Feeding baby mynah birds
Feeding Pet Mynah Birds | VCA Animal Hospital
Knowledge of bird nutrition is constantly evolving, both from heightened awareness of the importance of nutrition and from increased research into birds’ different needs. As with all other animals, birds need a proper balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. Different species of birds often require different foods. Mynah birds eat a variety of foods and have relatively short digestive tracts when compared with other parrots. This combination makes for a very quick transit time of food through the gastrointestinal tract, so Mynah birds eat often and produce frequent and often very loose droppings.
Should I be concerned about what my Mynah bird eats?
Too often, bird owners assume they are feeding a proper diet to their pets when, in fact, they are not. Poor nutrition is a common cause of many health problems in birds. Mynah birds have specialized dietary needs. Before you consider having one as pet, you should be familiar with their nutritional requirements so that your Mynah bird can be healthy and thrive.
What do wild Mynah birds eat?
Mynah birds are omnivorous. In the wild, they eat a huge variety of fruits, insects, larva, amphibians, lizards, small snakes, eggs, baby birds, baby rodents, and they scavenge for garbage occasionally. Mynah birds are not seed-eaters in the wild.
What should I feed my Mynah bird?
Mynah birds do not chew/bite their food into pieces like parrots do. For this reason, they should be provided with food in small, easy to swallow, bite sized pieces. Consult your veterinarian with any questions regarding your Mynah bird’s health and nutrition.
Pelleted Diets. Pellets have been developed to meet all your bird's nutritional needs. Pellets are nutritious, easy to feed, and since pellets are dry, bird droppings tend to be less messy when birds eat a pelleted diet.
Mynah birds are very sensitive to the iron levels in their food. They should be offered pellets, typically labeled for soft bills, that are low in iron.
Some pellets, while nutritious, may contain too much iron. For Mynah birds, this may contribute to the development of iron storage disease, also called hemochromatosis, a potentially fatal disease which causes birds to develop heart and liver failure. Pellets are safe to feed Mynahs if they contain less than 90-100 mg of iron/kg of diet. Check with your veterinarian for their recommendations regarding appropriate pellet choices for your Mynah bird.
Fruits and Vegetables. A large variety of diced fruits (see table below) should be offered to a Mynah every day. Fruits and vegetables must be washed thoroughly to remove chemicals. They should be cut into manageable pieces appropriate to the size of the bird. It is not necessary to remove the skin. Fruits and vegetables should be offered in a separate dish from pellets and other foods. If your bird appears to develop a particular fancy for one food item, reduce its volume, or stop feeding it temporarily to promote the consumption of other foods.
Some suggested fresh food items include:
* Foods with higher iron content (or that increase iron absorption) should be fed sparingly, if at all, to a Mynah bird.
Small amounts of diced vegetables may also be offered, but vegetables should not comprise a large portion of a Mynah bird’s diet. Pale vegetables, with a high water composition (i.e., iceberg or head lettuce and celery), offer very little nutritional value and should not be offered. Avocado is potentially toxic to birds and should never be fed to them. The acid in citrus fruits increases iron absorption, so Mynahs should not be fed citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit. If they are fed citrus fruits, it should be done so sparingly. Raisins are also high in iron and should be fed rarely or not all. Remove the seeds in fruits before they are fed to birds, as they may be toxic.
Avoid giving green vegetables that are high in iron, such as peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and broccoli.
All fruits and vegetables must be washed thoroughly to remove chemicals before they are given. If organic produce is available, it is preferable. Consult your veterinarian if you encounter any problems with the diet or health of your bird.
"Avoid giving green vegetables that are high in iron, such as peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and broccoli."
Water. Fresh clean water must be available at all times. If the quality of your tap water is poor, consider using bottled water. Clean your bird’s food and water dishes every day with hot, soapy water, and rinse them thoroughly before using them.
What about other foods?
As a rule, nearly any wholesome, nutritious food that you and your family eat can be offered to your bird in very small quantities. Junk food, including chocolate, caffeinated products, alcoholic beverages, and foods high in salt or fat should not be offered.
"Mynah birds may occasionally enjoy pinky mice or insects such as mealworms,
wax worms, crickets, and other insects."
Occasionally, some birds even enjoy a small amount of lean cooked meat, fish, egg white, or yogurt. Dairy products should be consumed only in small amounts, as birds are lactose intolerant. Once in a while, Mynah birds may also enjoy pinky mice or insects such as mealworms, wax worms, crickets and other insects.
Does my Mynah bird need extra vitamins, minerals, or amino acids?
In general, Mynahs eating a base diet of pellets, along with a variety of other foods, do not need supplements. Specific vitamin or mineral supplements may be more important at various times during a bird's life (e.g., calcium supplementation is required when laying eggs). Your veterinarian can help you assess your bird's diet and its particular needs.
Does my bird need gravel or grit?
Controversy exists over birds’ need for gravel. Previously, it was believed that grit was necessary for the mechanical breakdown of food in the gizzard to aid in digestion. This is true for birds that ingest seeds whole, shell and all.
However, Mynah birds eat mostly soft foods and do not require grit or gravel for proper digestion.
What pointers should I remember about feeding my Mynah bird?
- Always monitor the amount of food eaten every day by each bird, especially if multiple birds are housed together.
- Be careful not to overfeed vegetables and fruits with high iron content.
- Offer fresh water every day.
- Offer fresh fruits and vegetables every day.
- Clean all food and water dishes daily.
Protocols for the hand-raising and rehabilitation of mynas (contd.)
Corina Gardner
Link to Page 1: Protocols for the hand-raising and rehabilitation of mynas
Stage wise care and feeding instructions for the chicks
0–2 week old chicks
New born mynas are born totally pink, featherless, blind and completely helpless. Pin feathers begin to erupt in the second week of the baby’s life and the babies’ eyes usually open around the 8th – 10th day.
Fresh hatchlings require extensive care and need to be fed almost round-the-clock. It would be unnecessary to feed the baby at night as in nature, parent birds as well as the babies sleep at night.
Ideally, feeding should start at 6 a.m. and continue until midnight. The chicks should be given 10 feeds a day at intervals of 2 hours. A day old chick would require approximately 1 ml of formula per feed, which can be gradually increased to 2 ml by the 4th day and 3 ml by 7th day. The feedings can also be reduced to 8 feeds by the end of the 10th day. Two feeds – one around mid-morning and one around mid-afternoon, may be replaced by mashed/pureed soft fruits like banana, mango or papaya instead of the formula.
2 – 4 week old chicks
Even though the nestlings are covered with feathers, there is still a while before the flight feathers develop. The baby can now be given about 7 feeds a day. Gradually reduce the feeds to six times a day. Feeding however must still begin by 6 a.
m. and the last feed could be given by 10 p.m.
The baby can now be fed on a combination of sattu and fruits as well as mashed hard-boiled egg. Mashed/pureed banana, papaya, mango, sapodilla (chiku), mixed with crumbled up biscuits (marie or cream cracker would be ideal) are good options to add to their diet. If possible, insects such as grasshoppers, caterpillars and crickets could also be fed to the babies.
You can either offer them a mix of sattu and fruit, or the feeds may be alternated with sattu in one feed and fruit in the other. Avoid repeating any one fruit over and over again; instead, it would be better to offer them different fruits at intervals. This would be easier for them to digest and also ensure an intake of varied nutrients from different fruits.
4th – 5th week
The fledgling now starts to develop flight feathers by this age and will soon fledge in a couple of weeks. The young mynas can now be given 4-5 feeds a day, about 5 hours apart.
They also start foraging (searching for food) themselves by this age. The weaning process must begin by the time the chicks are 5 weeks old. Make sure that there is always food available for them so that they can start eating on their own and gradually become independent although you should still carry on hand-feeding the feedings.
6th – 7th week
The young bird is quite independent and starts to search for food. Put small morsels of food in his cage and he will start to eat on his own. Now is also the time to transfer the bird to an outdoor enclosure. Although they feed well by themselves at this age, they must be watched vigilantly to ensure they are eating well. If necessary, hand feeding can be continued once or twice a day. A bowl of fresh water must be available at all times for the young birds as they will now begin to drink water. The young birds may now be offered fruit chopped into small pieces, sattu pellets, pieces of hard-boiled egg as well as boiled rice and dal (lentils).
8th – 9th week
By 8 weeks of age, the young bird should be completely weaned.
Offer the fledgling a varied diet by this age. Allow them to explore and make choices for themselves. Their diet can now include a variety of fruits, berries and insects, such as grasshoppers and crickets.
Adult bird diet
Mynas are soft bill birds and primarily only eat soft foods. They do not eat seeds. In captivity, their diet consists of sattu pellets, cooked rice and dal, hard-boiled egg, insects and fruit. Green leafy vegetables such as lettuce, mustard sprouts, millet sprouts and fenugreek (methi) leaves are also very essential.
Mynas drink plenty of water and their water bowl should always be clean and filled with fresh water. The water should be changed frequently. Mynas also enjoy frequent bathing, so it is necessary to keep a shallow bowl filled with fresh water for the birds to bathe in.
Foods to be avoided
Foods that are highly toxic for birds include apple pips, avocado (makhanphal), cherries and peaches (aadu) and must never be given to the birds.
Never give the birds chocolate, as it may make the bird seriously ill.
Housing the young birds
A shoe-box or a small cardboard box with adequate holes for ventilation, a wicker basket or even a small aquarium may be used to house the young birds. The box can be lined with a soft towel at the base and a few layers of paper towels and strips of paper on top of the towel, as paper towels are easier to change when dirty.
The box must be placed in a warm, dry place, preferably near an artificial source of warmth. A heating lamp, with a light bulb of maximum 40 watts, can be placed above the box to provide warmth to the chicks. The lamp must be placed at least 12” away from the box. The ideal temperature for the baby birds would be about 35.5° Celsius (or 96° Fahrenheit). Again, it is crucial to be vigilant and ensure that the baby is not being overheated. A clear indication of overheating would be when the baby’s beak is open (as if panting) and wings are held away from its body.
Unlike mammals, birds lack sweat glands and hence cannot sweat. To release excesses body heat and afford a cooling effect, they open their beak wide and pant, causing moisture to evaporate from the oral cavity and in turn cooling the body. On the other hand, if the bird is huddled and shivering, it is not receiving enough warmth.
The box must be partly covered with a light towel at night to keep out the light from the heating lamp and thus enabling the baby to sleep. It must be noted that the purpose of the lamp is to provide warmth alone and not light and it must never interfere with the natural light patterns and disrupt the baby bird’s sleep cycle. Even when in captivity, the parent bird sits on the baby, shielding it from most of the light. The heating lamp may be discontinued after the baby crosses 2-3 weeks of age and is covered with its first layer of feathers.
Ants are a real danger to baby birds and can fatally hurt them. It must be ensured that there are no ants in the vicinity of the bird.
Sexing mynas
Mynas are sexually monomorphic species and sexing mynas on appearance or behavior alone is extremely difficult. Mynas very seldom reproduce in captivity which further adds to the confusion. However, they are a few indications to ascertain the difference between male and female mynas. Within the same species, male mynas are larger than the females. The wattles of male mynas appear larger. Hill myna males have distinctly flatter heads than females, whereas the female mynas have a more rounded head. Another indication that the myna is male is the fact the pelvic bone in the male myna is set closer than in the females.
Preening
Mynas frequently preen their feathers. Birds use their beaks to preen their feathers and keep them in good condition. Preening is an essential way for birds to keep their feathers neat and trim.
Rehabilitating the young mynas
By the age of 3 months, the young mynas should be shifted to an aviary, preferably one with some fruiting trees.
They must be provided with a nest box to retire in at night and during harsh weather. Human contact must be withdrawn from the birds and they must be encouraged to be independent.
Avoid placing a feeding table in the enclosure. Instead, place the food in different sections of the enclosure every day. The placement of foods must be rotated so as to encourage ‘searching’ behavior in the young birds. Food must also be placed at different height levels so as to get the birds used to foraging at various levels of height. The birds must be offered a variety of foods to prevent dependency on any one food type. A significant proportion of their diet must now comprise of wild-gathered foods as it will assist their transition to the wild and help them recognize readily available foods. The birds must have access to fresh drinking water at all times and they must frequently be given provisions to have a bath.
Soft release
By the age of four to five months, the young mynas will be ready to explore the outside world.
Common mynas and Jungle mynas are highly adaptable species which makes it easier to release them in any convenient surroundings where they will be able to find sufficient forage. Hill mynas on the other hand are habitat specialists and need forested landscapes for survival. The young birds must now be shifted to an aviary. The aviary for Common and Jungle mynas may be in any suitable location whereas the aviary for Jungle mynas must be in a forested landscape.
By four to five months of age, the mynas may be allowed to exit the enclosure via a window (an opening) in the aviary. The window may either be on the side or the top of the aviary. The window must be opened early in the morning and closed by sunset. The birds will initially fly around and come back to the enclosure for a few weeks. As they grow older and have explored their surroundings thoroughly, they will begin to stay away for longer durations of time, until they have established a territory of their own and no longer feel the need to return to the enclosure.
They should be completely independent by 6 months of age.
Hard release
Although a soft release is ideal for hand-raised birds, there may be instances where you may have to opt for a hard release for the young mynas. The minimum age at which the bird may be released is 6 months of age. Habitat selectivity may carry more importance when opting for a hard release. Hill mynas must only be released in forested landscapes while Common and Jungle mynas may be released in any suitable habitats.
Sickness in mynas
Egg binding
Egg binding is a medical condition when a female bird is unable to expel an egg. Egg binding can pose a serious threat to female birds. Younger females are at a greater risk of dying from egg binding. In the event that a female myna is suddenly puffed-up and listless, it is quite likely due to egg-binding.
The female must immediately be placed in a small cage or shoe-box and provided with quiet and additional warmth.
A heating lamp would be ideal. Castor oil or even cooking oil can be gently applied in to the birds vent or cloaca, with a Q-tip (a cotton bud) to lubricate the area and facilitate the passing of the difficult egg. One drop of castor oil given orally will also help the passage of the egg. If these basic requirements are provided it is unlikely that the bird will suffer any serious health issues.
Abnormal droppings
Green droppings usually indicate an infection. Birds fed on soft food and greens may normally produce green and watery droppings, but if the droppings are runny and bubbly as well as carry an odor and persist over a period of time (especially if the bird is fluffed up, lethargic and has a loss of appetite), it indicates a chill or an infection. A pinch of Ridol, Kaltin, terramycin or any other antibiotic tablet can be dissolved in a half container of water. The infection should likely subside in a day or two and the medication may be discontinued a day after the bird has returned to normal health.
Avoid exposing the birds to a cold breeze or draught, especially at night, as this causes chills and other health problems. Avoid offering fruits at this time; cooked rice and boiled egg are a good option instead.
Fungal infection
Aspergillosis is the most frequently occurring fungal infection in birds. It is primarily a disease of the lower respiratory tract. There is a high prevalence of infection in mynas.The spores of the fungus are often present in the environment and healthy, unstressed birds are generally resistant to even high levels of spores. Birds with a weakened immune system, or high stress levels (due to environmental changes), are most susceptible to the disease. It may be contracted as the result of inhalation of fungal spores, fecal material or soil, or oral ingestion, especially if the birds are fed moldy food or housed in a contaminated environment.
It is therefore extremely important that feed is properly stored and is free of fungal growth.
Proper ventilation in the enclosures is also essential. Most importantly, the birds must be fed a healthy diet.
Symptoms of a fungal infection include constant sneezing, coughing or labored breathing, loss of appetite and diarrhea. It can be life threatening if left undiagnosed or untreated.
Treatment: The infected bird must be immediately isolated from other birds and provided with a quiet environment and additional warmth – a heating lamp would be ideal for this purpose. Antifungal tablets like Amphotericin B, Flucytosine, Fluconazole or Itraconazole must be added to the bird’s drinking water. You could also consider using Teeburb tablets which is an herbal veterinary preparation. Immunostimulants may also be added to the bird’s diet to facilitate recovery. However, if you find that the bird is not drinking the water, then the medication will have to be force fed.
References and further reading
Bockheim, G. and Congdon, S. (2001) The Sturnidae husbandry manual and resource guide
Available from:
http://www.
australasianzookeeping.org/Husbandry%20Manuals/
sturnids.pdf [Accessed: 26/08/2012]
Gardner, C. et al (2012) Protocols for the rehabilitation of baby Ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri), Rehabber’s Den
Available from:
http://rehabbersden.org/Rehabilitation%20of%20baby%20Ringneck
%20parakeets.pdf [Accessed: 25/06/2012]
Houston, J.P. (2009) Hand-rearing softbills, The Foreign Softbill Society UK
Available from:
http://fssuk.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28:hand-rearing-of-softbills&catid=14:husbandry-articles&Itemid=29 [Accessed: 26/08/2012]
Indiviglio, F. (2008) The Natural History and Captive Care of the Hill Myna (Myna Bird, Indian Hill Myna), Gracula religiosa – Part 1, That Bird Blog
Available from:
http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatbirdblog/2008/05/08/the-natural-history-and-captive-care-of-the-hill-myna-myna-bird-indian-hill-myna-gracula-religiosa-part-1/[Accessed: 26/08/2012]
Indiviglio, F.
(2008) The Natural History and Captive Care of the Hill Myna (Myna Bird, Indian Hill Myna), Gracula religiosa – Part 2, That Bird Blog
Available from:
http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatbirdblog/2008/05/10/the-natural-history-and-captive-care-of-the-hill-myna-myna-bird-indian-hill-myna-gracula-religiosa-part-2/[Accessed: 26/08/2012]
Stewart, K. (2002) Hand-rearing guide for the beginner, Lori~Link
Available from: http://www.kcbbs.gen.nz/lori/ar/handrear2.html[Accessed: 26/08/2012]
Walker, C (undated) Megabacteria infection in birds
Available from:
http://www.anbc.iinet.net.au/downloads/megabacteria_update.pdf[Accessed: 28/08/2012]
Wikipedia (2012) – Myna
Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myna[Accessed: 19/07/2012]
Photographs used
Alex Cordero – 3 week old myna chicks
Available from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpthesoftbillgallery/7562579818/in/
photostream/ [Accessed: 19/07/2012]
Alex Cordero – Fledgling mynas
Available from:
http://www. flickr.com/photos/httpthesoftbillgallery/6773177857/[Accessed: 19/07/2012]
Alex Cordero – Gapers
Available from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpthesoftbillgallery/6939845264/[Accessed: 19/07/2012]
Caroline Dreams – Two week old myna
Available from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liltree/24217766/sizes/z/in/photostream/[Accessed: 17/08/2012]
David Lim – Hill mynas
Devna Arora – Brahminy starling
Devna Arora – Jungle myna
Devna Arora – Housing baby mynas
Devna Arora – Pre-release aviary
Dr. Lip Kee Yan – Bank mynas
Available from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lipkee/3196315385/
[Accessed: 23/08/2012]
Nupur Buragohan – 10 day old baby mynas
Nupur Buragohan – Placing a basket as an artificial nest for baby mynas
Om Prakash Yadav – Adult male hill myna
Available from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opyadav/6105609819/[Accessed: 19/07/2012]
Tris – Common myna
Available from:
http://www. flickr.com/photos/trissysviewpoint/6385394335/[Accessed: 19/07/2012]
Rosa Say – Myna chick fallen from the nest
Available from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosasay/2629762970/[Accessed: 24/07/2012]
Simon Morris – A month-old myna
Stephen Witherden – mynas nest
Available from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swit012/4734358109/sizes/l/in/
photostream/ [Accessed: 19/07/2012]
Acknowledgements
I’d like to add a special thank you to Dr. Nupur Ranjan Buragohan for his invaluable guidance and suggestions on the drugs for the treatments of the birds.
Edited by Devna Arora
Published in 2012
Maina
| Common myna |
| Sacred myna |
Common myna or Locust starling ( Acridotheres tristis ) is a bird of the starling family.
It has 12 subspecies.
Distribution
The main habitat is the tropical regions of South Asia from Afghanistan to India and Sri Lanka. Currently, bird migrations are found in Southeast Asia.
were introduced and widely distributed in South Africa, Israel, Hawaii, North America (especially in the southern part - Florida), Australia (where it became one of the most aggressive pests and hated birds), New Zealand. During the 20th century, its range expanded to the regions of Central Asia, where, in front of one human generation, from an exotic myna it became one of the most common birds.
Settles in open areas of wooded areas, in areas of cultivated areas and near human habitation.
Appearance
The body length of the common myna is 24-35 cm, the wingspan is up to 50 cm, the wing length is 15 cm, the tail length is 7 cm. The plumage is thick black; the edges of the feathers of the head and neck are dark purple, while the rest of the plumage is cast in metallic green. The base of the small flight feathers is white and forms a clear band on the wings. Behind each eye, a bright yellow leathery outgrowth begins, stretches over the ear, thickens in this place and is attached to the crown in a narrow strip. Another spot, similarly bare and similarly colored yellow, is under the eye. The beak is orange, the legs are yellow, the eyes are dark brown.
No difference between the sexes. The mating season lasts from April to June. The clutch contains 2-3 eggs of turquoise color with brown dots. The incubation of the clutch lasts 14 days, the hatched chicks are fed by both the male and the female for 25 days in the nest and for another 5-7 days they are fed outside the nest.
Sacred Myna is a little different from the usual one. The length of her body is 29 cm. The plumage is black, with appropriate lighting it shimmers with a greenish color. The most prominent external sign is yellow flaps of skin on the sides of the head, which stretch to the back of the head. The next sign is a yellow beak, with which the bird eats fruits and insects.
Reproduction
During the nesting season, mynas are aggressive and drive even other bird species away from feeding and nesting areas. Birds build a massive cup-shaped nest of grass, roots and branches in hollows or hollows in trees or wall cavities. The clutch consists of 2 to 5 eggs, which both parents incubate for about 2 weeks. Young birds become independent after 4-5 weeks, however, for some time they are fed by parent birds.
Shortly before the start of the breeding season, winter flocks break up into pairs (in the northern parts of the range this is observed in March). At this time, there are fights between males for rooms convenient for building nests, singing is heard. The lanes sing badly: the song consists of squeaky hoarse whistles and usually begins with a kind of croaking. In places where these birds are abundant, they almost always nest in large colonies. Nests are placed in hollows of plane trees, walnuts, mulberries and other trees, sometimes very high above the ground.
In some cases, they inhabit the burrows of coastal cliffs, rock crevices and cracks in very old buildings (for example, fortress walls). In settlements, lanes often arrange nests under the roofs of buildings. Willingly occupy artificial nests. Both members of the pair take part in nest building. The clutch usually consists of five very large, compared to the size of the myna, bright blue eggs. Each egg has a mass of about 8 g. Over the summer, the birds manage to breed three broods: the first chicks appear in May, and the last chicks of the third brood leave their nests only in August. Thus, parent birds spend the whole summer caring for their offspring. The incubation of the clutch lasts 13-14 days, the hatched chicks are fed by the male and the female for 25 days in the nest and for another week they are fed outside the nest, and as soon as the chicks become independent, the male and the female proceed to the next clutch. Young birds are easily trained to pronounce words and whole phrases.
Contents
Maina is a beautiful mockingbird. While singing, it imitates croaking, screaming, chirping, clicking and whistling, creaking, etc. They are quickly tamed and are very popular as pets when kept in cages.
In captivity live 40-50 years.
Myna is considered the most talking bird in the world. This is the opinion of scientists who analyzed their speech. The absolute phonetic accuracy of the sounds they utter has been established. Maina is able to remember and reproduce a huge number of sounds and words, and she also develops a clear acoustic reaction in response to a word of human speech. A bird can learn to conduct a dialogue with a person, answer questions, and respond to remarks. Sacred myna memorizes whole phrases without much difficulty, and can even learn to sing with words. Being the best imitators in the world, mynes quite easily copy the sounds of other birds and animals, something they constantly do while living in nature. The degree of reproduction of human speech at the level of a gray parrot.
Under conditions of keeping in captivity, mynas are quite peaceful, they easily get used to humans. They are understanding and smart. Having got used to the owner, they become so attached that they follow everywhere: both at home and on the street. Myna easily gets along with other birds and animals.
Myna chicks born in captivity are very curious and quickly become independent. Knowledge of the world in which they live is often associated with stealing bright and shiny things that they find while walking outside the cage. This is often very dangerous, as the mynas swallow their food instead of chewing it like parrots.
Mynas are jumping birds, so cages for parakeets are suitable for them. For such a small bird, the internal size of the cage from the bottom of the cage to the top, preferably about a meter. In the cage, you need to put 3-4 perches at different levels. So that the bird can jump from one to another.
Feeding
Mynas feed on orthopterans, as well as beetles and other large insects.
In summer, grasshoppers predominate in the diet of these birds. Nestlings in nests are also usually fed with locusts. Only the body and head of the insect are eaten, the legs and wings are torn off and thrown away. It is estimated that each pair, feeding on locusts and feeding their chicks, kills about 150 thousand of these harmful insects per year. By destroying various orthoptera, myna brings significant benefits to agriculture. In some places, however, it harms vineyards and orchards: it eats mulberries, grapes, cherries, sweet cherries, pecks at plums and apricots. In late autumn and winter, the lanes willingly visit landfills, cesspools and garbage pits, cattle yards and human settlements in general, where they pick up grain from the ground and eat various garbage. They are of great benefit, destroying locusts and grasshoppers, which is why this genus received the Latin name Acridotheres , a "grasshopper hunter" that it constantly migrates after.
For home feeding, it is advisable to use special food for carnivorous and insectivorous birds.
There are also coal additives for this species of birds. These feeds allow you to stop the smell and have a dry, well-formed litter, which is very important when kept at home. Additionally, birds are given in small quantities: apples, pomegranates, grapes and small berries. Protein food is given only to breeding birds at the time of feeding offspring; it can do more harm than good to a single bird.
How to feed the found chick, how many times a day
If you find a chick, the first thing you need to do is determine its species. Feeding granivorous, insectivorous and predatory chicks have their own differences. But in the early stages of feeding, you can use the same feeding methods, and then, after finding out what kind of bird you found, transfer the chick to the appropriate feeding.
Here is one of the most common feeding options for granivorous and insectivorous chicks. This nutrient mixture is well used for feeding for chicks and fledglings from the passerine family. To prepare our mixture, we need the following products: Boiled egg, low-fat cottage cheese, raw carrots, meat (beef, chicken, turkey), greens (lettuce, dandelion leaves, wood lice), hamarus and daphnia, Calcium gluconate (shell from boiled eggs) glycerophosphate , children's dry dairy-free porridge or boiled millet (without salt and fat on the water).
Action one. Boil the egg, free from the shell. We free the shell from the shell film. Grind the egg as much as possible, you can use a grater with small holes.
Second step. Boiled meat, it is better to take the pulp from the breast of a turkey or chicken and also chop or divide into fibers. The mixture will require meat 40 (for granivorous) and 60 grams (for insectivorous).
Third step. Take washed carrots of a small size, grate them on a fine grater, then squeeze the juice and we will use the remaining pulp.
Fourth step. We take not sour and not fatty cottage cheese. Cottage cheese should have 0% fat content, anything above is considered fat for poultry. We need 90-110 grams of cottage cheese. Sour cottage cheese must be boiled twice changing the water and then it will be suitable.
Action five. You can use greens to add the mixture, but you can do without it for the chicks. And so you can take the greens listed above, chop and add 1.5 teaspoons to the mixture.
Action six. To the above ingredients, add 1.5 -2 tsp. dairy-free porridge or boiled millet (well boiled, without salt and fat in the water).
Step seven. To the mixture we add the shell from the boiled egg, which must first be ground in a coffee grinder, plus one fourth of the crushed tablet of glycerophosphate. If it is not possible to find glycerophosphate, then you can purchase bone meal and add one fourth tsp. in powder form. At the very least, the shells are enough for now.
Step eight.
We take chopped hamarus and daphnia and add about 1 tsp to the resulting mixture. Then we mix everything, it turns out a very thick, crumbly porridge, it should not stick to the fingers. If the mixture is sticky, you can add dairy-free porridge or powdered cereals.
From the resulting mixture we roll small balls no larger than a small pea, focus on the size of the chick's beak. You can feed 2-5 balls at a time and after each feeding drink plain water from an insulin syringe with a removable needle (without a needle) 4-6 drops. A week-old chick should be fed every 1-1.5 hours, older than two weeks of age every 2-4 hours, at three and four weeks of age you can feed 3-4 times a day. Do not forget that the chick is growing and, accordingly, one-time portions of food are growing. A very important point, do not forget to warm the chicks, because at their age they themselves cannot maintain normal body temperature. Warming up promotes better assimilation of feed. Don't forget to control your chick's weight.
