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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