Avoid the bird imprinting on you by using a hand puppet of the parent bird. Hygiene Hygiene is the single most important factor in preventing disease in young birds. Fresh food should be made up for each feed. Use separate utensils for each bird or batch of birds. After each feed, boil and soak the utensils in a disinfectant solution such as Miltons or Aviclens.
Rinse utensils before use.
Feeding Different birds eat different food types and there are commercial hand-raising feeds available for each type. It is important to accurately identify the bird so that it can be fed the correct diet. Home-made recipes abound, but do not have the same reliable nutrient content or quality as the commercial mixes. Egg and biscuit is inadequate. Vetafarm, Roudybush and Wombaroo all offer commercial products for orphaned birds.