Place the chicks into a brooder. This can be made using a plastic reptile container filled with some nesting material. Placing plain paper towels on top of the soft nesting material can help for easier cleaning at each feeding. You can put a heating pad under the container. Keep it on low and medium, and check to make sure the babies are not panting from too much heat. Also, if you place the pad under only one-half of the container, the babies can move away from the heat source if they find it too warm. By 21 days, the lovebirds have a good amount of feathering and are old enough to create warmth by cuddling with each other. Do not leave dirty, soiled liners in the brooder since baby lovebirds are very susceptible to bacterial infections, and poops equal bacteria. Also, as they get older, curious chicks will eat their own poops. Use the extra large brooder so the babies can grow into it. One side is is for food bowls. You can put a stand-alone perch into the brooder when the babies is about four weeks old. They can be transferred to a cage at six weeks of age.

Be properly trained before attempting hand-feeding. I found a local bird store where they were willing to let me watch and learn. Once I had done this for a while, I took home my own bird to feed. I would bring the lovebird back in so the store employees could check his weight every other day until we were sure I was on the right track. Hand-feeding is not an exact science. You will find each bird is very different. Some are easy to feed, some are fussy and take longer to fill with formula. Some lovebirds wean quickly; some take a few weeks longer. If you want healthy lovebirds that are not neurotic about food, you will learn from them rather than follow a rigid system. You have to be careful that a lovebird is getting enough formula and that no formula is getting into the bird's lungs. This is called aspiration and can be fatal. It can cause immediate asphyxiation or a slower death due to pneumonia.

Lovebirds pulled from the nest at 14 days of age require around five feedings a day at first. This may vary depending how  how thick your formula is and how quickly the bird's crop empties. Hand-rearing formula can be found at most pet stores. The formula should be between 103 and 105F (39 and 41C). If you are getting refusals, check the temperature again because the formula may have cooled down too much. Get a quality digital thermometer to test the temperature. If the formula is too cold, lovebirds will balk at being fed. If it is too hot, you can burn the crop. All it takes is one time with too-hot formula to injure your bird critically by burning its crop.

Do not use a microwave oven to heat your formula. Doing so can cause hot spots in the formula that could burn the lovebird's crop. You must stir formula thoroughly testing the temperature.       

When you begin feeding a new clutch, the formula should be rather thin. Generally, the companies that make formulas give good specifications as to ratios between water and powder. Just as a general formula, start with a thin mixture then progress to a mixture with a pea-soup texture over the nest two weeks.

O-ring syringes work best and are the easiest to plunge at the right rate. You do not want to plunge so quickly that you choke the bird. You also do not want to plunge so slowly that you frustrate the lovebird and it swallows too much air. If you stir the formula with the plunger part of the syringe before putting the syringe together, it will slide more smoothly. Do not force the formula; let the baby set the rhythm. They pump as they eat, and you should slowly use this pumping to determine how quickly you push down on the plunger of the syringe. If the lovebird stops, wait until it is ready for a bit more. Generally, these pauses last only a second or so. This is something you get better at more you hand-feed.

You do not need to force the food into the crop. This method, often called powder feeding, is not the best way to feed a baby. Let it taste the food in its mouth. This is the beginning of eating for a baby, and you are not doing it a service by forcing the formula into its crop.

Clean your syringes thoroughly between feedings. Normal household bleach diluted in water (1:32) is a good disinfectant. However, be sure to rinse the syringe and plunge clean water through it until it is completely clean. Antibacterial dis-washing soap can also be used. Use hot water to clean and rinse your syringes.

Begin to supply your lovebirds with a variety of foods starting around five to six weeks age. The best eaters are the ones exposed to various foods at an early age. Sunflower sprouts, cereal, and crumbled pellets are good for starters. A lovebird usually needs a few days to catch on. Change the types of food you give so the lovebird will get used to seeing new, strange items. This results in a lovebird who is willing to try new foods right through adulthood. Cooked vegetables such as carrots, corn, peas, and broccoli; bits of whole-wheat bread and cooked grains; and some seed should be given. You do not have to worry about teaching your lovebird to like seed as this comes naturally. It needs to be exposed to the vegetables and other foods early on so it will eat a well-balanced diet as juvenile and adult.

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