Mother ate 1 chick, need advice on handfeeding 4-day-old chick

[TessaG]

Hope this is the right place to post this! I have a mum who had two little hatchlings, and I went to check on them today and one is GONE. Totally gone. She's been outside of the box more than in, so I pulled the other baby and put it into an incubator. I've never had to handfeed one this tiny before. What type of syringe do you guys use to feed the teeny-tinies?

 

[April]

@BrianB @Zara @Matto @Mockinbirdiva @Laurie

 

[BrianB]

What kind of babies are they? Conures and anything smaller are very difficult to feed from hatching. Macaws and bigger birds are fairly easy.

 

[Zara]

What type of syringe do you guys use to feed the teeny-tinies?

1CC

one is GONE. Totally gone.

Not outside the box?

Check in the bedding, it might be grim, but it will give you closure.
When newly hatched chicks die in the nest, lovebirds will press the body down into the bedding so it dries out and pests don´t come. Keeps the nest ¨clean¨ (to the best of their ability) for the other chicks.

 

[Zara]

I just read your title, I highly doubt the hen ate the chick.

To add to my previous post, with a 4 day old chick, the formula has a little more water that usual, check package instructions. You will end up tipping formula away, but it´s difficult to make formula in such small portions and keep it warm long enough to feed. Worth making a bit extra and tipping the excess (you can always offer it to the parents if they´ll take it from the syringe after)

 

[TessaG]

What kind of babies are they? Conures and anything smaller are very difficult to feed from hatching. Macaws and bigger birds are fairly easy.

They're Lovebirds, I can't believe I forgot to add that!

 

[TessaG]

1CC


Not outside the box?

Check in the bedding, it might be grim, but it will give you closure.
When newly hatched chicks die in the nest, lovebirds will press the body down into the bedding so it dries out and pests don´t come. Keeps the nest ¨clean¨ (to the best of their ability) for the other chicks.

I did go through it, but I'll go through it more carefully. This is the weirdest thing that's ever happened - luckily the bottom of the cage was clean so I know it's not there...

 

[TessaG]

1CC


Not outside the box?

Check in the bedding, it might be grim, but it will give you closure.
When newly hatched chicks die in the nest, lovebirds will press the body down into the bedding so it dries out and pests don´t come. Keeps the nest ¨clean¨ (to the best of their ability) for the other chicks.

Ooooh, you were right...she buried the baby deep under the bedding - at least I know she didn't cannibalize it! So sad Any recommendations on syringes for the baby? I have gotten it to take a little at a time by just pushing out a tiny 'bubble' of watery formula at the tip and putting it next to baby's mouth - so far it's working, it's been three feedings so far, time for #4. It's messy, but it's safe...I'd just prefer to have a decent syringe with the right tip.

 

[BrianB]

It's unusual for birds to completely eat a chick, but if there is something wrong they may chew on it. Sometimes they just aren't meant to be, or the parents are inexperienced and simply don't know what to do. When I talk to breeders about a pair's very first clutch it's almost always a disaster. Some pairs have it figured out and make amazing parents from the very beginning. Some need a clutch or two to figure it out and some just aren't good parents. Then you have external factors that might throw off experienced breeders and it's hard to figure out what caused the issue.

When I'm feeding babies I always keep a cup of hot water right next to the formula. I keep it a little hotter than the formula itself., maybe 1 or 2 degrees hotter. I'll suck up some formula in the syringe then quickly dip it in the hot water before I touch it to the side of the chick's beak. The extra heat seems to stimulate some birds to start bobbing in order to pump the formula into the crop. It's something you'll develop a feel for in time. This has worked really well for chicks that are slow to feed and if nothing else you're getting a little more hydration in them.

 

[Zara]

Ooooh, you were right...she buried the baby deep under the bedding - at least I know she didn't cannibalize it!

Yea, I´m sorry you had to do that, but at least you got an answer. They flatten them down so much it´s easy to miss. I believe cockatiels do it too.

I have gotten it to take a little at a time by just pushing out a tiny 'bubble' of watery formula at the tip and putting it next to baby's mouth - so far it's working, it's been three feedings so far, time for #4. It's messy, but it's safe

That is how I would do it, feed via the side of the beak so it trickles in slowly, they will start eating it once they feel it.

I hand fed my youngest hen Adelie from 5 days old, it was very difficult (compared to a 3 week old chick), going a little slower was key. I was told there were 0.5CC syringes avail.. but I checked a few chemists and never found one around here - so check and see if you have them where you are. The smaller the syringe, the more control you´ll have. I bought standard syringes without needles (if they came with the needles, I´d ask the clerk to remove it before handing it to me so they could dispose of it correctly and safely).

When I first hand fed chicks, I´d use a 5CC syringe for a 3 week old, that is the ¨norm¨... but on the last 2 clutches of chicks I raised, I really took a liking to a 2CC instead. I preferred refilling it multiple times because I found that the mess was less, the control was much more elevated.