Just as with human babies, baby birds are born into the world unable to support themselves. They are weak, blind, naked and wet from the fluids that they’ve grown in. They need their parents, or a human, to feed them and help them grow into full-grown adult birds. If you care for baby birds you may be wondering how soon these baby animals can start eating. This article explores the question of ‘do baby birds eat as soon as they hatch’

Baby birds do not eat as soon as they hatch. These tiny animals initially survive on the nutrients in the egg yolk. They are not to be fed for the first 12 to 24 hours after they hatch. After this time they can be fed small amounts of formula 

Do baby birds eat as soon as they hatch?

Baby birds do not eat as soon as they hatch. In the first few hours of hatching, the only source of nutrients that a baby bird needs will be delivered by the yolk sac. The bird will survive on the yolk sack for 12-24 hours. This is also when baby birds sync with their environment. This gives the bird time to finish forming fully functional lungs, airways and intestines. Once this period has passed, the bird is able to receive and digest certain meals.

Once they are able to eat, baby birds can either be given crop milk by their parents or formula, both deliver all the nutrients that the bird needs to grow. Parent birds feed their babies a diet of crop milk to meet their nutritional needs and help them grow. Crop milk is a semi-solid, pale yellow, cottage cheese-like substance that contains high levels of protein and fat, it also contains immune-enhancing factors as well as antibodies. This milk is a secretion made by the lining of the parent birds crop and is regurgitated into the mouth of young birds. 

There are a variety of baby bird formulas available on the market. These formulas are packed with a variety of nutrients that promote the healthy growth of the bird, maintains the bird’s plumage, and aids in the development of the bird. Certain formulas are also able to encourage intestinal microorganisms to reproduce and form healthy-sized populations as they contain probiotics. 

How many times do you need to feed a baby bird?

A baby bird’s crop is small, because of this, the bird needs to be fed small amounts of food every few hours. Once the crop empties, the bird needs to be fed again. As the bird grows in size, the crop becomes bigger, thus the bird will eat larger amounts of food less often. Overfeeding a young bird can result in an overflow of the crop, this can lead to food back flowing into the oesophagus and into the windpipe, this can kill the bird. For this reason, it is important to know how much and how often you can feed a baby bird 

If you’re attempting to feed a baby bird, the first feeding needs to be between 12 to 24 hours after the baby hatches. A drop of water can be given to the baby at this time. Another drop of water can be given about 30 minutes to an hour after the first. If the baby is reacting well to the drops you can continue to feed the bird very thin formula every 2 hours around the clock. 

Once the baby is one to two weeks old the cycle of feeding the bird every 2-3 hours around the clock can progress to feeding the bird every 2-3 hours around the clock between the hours of 6 am and midnight. Once the baby is two to three weeks old the baby can be fed every three to fours hours, this feeding routine needs to start at 6 am and can continue up till midnight. At three to four weeks old, the baby can be fed every four hours. And at five to six weeks old the baby can be fed twice a day.

Conclusion 

In conclusion,  no, baby birds do not eat as soon as they hatch, these tiny animals are initially nourished by the yolk, they will not have anything else for 12-24 hours after they hatch. After 12-24 hours these animals can be fed small amounts of formula every 30 minutes to an hour. 

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other pigeon related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Can baby birds eat rice?, Why do baby birds open their mouths?, Why do baby birds chirp?, Do baby birds carry diseases?