What to Feed Baby Finches

Though wild baby finches should not be kept as pets, being a "Good Samaritan" for an injured or orphaned finch can be tricky. You must know the proper diet, as well as frequency of feeding times. "Baby" finches also cover a range of stages from just-hatched to ready-to-fly. Knowing these stages is also tricky but important. On the opposite side, finches meant for keeping as pets, such as Zebra finches, should never be released into the wild.

  1. Knowing the Stages

    • As soon as a finch has hatched from its egg and "fluffed up" --- meaning it's no longer wet and has a fluffy appearance --- it can be given seed. If you will be hand-feeding your finches, you must use a hand-feeding mixture, which can be purchased at several pet stores or farm supply stores. Call around first to see who sells the mixture.

    Feeding Frequency

    • Starting right when hatched, a very small amount of the mixture should be fed to the baby finch. Keep an eye on the crop after that. The crop is located on the sides of the neck. The area should be puffed up a little, and when it is not, it is time for another feeding. Some finches can ration the food in their crop, and you don't want to overfeed. As they age, the feeding changes from simply paying attention to the crop to feeding on a schedule every hour or hour and a half.

    Diet

    • Finches love two things --- bugs and seeds. Make sure to only feed little ones bugs if they have been mashed up, as they cannot handle full-size bugs at their age and size. Purchase a bird seed mix. Just like most animals being fed by humans, mushing and adding water is important. The hand-feeding mixture is a seed mixture, mashed and mixed later by you, with water. This doesn't always give the most protein, so incorporating insects into the mixture, making sure it's not too thick, is important as soon as possible.