The day was Sunday the 23rd of November; I went out to do my morning check of my aviaries to discover that 1 of my budgies had tried to take over the zebra finch nests. I had 1 dead young and 1 that was injured. The third chick had moved itself into another nest on 3 finches that were between 1 and 3 days old. As my budgies well outnumber my finches, I decided to move the finches into my other aviary. I moved the 2 nests, put the older chick back in its right nest and kept close watch for the parents to rediscover their young.

I should have known better! After 6-8 hours of waiting, it became apparent that the parents were not going back to their young. I had planned to let nature take its course but I couldn't. These chicks were cold and starving. I removed them to try to hand raise. Did I know what I was getting myself in for? NO!

After warming the chicks for a few minutes I prepared to feed them. The only hand raising mixture that I had on hand was parrot, as the majority of my birds are budgies and cockatiels.

So, I mixed up a quite runny mix, and started feeding. All there was to these tiny chicks was beak, and I thank god that they open it wide! I aimed the dropper and fired a drip into the mouth. Well the first feed went well. I settled the birds and prepared a brooder for them.

My brooder, as pictured below, consisted of a plastic fish tank with lid, heat pillows, an eggcup of water for moisture and a thermometer that also measured humidity.

Unfortunately, the 1-day-old chick didn't make it through the first 24 hours, but I had 2 that were doing well.

I knew, from past experience, that I had to sterilize all feeding utensils. I lost baby cockatiels from bacteria infection in the crop on my first go at hand raising. These finches were my second attempt.

The first few days went smoothly, it was pretty much a feed every 1 ½ to 2 hours, then back to the brooder. In the middle of the fifth day as I was feeding the older chick, who was a particularly good feeder, something awful happened. The chick must have taken food into its lungs and it died instantly. I tried to bring the poor little thing around, without any luck. I was down to 1. I was very shaken, but had to keep it together to finish feeding the other chick.

This was the exact reason I didn't want to name the chicks until they had opened their eyes. That day did eventually come for my 1 surviving chick. At 9 days old, it started to open its eyes! I couldn't have been happier, although I did know that we weren't out of the woods yet. I decided to call my little one Chico.

Up until the age of about 2 ½ weeks, things were pretty routine. I was still feeding between 7 and 10 times a day, and Chico still slept a lot. But from that age on things were getting busier! In a matter of a couple of days, Chico moved off the heat pad, into a cage, started making Zebra finch peep noises, went off night feeds and showed an interest in perching on the edge of the nest and trying to fly! It was at this point I realised there was something not quite right with Chicos' foot.

The toe that grips around the back of the perch was positioned forward with the other toes. It was making balancing quite awkward. I wanted to give my little one the best chance at having her foot fixed so I took Chico to an avian vet. After examining the foot I was told some good news. If the toe was manipulated into the right position and then bound there, Chico would have good use of the foot. Now, you may be asking, how on earth do you get a 3-week-old Zebra finches leg into a splint???

With an anaesthetic of course!!! Yes, my baby had to stay at the vets for the day, wait 4 hours for the crop and stomach to empty, then have (I quote from the vet) “a sniff of gas'. I picked Chico up in the afternoon with this tiny little bandage on her leg, but otherwise fine. It has been a little awkward for Chico, but it s only 2 weeks out of her life. And finally, today is the day before the bandage comes off, but that is another chapter in this story!

I have been hand-raising Chico now for 5 weeks. Over the last couple of days she has been having less feeds from me and eating more millet. I am down to 4 feeds a day, but even though I am doing less feeds, Chico is so much more demanding! She has only known humans and I don't think she understands why she is confined to a cage while her family are free to move around as we please. She continuously paces up and down the cage, calling to be let out. When we do let her out, she hops onto someone and falls asleep!

She is very affectionate and loves being stroked, especially around the ear and neck. Chico became used to this because I clean her after every feed with a cotton tip dipped in warm water. I would never have imagined that this little bird could be such a rewarding pet. She is now destined to spend her life as a human bird, living in a house instead of an aviary and being spoilt by her doting family. This has got to be one of the luckiest little finches alive!

Article © Bronwyn Mangan 2003