Hand Raising Baby Birds: Hand Feeding Guide

Baby Gouldian finch being hand raised at Birdsville — Hand raising a baby Gouldian finch

Written by the Birdsville team. Last updated October 2026.

Hand raising baby birds means feeding a chick a commercial hand rearing formula with probiotics, at the right temperature and the right intervals for its age, while keeping it warm in a brooder or container until it’s fully weaned. Done well, it’s a wonderful experience for any bird lover, and a hand raised bird will see you as one of its own kind, almost as a parent.

Perhaps you’ve found a dove on the footpath, a finch such as a Gouldian finch, or a budgie that’s fallen from its nest. Maybe a bird has been abandoned by its parents in your home aviary, or you simply want a closer bond with a pet bird. A bird that hasn’t been hand raised can still be tamed to a degree with plenty of handling and training, but it will never bond with you quite the same way.

Every product we recommend, and plenty more, is available in-store at Birdsville in Sydney, or online through our partner store Petsville (https://petsville.com.au/) with delivery Australia-wide.

Hand Raising Baby Birds: Risks and Problems
What Age to Start Hand Raising Baby Birds?
What’s the Right Environment for Hand Raising Baby Birds?
What Should You Feed Baby Birds?
Rule Number One: Always Use a Formula With Probiotics
How to Hand Feed a Baby Bird
Feeding Times by Age
What Are the Signs of Illness in a Hand Raised Baby Bird?
Hand Rearing Formulas and Supplies
Sydney Seasonal Tips
Hand Raising Baby Birds: Frequently Asked Questions

Hand Raising Baby Birds: Risks and Problems

The biggest risk in hand raising a baby bird is that it could die. If a chick isn’t hand raised correctly, or has a pre-existing or genetic condition, its chances of surviving drop sharply, so hand raising genuinely isn’t for everyone.

We regularly see people come into our store who’ve bought a cheap baby bird online, only for the bird to be close to death. Sadly, this is usually because the new owner was never shown how to hand raise it, and the seller passed a young, vulnerable bird on to someone without that experience. It’s one of the ways pets pay the price for online livestock sales.

Another common problem is homemade formula. Many breeders feed mixes that cause rickets, a vitamin and mineral deficiency, in young birds.

Do your research before buying an unweaned baby bird. At Birdsville, we don’t sell birds unless they’re fully weaned.

What Age to Start Hand Raising Baby Birds?

The best age to start hand raising a baby bird is around 2 to 3 weeks old, especially if you’re a beginner. There are two approaches: raising right from the egg, or taking the chick from its parents at 2 to 3 weeks. At Birdsville, we hand raise our own birds from 2 to 3 weeks old.

A chick raised by people from the moment it hatches misses out on the good bacteria it would normally get from its parents, which affects its ability to fight off disease later in life. We’ve also found that birds hand raised right from the egg don’t tend to reach the same full size as birds that had time with their parents first.

Don’t leave it too late either. An older chick can be quite wild and genuinely hard to hand raise, which is why there’s an age window that works best.

What’s the Right Environment for Hand Raising Baby Birds?

A baby bird needs a warm, dark, enclosed brooder or container, never a bird cage, until it’s fully feathered and ready to leave the nest. Putting an unfledged chick into a cage happens more often than you’d think, because so many birds are now sold online to people with no experience.

People often see our parrots walking freely around Birdsville, then spot a container of baby parrots huddled together and ask whether it’s cruel to keep them in a box. The truth is, every wild parrot starts life in a cramped, musty tree hollow, and that’s exactly how they like it. Unlike chickens and ducklings, which hatch with their eyes open and walk almost straight away, parrots, doves and finches are altricial. They hatch with their eyes closed and little or no down, and take a long time to develop. They don’t usually leave the nest until they’re almost the size of their parents, so huddling in a corner of the brooder is completely natural.

Choosing the Right Substrate

The best substrate for hand raising baby birds is chick starter or turkey crumble. If the chicks eat it, it doesn’t harm them, and it actually helps with weaning and gives them a little extra protein. We recommend Chick and Duckling Starter Crumble (https://petsville.com.au/products/vella-chick-starter-crumble-4kg).

Staff tip from the Birdsville team: “A good friend of mine, John Turner, taught me this. He ran another bird shop in South Australia, which was the oldest bird shop in Australia until it closed in early 2026, and he’d been hand raising birds longer than I’d been alive. Using chick starter as substrate surprised me at first, but it makes perfect sense. I’d previously used towels, which caused problems with the birds’ legs and feet. Tissues had a similar problem, and a young bird’s splayed legs are very difficult to correct once it happens. Sawdust seems like an answer, but young birds can eat the shavings and get sick. To this day, the only substrate I recommend for the bottom of the box is chick starter or turkey crumble.”

Dust extracted wood shavings are still the most popular choice, simply because they’re the cheapest, but we don’t recommend them for young chicks.

Brooders and Containers

Brooders are ideal if you’re hand raising a number of parrots, but they’re fairly expensive and not necessary for one baby or a single clutch. Any plastic container or even a cardboard box will do. Just avoid glass, which can get too cold.

Temperature

Keep newly hatched chicks at an ambient temperature of around 30 to 35°C, then lower it by 1 to 2 degrees as they grow and feather up. Once a chick is fully feathered, it no longer needs extra heat. Heat coils, heat pads or a heat lamp all work well, and we’ve had great success with an ordinary light globe too. Be careful not to overheat the babies or leave anything that could start a fire. If the babies are panting or holding their wings out, turn the heat down straight away. If they’re shivering or huddling tightly, they’re too cold.

What Should You Feed Baby Birds?

Always feed baby birds a quality commercial hand rearing formula made for their type of bird. Each brand suits slightly different bird groups, and we stock the full Vetafarm range in-store. Our most popular options are:

Vetafarm Hand Rearing Formula, suitable for all parrots and doves, available in-store
Vetafarm Neocare (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-neocare-450g)
Passwell Hand Rearing Food (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-hand-rearing-food-300g), a reliable option for a wide range of species
Wombaroo Granivore Rearing Mix, available in-store

Formulas for Seed Eating Birds

For seed eating species like galahs, white cockatoos, Major Mitchell’s cockatoos, budgies, doves, cockatiels and finches, including Gouldian finches, Passwell Hand Rearing Food, Wombaroo Granivore Rearing Mix and Vetafarm Hand Rearing Formula all work well.

Finches, Gouldians especially, take very small amounts per feed because their crop is so tiny. A fine tipped feeding tool and extra care with portion size matter far more with finches than with larger seed eaters.

Formulas for Fruit Eating Parrots

For fruit eating parrots such as Eclectus, Amazons, green cheek conures, caiques and macaws, we’ve had great success with Passwell Hand Rearing Food, Wombaroo Granivore Rearing Mix and the full Vetafarm range, including Vetafarm Hand Rearing Formula and Vetafarm Neocare.

Macaws have a much larger crop than smaller parrots, so they take more formula per feed, but they still follow the same feeding times by age (see Feeding Times by Age below).

Feeding Baby Lorikeets

For hand raising lorikeets, mix any of the formulas above 50/50 with a good quality lorikeet food, such as:

Shep’s Lorikeet Diet Wet (https://petsville.com.au/products/sheps-lorikeet-diet-wet-2-5kg)
Wombaroo Lorikeet and Honeyeater Food (https://petsville.com.au/products/wombaroo-lorikeet-honeyeater-food-1-5kg)
Passwell Complete Lorikeet (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-complete-lorikeet-1kg)
Vetafarm Forest Fusion Lori Diet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-forest-fusion-lori-diet-450g)
AviOne Lorikeet Wild Bird Nectar (https://petsville.com.au/products/avione-lorikeet-wild-bird-nectar-wet-500g)

Once your lorikeet is weaned, Birdsville Blends Lorikeet Dry (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-lorikeet-dry-1kg) is our biggest seller for lorikeets and lories, and a favourite treat for all lorikeets. Like all our blends, it’s mixed and bagged fresh on site from quality ingredients, with a high turnover so it’s always fresh, and buying direct from the people who make it means better value. Many chain store foods are bulked out with low quality filler that affects the health and vitality of your bird.

For more on caring for young lorikeets, see our Lorikeet Care guide (https://birdsville.net.au/care-sheets/lorikeet-lori-care-guide/).

Weaning Onto Seed

When your bird starts weaning, offer a quality seed blend alongside soft foods. Our seed and Birdsville Blends are very high quality, unlike many chain store mixes, which are bulked out with low quality grain and filler seed that affects the health and vitality of your bird. See our Birdsville Blends page (https://birdsville.net.au/birdsville-blends/) to find the right blend for your species.

Rule Number One: Always Use a Formula With Probiotics

Always use a hand rearing formula that contains probiotics. Hand rearing formula passes through the crop faster than food a baby bird would get from its parents, so the bird can lose some of its good bacteria along the way. Probiotics help keep your bird strong from the inside out.

Many formulas already include a probiotic. If yours doesn’t, add one such as Vetafarm Probotic (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-probotic-25g) or Vetafarm Synbiotic (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-synbiotic-100g).

Some people hand raise baby birds on homemade diets. If you go down this path, the diet must be carefully checked for nutrition and suitability, because getting it wrong can affect a young bird’s development, long term health and immune system. We often see baby birds with metabolic bone disease or a weak immune system, and it can usually be traced back to a nutrient deficiency in the hand rearing formula.

H2: How to Hand Feed a Baby Bird

To hand feed a baby bird, mix fresh formula to the manufacturer’s directions, warm it to about 39 to 41°C, and feed it slowly with a syringe or spoon while the chick is actively begging. Follow these rules every time:

Always feed warm formula, checked with a thermometer, but never hot enough to burn the crop, as a crop burn can kill a baby bird.
Don’t microwave formula, as it creates hot pockets.
Only mix enough formula for one feed at a time, and throw out any leftovers.
Never feed a bird that still has food in its crop (the pouch at the base of the neck). Old food can sour and will likely kill the baby bird, so wait until the crop is completely empty.
Don’t fill the crop until it’s bulging and tight, as this can overstretch it.
Always mix formula according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Hygiene is essential. Wash and disinfect feeding tools and dishes between every feed.
Feed with a syringe, a crop needle or a specialised feeding spoon. Crop needles are best left to experienced hand rearers, so beginners should use a syringe or spoon, and always be gentle.
Only feed when your bird is actively begging, which looks like the bird bobbing its head up and down.
Weigh your bird every morning before the first feed and write it down, so you can see it’s gaining weight steadily.

Baby Indian ringneck parrots and a cockatiel chick huddled together in a brooder — Baby ringneck parrots and a cockatiel, hand raised at Birdsville

Feeding Times by Age

The older a baby bird gets, the longer it can go between feeds. This is a rough guide for most parrots, and it can vary by species.

1 to 7 days old: hourly feeds, 24 hours a day
7 to 14 days old: every 2 hours, with around a 5 hour break overnight
14 to 21 days old: every 3 to 4 hours, with a 6 hour break overnight
21 to 28 days old: every 4 to 5 hours, with a 7 hour break overnight
28 to 42 days old: every 5 to 6 hours
By week 8: every 8 hours
Once your bird is eating fruit, seed and pellets on its own: morning and night only

Stop hand feeding once your bird no longer wants the formula. Some birds take longer to wean than others, so be patient and keep weighing your bird while it weans.

What Are the Signs of Illness in a Hand Raised Baby Bird?

The main signs of illness in a hand raised baby bird are lethargy, refusing food, losing weight and a crop that empties slowly. Baby birds are especially prone to bacterial infections, so weigh and check your bird every day, especially if you’re new to birds.

Signs of illness include, but aren’t limited to:

Lethargy, or reluctance to feed
Not gaining weight, or losing weight
Skin turning red or white
Skin looking more wrinkly than normal, a sign of dehydration
Vomiting
Changes in droppings
A crop that’s emptying slowly

If you notice any of these, contact an avian vet or bring your bird in for us to check straight away. Our Common Bird Illnesses page (https://birdsville.net.au/common-bird-illnesses/) explains more. Hand raising baby birds takes real dedication. These are delicate animals that depend entirely on you getting it right.

Hand Rearing Formulas and Supplies

Vetafarm Neocare (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-neocare-450g)
Passwell Hand Rearing Food (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-hand-rearing-food-300g)
Vetafarm Hand Rearing Formula, available in-store
Wombaroo Granivore Rearing Mix, available in-store
Vetafarm Probotic (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-probotic-25g)
Chick and Duckling Starter Crumble for substrate (https://petsville.com.au/products/vella-chick-starter-crumble-4kg)
Crop needles, syringes and feeding spoons in all sizes, available in-store

Hand raising a baby bird isn’t something you need to figure out alone. Drop into Birdsville and our team can help you choose the right formula, substrate and feeding setup before you start.

Sydney Seasonal Tips for Hand Raising Baby Birds

Spring and summer: Most Sydney birds breed in the warmer months, which is when we see the most fallen and abandoned chicks. On hot days, watch closely for overheating, as a brooder can get too warm very quickly. Turn the heat down or off if the room is already warm.

Winter: Cold Sydney nights are dangerous for unfeathered chicks. Keep the brooder in a warm, draught free room, check the temperature last thing at night, and never let the heat source go off while the chicks still need it.

Crop needles in different sizes for hand feeding baby birds — Crop needles in all sizes, available at Birdsville

Hand Raising Baby Birds: Frequently Asked Questions

What age should you start hand raising a baby bird?

We recommend hand raising baby birds from around 2 to 3 weeks of age, especially if you’re a beginner. This lets the chick pick up good bacteria from its parents first, which supports its immune system and growth. Raising straight from the egg skips this benefit, and older chicks can be too wild to raise easily.

How often do you need to feed a baby bird?

It depends on age. Newly hatched chicks need hourly feeds around the clock, dropping to every 2 hours by 1 to 2 weeks old, then gradually stretching out as they grow. By around 8 weeks, most birds only need feeding every 8 hours, and feeding stops once they’re fully weaned onto solid food.

What temperature should baby bird formula be?

Baby bird formula should be about 39 to 41°C. Always check with a thermometer, as testing on your wrist isn’t reliable. Formula that’s too hot can burn the crop and kill a chick, and formula that’s too cold may be refused or slow digestion. Never microwave it, as it creates hot spots.

What’s the safest substrate to use when hand raising a baby bird?

Chick starter or turkey crumble is the safest option. Towels and tissues can cause a baby bird’s legs to splay, which is very hard to correct once it happens, and sawdust can be eaten and make a chick sick. Chick starter is safe even if eaten, and it adds a little extra protein while helping with weaning.

Can homemade formula be used to hand raise a baby bird?

We don’t recommend it. Homemade and low quality formulas are one of the most common causes of rickets, a serious vitamin and mineral deficiency, in young birds. If you do use a homemade diet, it must be carefully checked for proper nutrition first. A quality commercial formula with probiotics is a far safer choice.

What are the signs a hand raised baby bird is unwell?

Watch for lethargy or reluctance to feed, weight loss or no weight gain, changes in skin colour, wrinkly skin (a sign of dehydration), vomiting, changes in droppings, or a crop that’s emptying slowly. Weigh and check your bird every day, and contact an avian vet or our team as soon as you notice any of these signs.

Visit Birdsville

We’re a small business that does things in a big way. With no one telling us how to run things, we can keep our formulas, seed and products the best of the best.

Not in Sydney? Every product in this guide can be ordered online through Petsville (https://petsville.com.au/) and delivered anywhere in Australia.

In Sydney? Visit us at Birdsville, 684 Botany Road, Alexandria NSW 2015, on the corner of Gardeners Road, servicing the Eastern Suburbs and Inner South Sydney, or call us on (02) 9669 1766. If you’ve found a baby bird or need help with a chick, bring it in and our team will help.

Once your bird is weaned, our How to Train Your Parrot guide (https://birdsville.net.au/pet-bird-advice-and-training/bird-training-clicker-training-parrot-body-language/) will help you build a lifelong bond.

For live updates, photos of our hand raised babies and what’s new in store, follow us on TikTok [TikTok link], Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BirdsvilleRosebery/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/petsvillesydney/).

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