow chicks, you can ask your parents about it, because they have already been through this and probably know.
But if this does happen, forget about rest and sleep. From the moment the sun rises until it sets, every half hour you will need to feed the fledgling until it is full. A well-fed chick will stop begging for food by opening its mouth.
How to feed a chick if birds have a very, very fast metabolism? If a chick is hungry, it “burns” its internal resources. Leaving a fledgling without food for five hours will sign its death warrant. Because even if he starts eating, he will die in a couple of days due to improper metabolism. The normal interval between feedings can be determined by the quality of the litter. If the interval is small, a protein shell does not have time to form on it.
But how to feed sparrow chicks if they have nowhere to live? It is necessary to create conditions for the fledglings that are close to natural, and there they have a nest. You will have to arrange it too. For the nest, it would be best to use dried grass or last year's moss. As a rule, it is difficult to find anything like this in urban areas. Therefore, we recommend using cotton wool. You just need to watch it very carefully, as the chicks’ paws can get tangled in the cotton wool. The litter is changed as soon as it becomes dirty.
How to feed sparrow chicks without proper food? Particular attention will need to be paid to what the fledgling eats. It is worth remembering that his parents fed him mainly insects. Therefore, the adopted child must be given the same things: larvae, worms, ant cocoons, egg yolks, cottage cheese, etc., and you should not forget about vitamins and minerals.
Mash - porridge in 10 steps for a sparrow chick. This is the most balanced diet for your ward. It is prepared like this:
Step 1. Grate the carrots on a fine grater. It should be medium in size. We squeeze out the juice, the pulp - that’s what we need.
Step 2. Grind the boiled yolk on a fine grater.
Step 3. Boiled chicken breast cut and disassemble into small fibers; beef or pork will do the same.
Step 4. Grind the juicy greens and add a tablespoon to the mixture.
Step 5. Take half a pack of low-fat lean cottage cheese (it must be doused with boiling water at least 3 times).
Step 6. Add a couple of tablespoons of millet porridge, unsalted, boiled in water.
Step 7. Add dry ground fish food - a quarter tablespoon.
Step 8. It is important to pour calcium glycerophosphate into the mixture - this is a mineral substance.
Step 9. Add the powdered shells of 3 eggs to the food.
Step 10. Mix the resulting mixture thoroughly and sprinkle with powder from ground cereals and cereals.
Remember that your pet is thirsty. It should be given water through a pipette during feeding. Chicks should only be given water.
If you follow all these simple rules, you will have no choice but to raise a sparrow chick healthy and strong.
Our tradition of feeding birds in winter came from our grandmother - she always laid out millet and crumbs for the birds on the windowsill, and in the morning they saw her fussing around in the kitchen and flew in and pecked at the glass.
We feed the birds with crumbled fat - what remains after cutting meat, millet grains rich in microelements, bread crumbs from the table, porridge left after lunch, etc.
I don’t know how useful this food is for them, but they fly in to eat every day.
We also always leave rowan and viburnum on the trees; by spring they are completely pecked off. We ourselves like to watch this process - plump bullfinches jump on branches, and in last years Crossbills have become more frequent - so we are studying bird species.
Bread is not a very healthy food for birds, so it’s better not to feed birds bread, there’s just not much choice, so they peck at it. It’s better to feed seeds of different plants: sunflower, pumpkin, melon, watermelon, corn, hemp, quinoa, string, as well as wheat, oats, millet, millet. Herb seeds then need to be prepared in advance, just like the seeds of melons, watermelons, etc. You can have lard, but it must be unsalted. The most universal food is sunflower seeds, just not fried or salted. I regularly buy these seeds for birds (we sell substandard ones especially for birds - a little trashy, small). Nuts are also suitable for both birds and squirrels.
Birds in winter will be grateful to you for any food that you put in the feeder.
If you pour millet, millet, oats, rice into the feeder, you will attract birds such as tits, sparrows, goldfinches, pigeons and others.
Tits, woodpeckers, and pigeons are very fond of sunflower seeds.
Everyone probably knows that tits love lard. You can tie a piece of bacon to a rope and hang it on a tree branch.
But crossbills and woodpeckers will like the nuts.
In general, you can pour any cereal that you have in the house into the feeder.
In winter, and at any other time of the year, you can feed birds (sparrows, tits, pigeons and others) with sunflower, pumpkin, melon, and watermelon seeds. Give them cereals, lard, bread or bread crumbs, grain. You can give them specialized commercial bird food. It is better to prepare food in the summer; I also recommend making you a convenient bird feeder.
In winter, the birds need our help, because the insects are hibernating, there is no grass, the berries have fallen, but the birds want to eat.
Tits can survive without our help; they can rarely be found in the city; they live more often in forests. But sparrows are city residents. But there is one BUT. If we feed, we give a chance to survive to the weak, who will give birth in the spring, the numbers will increase and there will not be enough food for everyone.
It is necessary to feed the birds in winter, not to feed them. If there is always an abundance of seeds and lard in the feeders, then the birds will stop looking for their own food, and these are larvae, berries, and seeds.
If there is a choice of food in the feeder, then the sparrows will choose seeds, since they are the most nutritious, and too much fat will lead to liver disease.
You need to establish a feeding ration, fill the feeder once or twice a day and not in large portions.
You should not give salted, fried seeds, millet, salted lard, or black bread.
You can give sparrows wheat, White bread, pearl barley, oat flakes, barley.
For tits - low-fat cottage cheese in small quantities, boiled eggs, seeds, lard, beef, butter.
For tits and sparrows, place dried sunflower, pumpkin, watermelon, and melon seeds in the feeder. You can also treat the birds with millet, stale white bread, pieces of apple and boiled egg. It will be very useful for these birds to peck on grain curd, a piece of lard or boiled meat, butter. You should not give birds salted, fried or spoiled foods, because they poison the birds’ bodies with toxins. As a result, the birds may get sick and die.
We feed titmice, sparrows, bullfinches and other small birds with grain and bread. You can also hang lard on a string, for example, they also love to feast on it, the main thing is that it is not salty, and in general, as far as I know, birds should not be given anything salty.
Every winter I make a feeder for tits, bullfinches, and many other small birds; I put millet, bread, small corn, and also millet in the feeder. I hang the lard on a small wire, the tits prefer lard, and then they collect grain and bread.
Feeding birds in winter is sometimes very difficult, since the feeders are often literally covered with snow, but this is still a fixable matter, the main thing is to put in your efforts and a piece of your soul. You can feed any grain, for example millet, and also don’t forget about regular bread, and even simple sunflower seeds. When you look at such birds, it’s even nice that they feed with your help.
And this is clearly a question from an animal lover! Yes, feeding our little brothers in winter is desirable and very necessary, especially if there is a lot of snow. When there is no snow, they themselves are able to find food for themselves in the form of grains, herbs, waste and other things. But you can’t dig it up under the snow. So it’s easy and simple to make such a feeder and throw grain into it: millet, millet, wheat, seeds.
Tits especially love lard, as other authors have said. But if you don’t have grain in your house, then they will be grateful to you for bread.
By the way, here interesting option bird feeders. The highlight is that there are not just windows, but separate perches that are convenient to sit on
Birds wintering in the middle zone require human support. However, the question of what to feed birds in winter is not so simple. Usual table food and even feed for chickens are not suitable for wild forest inhabitants. Find out everything about why it is so important to feed, and not to feed, pichugs, what you should and absolutely should not treat them with, what food you can prepare in the summer. Find out the recommendations for choosing a diet for tits and sparrows, pigeons and ducks, so as not to cause harm to the birds instead of benefit.
Why do birds need more food in winter?
Of the existing strategies for survival during periods of prolonged cold: to climb into a deep hole somewhere for hibernation, to fly away from extreme frost and to actively resist hypothermia - the birds chose the last two. Moreover, the species remaining to spend the winter are excellent evidence that cooling is not the main reason for their migrations.
Winterers don’t mind the cold if there is plenty of food
Thick down and dense feathers provide sufficient protection of the body from heat loss, but are not able to create it. Energy to maintain your high temperature, reaching at individual species 42 degrees, birds get it from food. At the same time, the lower the thermometer drops, the more actively the atmosphere removes heat, which means that more food is required to replenish energy costs.
On the other hand, the winter day is shortened, and birds stop active activity with the onset of dusk, so they have much less time than in summer to search for a sufficient amount of food. If the bird remains hungry, it will inevitably freeze to death by morning.
Having time to eat before night is the main condition for the survival of birds in winter
Do all birds need help equally?
Before you start collecting feed and hanging feeders, you need to find out who exactly needs an increase in “food allowance”. Based on their feeding preferences, birds wintering in mid-latitudes can be divided into the following groups.
- Insectivores. The vast majority of birds specializing in feeding on invertebrates fly away, leaving only those who know how to catch spiders, springtails and larvae of various insects that have fallen asleep in the cracks of tree bark. These are kinglets and pikas. Offering them millet and bread crumbs is pointless. Even if a pika joins a flock of tits, she will do so not for the sake of expanding her diet, but for the greater security that the flock provides.
- Nomadic lovers of soft fruits. These include blackbirds, waxwings and bullfinches. They prefer to pick berries directly from trees and bushes and rarely visit feeders. Bullfinches can sometimes feast on sunflowers, but after a week or a week and a half they will still continue their journey.
- Nomadic granivores. By winter, the seeds of plants such as burdock, thistle, knotweed, and birch do not scatter, but remain on the shoots and attract goldfinches, siskins, buntings, greenfinches, tits and redpolls. These birds from the order of passeriformes will be happy to visit feeders, but, in addition to tits, they will prefer to see them outside the city limits. Conventionally, this group includes the nuthatch, which feeds on insects in the summer and switches to seeds in winter.
- Sinanthropus. This is the name given to birds and other animals that have adapted to humans to such an extent that they can no longer do without him. These are pigeons, sparrows and that part of the waterfowl population that was fed in the fall and did not migrate south.
Waxwings and other nomads can easily feed themselves
There are two more species: the crow and the magpie - it is better to leave them to their own devices. Helping these birds maintain their numbers means creating unbearable conditions for nightingales, finches and other songbirds, whose nests the corvids mercilessly destroy, eating eggs and chicks.
Three main rules for winter bird care
Setting up feeders is an intervention in life wildlife, the same as picking mushrooms or mowing herbs. A man watches how the birds dear to his heart are fed, and thinks that he saved them from death. But he does not see what will happen next, how his actions will affect the birds themselves and the entire ecosystem. He does not assume that he acts as a new factor of natural selection, and an incredible selection that helps the weak survive. “Do no harm” - this one medical principle put at three important rules winter help for birds.
Feeder drawing
The rule is paradoxical - birds cannot be fed
Feeding and feeding are completely different things. Feeding means that the person takes full responsibility for providing for the bird. nutrients, as is the case with domestic and caged species. A similar approach to wild birds poses two serious dangers.
The first is that, getting used to a free treat, the bird stops collecting food on its own. Why work hard: remove the pine cones, break the bark - if there is a whole mountain of food lying very close by. At the same time, the bird's diet becomes very poor. They choose the most delicious, for example, sunflower seeds, ignoring everything else. The intake of fats into the body increases, and vitamins decrease, as a result the bird has every chance of simply not surviving until spring.
These beauties should eat as varied a diet as possible.
An example illustrating this state of affairs is caring for village chickens. They are only fed, and they have the widest opportunities to search for a variety of natural food, which is why they grow strong and healthy.
The second danger is that birds quickly get used to feeding from human hands and lose the skills of quickly searching for pasture. If people suddenly abandon the feeders, their charges will waste the precious time of a short winter day visiting empty sites and may not have time to saturate the body with energy. Just 2-3 hours without food - and the bird will not survive the frosty night. This is why you should not feed birds occasionally in winter.
The merciless rule is to fill the feeder once a day.
An empty feeder for most of the day is not a crime, but training the birds to a certain feeding regime, which will force them to devote the day to searching for food on their own.
Conditioned reflexes in birds they are produced quickly. It is enough to sprinkle the fertilizer at the same time for 3-4 days, and the birds will remember it. When to do this depends on the commitment of the person and the degree of his employment. It is recommended to feed about two hours before dusk, so that the eaters are guaranteed to go into the night well-fed.
Visitors to the canteen are well aware of its working hours.
But if there is a chance that the feeder will be forgotten or left, for example, during a vacation, it is better to fill it in the morning: the birds will have a chance to get enough before dark in another place.
Restrictive rule - what should not be in the feeder
Of course, birds should not be fed spoiled, fermented, or moldy food, but there is a large list of foods that are familiar to humans, but harmful, and sometimes even deadly, for the bird population. What not to feed birds:
- Salted seeds, pistachios, crackers, lard, cookies. It is difficult for birds to remove excess salt from their bodies because they do not have sweat glands. All the work falls on the kidneys, and they may not be able to cope increased load. In addition, some salts are deposited in the joints, which will disrupt the functioning of the bird’s musculoskeletal system and cause it severe pain.
- Roasted seeds and hazelnuts. The danger comes from fats, the excess of which affects the liver and pancreas, as well as carcinogens from such foods.
- Rye (black) bread. It begins to ferment very quickly, often already in the bird’s crop, making it difficult, and in in some cases and blocking breathing, as the goiter, expanded from gases, presses on the trachea.
- Fresh wheat (white) bread. Is it possible to feed birds bread? It causes indigestion because it turns into a sticky mass that is difficult to move through the digestive system.
- Kernels (seeds) from cherry, peach, apricot pits, as well as almonds. They are rich in hydrocyanic acid and even for humans, their excessive consumption is fraught with poisoning.
- Millet. Cleared of filmy shells, it is covered with fine bitter dust, which housewives wash off before cooking. hot water. Old, rancid millet, on the surface of which oxidized fats are present, is especially dangerous.
- Potato. Raw tubers contain the alkaloid solanine, which a bird needs just a little bit for serious poisoning. Boiled potatoes can be considered almost pure starch - very heavy food for birds digestive system. The same applies to rice - you should not feed it to birds.
- Mushrooms. These organisms actively accumulate heavy and radioactive metals and can carry clostridia spores, which cause botulism.
- Canned food. In addition to the product itself, they contain vinegar, sugar, salt, spices, preservatives and flavorings, which are completely unnecessary in the bird's diet.
- Soft and granular food for cats and dogs, especially economy class. They contain soy, yeast, fat and attractants - taste enhancers designed to force the animal to eat food that is unnatural for it.
Sunflower seeds - the main food for wintering birds - must be unroasted
What food to prepare yourself
Most of the supplements: sunflower seeds, canary seeds, millet - are purchased in specialized pet stores. You should not purchase seeds from retail outlets for gardeners: they can be treated to protect against pests. It is recommended to germinate a small amount of purchased seeds. If the seedlings become covered with mold, it means that the seeds have been contaminated with spores and are not suitable for birds to eat.
You can ask yourself the question of what to feed titmice in winter in the summer and make it a rule that when cutting a watermelon or melon, collect the seeds, wash them and dry them. Pumpkin seeds, overripe zucchini, squash and cucumbers are prepared in the same way. Birds like bundles of dried fruits. They are made by stringing pieces of dried apples, pears, and rose hips onto a strong thread.
You can collect a couple of kilograms of watermelon seeds in the fall.
But you should not collect rowan, viburnum, birch, alder and weed seeds; it is better to leave them for wild birds to feed on their own.
Guests are flying to the feeder - it’s time to put out the treats
For most small birds, you can pre-mix grain mixtures and bag them up at a rate of one bag per feeder per day. The basis of such a mixture is, as a rule, seeds, to which oats, millet, as well as more expensive but nutritionally valuable flaxseed, hemp and canary seed are added to diversify the diet.
Instead of oats, you can use rolled oats, but not instant, but denser ones. Crushed wheat and barley (barley) would be appropriate. A certain amount of dry wheat bread crumbs is acceptable.
The feeder can also become an original garden decoration
Features of feeding tits
Tits are the only birds for which an increased amount of fat is not dangerous, so for them the food mixture may include unsalted lard, raw meat, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs and even frozen butter. To prevent other species from reaching the elite bluebird table, feeders for these birds are made to swing, and pieces of lard are simply hung on tree branches using twine.
It is useful to teach tits to take high-calorie fat not from the feeder, but from tree trunks. To do this, lard is melted, put into a pastry syringe and poured onto the bark. Of course, it is more convenient to do this if fertilizing is organized close to home, otherwise the lard will harden along the way. But such a treat will attract not only tits, but also pikas and nuthatches - those who like to look for food in cracks in the bark.
Treats for birds
For tits, you can make a so-called bird pie. To do this, place pieces of unsalted lard in a deep frying pan, melt and add the following mixture:
- sunflower seeds;
- dense oat flakes;
- watermelon and melon seeds;
- pieces of dried fruit;
- crushed nuts (walnuts, pine or hazelnuts).
“Pies” for tits made from lard and grain additives
The mixture is stirred evenly and left to harden. You can make several holes in it for ropes in advance; to do this, stick 3-4 pencils into the still warm lard to the bottom of the pan. The frozen “pie” is taken out and hung on a tree.
How to please sparrows, redpolls and greenfinches
Finding what to feed sparrows and other small birds in winter is not difficult. The basis of the grain mixture is millet and oats. Barley and wheat are too harsh for them, so it is better to offer them in crushed form. The seeds in the mixture should be less than half the volume, since many birds choose them and do not eat the rest, which depletes vitamin composition stern.
Hard watermelon seeds are not suitable for sparrows because, unlike tits, they are too lazy to crush them with their beaks. You can add pumpkin seeds, peeled from the shells and lightly crushed with a potato masher, to the fertilizer.
To maintain healthy bird bones, calcium supplementation is recommended, and small stones are recommended for proper digestion. To do this, to regular mixture add crushed eggshells or shells, pieces of school chalk or plaster, and washed river sand.
The best sparrow feeders have a roof to protect them from snow.
It is better to make feeders for small passerines small in size, but with a roof. The huge “restaurants” attract pigeons, and the roof will prevent snowstorms from covering the grain. Although sparrows are smart, they will not be able to dig it out from under the snow.
Is it worth feeding wild pigeons?
What to feed pigeons in winter and is it worth it? Due to its size, this bird easily swallows any grain: barley, wheat, oats, crushed corn - and also digests bread, even fresh, more efficiently than passerines. Barley is considered the most useful food for pigeons; it is also quite cheap if you purchase it from livestock breeders in rural areas.
It should be taken into account that pigeons form large flocks in the city. Regular feeding attracts new birds and increases the survival rate of chicks, as a result of which flocks become truly gigantic and begin to cause inconvenience to people. The area chosen for feeding, as well as the areas under the wires around it and even the windshields of cars parked nearby, will quickly become covered with droppings.
Pigeon food can be sprinkled directly on the snow or asphalt
In some countries, for example, in Austria, there is a small but offensive fine for feeding pigeons. Local authorities They believe that these “city dwellers” should be left to their own devices regarding food so as not to increase their population.
How to help Gray Neck and other waterfowl
Of the anseriformes on the ice-free water bodies of the middle zone, you can most often find mallards and swans; goldeneyes, tufted ducks and other ducks remain occasionally. All of them are migratory birds, but do not migrate along various reasons: fed, wounded, sick, too old to fly, or, conversely, did not have time to change their chick feathers to an adult one.
Their natural food consists of underwater parts of plants and small invertebrates that remain active in the relatively warm winter water of various settling tanks and spillways. But with extreme drops in temperature, waterfowl, especially swans, need help. Among the supplements you can offer them:
- any sprouted grain;
- finely chopped carrots and apples;
- oatmeal with boiled vegetables;
- Chinese lettuce leaves.
The brown feather swan is still too young and needs help in winter
If swans winter systematically, then you can prepare hay for them in advance and gradually throw it into the water. It will swell and be closest to their natural diet.
Winter feeding is a noble cause, but requires careful attention. Even just by pouring a handful of grain on the windowsill, a person affects both the health of an individual and the state of the gene pool of the entire species. Selecting the right bird food, feeding location and timing must all be carefully considered to avoid harm to wild birds.
In the spring, when most of Birds hatch offspring; lost chicks under trees are not uncommon. Little yellow-billed birds look so pitiful that many people begin to suffer and take these chicks home: to warm them, feed them, and save them.
So, a small sparrow chick has fallen into your hands. What to feed such a baby? These birds are probably the most common feathered inhabitants of our continent. There is no place where they cannot be found. They are already small in size, and their chicks look absolutely tiny - it’s scary to breathe on such a one, let alone feed it! But you will have to feed him, since he got into your house.
What you can feed First, remember that small chicks - sparrows, tits, larks - eat ¾ of their weight in food per day. Naturally, it is best if the bird’s diet is based on its familiar insects: flies, worms, grasshoppers, larvae, and bugs. But, of course, getting them can be difficult. What else does he eat? What to feed him and what not to? For some reason, in fairy tales, books, and films, sparrows are fed bread. However, this is strictly forbidden. Bakery products The chick can be given no more than once every two days, and even then only in the form of a crumb soaked in milk. In addition, you can give little by little finely chopped raw or boiled meat, steamed oatmeal or milky ripe cereal seeds, ground in a mortar. Grated vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, beets) and squeezed out of excess juice are suitable for feeding. You can also feed the chick cottage cheese or a boiled egg, the main thing is that the food is unsalted. It is better to add a little crushed chalk or coal to the food (the sparrow chick will be happy with this seasoning) than to feed it with salty food. You should not give salt to birds at all!
Since the chick is still small, it must be fed often (at least once every two hours). difficult, so it is considered difficult to feed the chicks of small birds. Do not forget also that in addition to food, the bird should have free access to pure water. Try to let the chick eat on its own, but if that doesn’t work, try giving food by opening the beak with tweezers.
But in general, before you release a sparrow chick, think: perhaps it is better to leave it where it is? Most often, so-called fledglings fall out of the nests. These are chicks that do not yet know how to fly, but have made their first attempt to try it. Their parents then try to feed their child on the ground. And if there is not a large population of stray cats and dogs in the area, the likelihood of such a chick surviving in the wild is much higher than at home. Remember that very often chicks die at home due to improper maintenance or feeding. And if you definitely want to take part in saving the bird, perhaps it is better for you to place a feeder with food where the fallen sparrow chick is located, rather than feeding it in a cage at home. Remember: captive-bred birds die quickly when released into the environment.
If you notice that the sparrow chick has fallen out of the nest, do not rush to drag it home. Assess the situation. You will have to look after a newborn a lot: if you don’t have time, don’t take on overwhelming work. It should be fed often, and, most importantly, correctly. There is no possibility - abandon the idea. Intervention would be a disservice if the bird accidentally fell from a tree while following its parents. Take a closer look to see if they are looking for the baby. If you decide to help your baby, read how to do it right.
Sometimes chicks fall out of their nests. To understand how to save a baby sparrow, you need to determine the cause. If you find a baby on the ground, look around.
The sparrows themselves will not throw the chick out of the nest. But other birds, swifts, starlings, can conquer their homes, getting rid of the “enemy” offspring. In this case, try to drive away the fighters and help the baby.
If a sparrow chick falls out of the nest by accident, return it back. Sometimes babies instinctively reach for their parents when falling from trees. If everything is in order with the “bird house”, the parents are there, then tragedy will not happen.
Don't worry about picking up the baby and carrying it to the nest. Sparrows do not smell, so they will not abandon their brood due to human intervention.
Natural disasters can also destroy a nest: a hurricane, a thunderstorm. In this case, you can help the birds by restoring their home. Return the kids to the renovated house and watch them. If the parents respond to the cubs' call, the rescue mission is over. If this does not happen, you will have to feed the young animals.
Sparrow chicks grow up to independent age of 2-3 weeks. That's how long it takes for the cubs to hatch.
Classification of sparrows
Newborn sparrow chicks are newly hatched, featherless, very small birds. It is hardly possible to provide them with food, since they will have to be fed frequently: once every 2-3 hours. The best decision- find an abandoned nest.
Yellowthroats are juvenile chicks that have acquired feathers. Despite the fact that the sparrows look mature, they are not capable of feeding themselves. At this age, babies often fall out due to carelessness. It is possible to get the bird out, but you will have to feed it regularly, and this takes time.
Fledglings are birds that are already fully mature and capable of feeding themselves. Having found such a bird, do not touch it: let it learn to fly and get food. The only possible help in this situation is to plant it on a hill (for protection from ground-based predators).
This is important: water and food for the new resident
Having picked up a sparrow, it is important to understand how to give the chick water and what to feed it. To give your baby something to drink, it is better to use a pipette. Fill it with water and bring the tip to your beak. Do not put pressure on your “mouth” when trying to open it.
Newborn birds cannot drink from a bowl on their own - this must be remembered. If you put a container of water and leave, the sparrows will choke.
If you often pick up birds for treatment, then there will definitely be something in the house to feed the injured sparrow. It's another matter if the case is isolated. Before rushing to the pet store or preparing complex formulas, feed your baby with something you can find in the refrigerator. Lean meat, minced meat, eggs (boiled), cottage cheese, fish are suitable.
First steps in nursing
What needs to be done immediately after picking up the chick is to ensure comfort. Equipping the nest is a primary task. Use a lint-free cloth, rolling it down to create a slant.
Feeding unfeathered chicks requires a routine from day one. It is important to maintain a certain time between meals: 15-20 minutes for newborns and 2-3 hours for wallflowers.
Below we will tell you how and what to feed a sparrow chick in order to raise it at home. Let's turn to nature. Give them:
- mealworms;
- larvae;
- small insects.
Human food will also work:
- cottage cheese;
- eggs;
- meat;
- fish.
The main thing is to feed the babies in a timely manner so that their own resources are not burned: sparrows have a fast metabolism. Read on to learn how to care for chicks and plan their diet correctly.
Nutritional formula recipe
What chicks eat with pleasure are insects. But feeding feathered birds and fledglings can be simplified by preparing a special mixture. The recipe is:
- three medium carrots and squeeze out the juice;
- grind the egg (pre-boil);
- cut the meat (veal/beef/chicken) and split it into fibers;
- chop greens (lettuce/woodlice/dandelion);
- add 10 g of cottage cheese (squeeze first);
- 2 tbsp. spoons of cooked millet (exclude salt or oil);
- a teaspoon of fish food (dry mixture);
- add calcium glycerophosphate powder (1 tablet per liter);
- add a teaspoon of crushed eggshells.
Mix the resulting feed until smooth. It shouldn't stick to your hands. Give to children in portions, rolling into small balls the size of a cherry pit. When we prepare the mixture for feeding the chick, we get a large supply. You can store food in the freezer.
We told you how to feed a sparrow chick. But do not forget that the birds should be given water: a few drops of water on the food ball.
Calcium: dosage calculation and sources
Calcium for sparrow chicks, as for all birds, is necessary to prevent the development of rickets. The mixture given above includes the required amount useful substances. Using it, you don’t have to worry about the health of your kids.
The peculiarities of feeding a sparrow at home allow you to monitor the vitamins you receive. To calculate a chick's need for calcium, it is enough to determine 2% of its weight. But remember that it is possible to overdo it with the additive, so it is better to be safe and add more.
A bird can get calcium from chalk, food clay or shells. boiled eggs. They are added in powder form. For a standard daily dose, take half a teaspoon - if you don’t want to make calculations.
Primary knowledge: what and how
Let's talk about how to hatch a sparrow chick and what to use for feeding. Newborn birds are fed from a syringe with a catheter - this is more convenient.
It is prohibited to use a catheter to feed grown sparrows, due to the danger to life: the birds can swallow the needle. The process of feeding a chick with a brush is less convenient: due to the soiling of the feathers. But for neat people, the technique is ideal, since the soft pile will not cause harm.
Sequence of feeding sparrow chicks - important point. Don't give them the whole portion at once. Dosage the feed for better absorption. One “dose” is 2/3 of the head volume. If babies continue to beg for treats, ignore them. Overfeeding is just as harmful as undernutrition.
The importance of the intermediate stage
When caring for a sparrow, do not miss the moment of stopping feeding and transferring the chick to self-catering. Remember that the baby’s desire for independence does not indicate that it is necessary to reduce feeding.
In the natural environment, parents feed the chicks even when the babies learn to fly and get food. Don't miss this important moment. Make the sparrow chase you to get the food you want.
You can tell if a chick is ready for independence by looking at its weight. The norm is 20-27 g. The sparrow is completely covered with feathers, the tail is long, the beak loses its yellowness. Mature birds bite painfully.
As the sparrow chick grows up, the frequency of feeding is gradually reduced. Some birds switch to self-feeding quickly, while for others the process is delayed - this is not scary. If your baby refuses to eat, don't worry. This is a normal process until their weight drops below 21g.
Painless weaning
A human-fed sparrow chick can be released into the wild. The main thing is to consider how to carry out the process correctly. Remember: if you are not going to leave the selected bird, start preparing for “weaning” in advance.
When planning to release a sparrow into the wild, do not treat the bird like a pet. Don't spend more time with your baby than necessary. Don't play, don't caress. When feeding, it is better to wear something bright to distract attention “from yourself” and minimize addiction.
When the chick grows up, do not play with it. Do not teach your baby to “handle”. If you don’t spend a lot of time with the bird, the growing sparrow will quickly learn to be afraid of humans.
You cannot release a sparrow without prior preparation. Before the bird settles in nature, it is kept in an aviary. An outdoor corral helps to adapt. Teach the chick to “local” food.
Before releasing the sparrow, make sure the chick is healthy. Check the weather forecast. On the day of "absence" there should be no rain or strong wind. It is better that the hydrometeorological center does not report any impending bad weather in the next few days.
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