1 Cup Purina One
High Protein Dog Food
1 teaspoon avian vitamin and mineral supplement
1 Hard Boiled Egg
1 Cup Water
Soak kibble and then combine all ingredients in a blender. Keep unused
in refrigerator. Make fresh every 2 or 3 days.
Alternate each meal with killed meal worms. In other words, one meal
with the formula, the next meal as many meal worms as they will eat.
As the birds get older, the quickest and simplest diet and the one I
use the most is Science Diet Feline dry, moistened in a small bowl.
Sprinkle avian vitamin and mineral supplement over the kibble and feed
whole. Feed several pieces of kibble and several meal worms at each
meal and you should have healthy baby birds. Mockingbirds are
particularly susceptible to Metabolic Bone Disease and need a balanced
calcium / phosphorous ratio and this diet does that. Most literature
tells you that they need no water because they get their moisture from
their insect diet, but I have found they get very thirsty, probably
because of the dog food. Whatever the reason, it is very important to
offer them fluid in a dropper, on the tip of their beak after each
feeding. They eagerly take it, so offer it until they show no more
interest. Be very careful to give it slowly so they do not choke on it.
A sick or injured adult songbird must be handled differently than a
young one. It is much more difficult to rehabilitate an adult who by
that time is very wild and stressed by handling. One would think that
by putting it in an outside cage to recover would be the proper thing
to do, but the bird will become so stressed at not being able to fly
away, it will continually attempt to escape until it finally dies
trying. The only way I have found to successfully keep an adult
songbird is to put it in a medium size bird cage with a towel, free of
raveling on the bottom of the cage so that the bird can be comfortable
lying on the bottom of the cage if necessary. Put a small tree branch
close to the bottom of the cage so that it can perch if it wants to.
Some birds find it uncomfortable to stand on a flat surface for a long
period.
Place the cage on a screened
porch if possible, protected from predators or the household cat. Put
food and water in the cage, cover the cage completely and make sure
things remain quiet. If it is apparent that the bird is unable to feed
on its own, then you must hand feed the same formula that you would a
baby bird. It is very stressful for an adult bird to have its mouth
forced open and tube fed, but it is necessary to get its strength up so
that it will be able to feed itself. Usually two or three feedings will
be sufficient. If the bird has flown into a window, usually it will
recover by the next morning. If it seems lively and attempting to get
out, then you should try releasing it. I’m fortunate enough to have an
aviary to test its ability to fly before releasing it, but since you
probably will not, try releasing the bird in an open area where you can
retrieve it if it cannot fly. You should be prepared before you let it
out, by having a net ready in case it is needed. Sometimes it will need
to be kept a little longer, but if it is kept too long it may die from
stress. All you can is your best in a very difficult situation. Many
times they will die despite your best efforts.
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