robyn

Well 2 chicks hatched and FED, looks like Mum has finally worked out how to be a Mum. 3rd due this afternoon sometime. So relieved. Chick that hatched from first round (is fostered) is going to be a lovely gold & green pied which was what I set out to get back in aviary after my pied hen died.

2nd look Nadene, no 2 could be a real "chip of the old block". Was he your show bird?(dad I mean)

Thanks Nadene, they are looking good, no 4 has fed her chick again today, thank heaven no hand rearing needed so far.

Hi, sorry to hear this, if he is still happy not in pain etc. (you know what the likely outcome will be.) I think i'd keep him on his meds etc and let him enjoy the rest of his time with you. When the time comes you know he isn't himself any longer then I'd make the decision. Good luck I hope you still have some quality time with him.

7 a.m chick flat on back been fed yippee!!

I use hanging feeders I found they don't waste as much seed and it's out of reach of rain etc.

Quick up date on nests. cage 5 first fledged. cage 5 rest of nest. Dads bubs. cage 6 assortment cage 4. Fingers crossed this is my first chick from hen that lays on cage. BUT it's been fed.!!! enjoy!

Hi, my guess, 1st Cock bird, if that is a club ring on bird it should have year of hatching on it. 2nd I'd say hen/maybe coming into breeding cond. 3rd could still have bars so maybe young, possibly hen, others will tell you for sure.

Well, little pinky arrived today right on time. Mum promptly laid egg 8 in cage then went in and (touch wood) fed pinky. Checked at lunch and it had a bit more food in crop. So relieved that she has fed it but she let first 2 die last round so I'm not 100% sure yet how they will go. Fingers and toes crossed this time.

Hi, so the bird is just fledging? If so and they were in nest box, Mum may have decided to peck him because she wanted to lay again. If you have other chicks from same box, have they fledged as well? If you don't want a 2nd round take out the box. Are you colony breeding or cage?

Beautiful chicks Nadene bet your proud of them, love the y.faced grey (No 2, if my guess is wrong). Were they from nest that Dad died? If so well done Mum.

Keep a good eye on him and see if his feathers start to re-grow, just in case it's still and infection of some sort. Hope it's just he was bullied that way you know it's not something you have to worry about in your other birds.

He's lovely, I've found the spangles seem to be a bit slower to develop for some reason. I've had some that look nice, a couple weeks later you look at them in aviary and it's "wow, where did you come from".

Fantastic job Rochelle, what a learning curve, after this you should be able to cope with anything!! I hope you are taking notes, if need be I can pick your brains about hand rearing l.o.l. Mum certainly looks like she did a good job of plucking them, just as well you got them out when you did. A couple more days should tell if all feathers are coming through okay. Again well done.!!!

Sorry you lost Ipod Flip, just one of those things we can't control.

Hi, can't tell from picture, it's a bit blurry but it looks like feathers covering ear could be involved as well? I had a tube of human eye ointment that I used on my bird that had a seed husk in the eyelid and it helped a lot. If ear is affected as well it could be an infection of some sort, is there any discharge from it or just the redness?

Thanks Flip & Finnie, I'm really hoping something clicks as her eggs look 4-6 look fertile so far, hand feeding would be a job with a nest full. I'll try her with other chick I think when new one is hatched as I don't want to risk bigger chick. Tha'ts if eggs hatch later than I think.

Sounds like your doing all the right things Rochelle, great news, don't worry about being told how to do it from work, agree with her and do it your way, wouldn't want her to say you can't have them at work, I bet the kids will enjoy watching them grow. Just for future ref ( and to answer your question from waaaay back). in f.a.q. under "care of baby birds in the nest" by Daz I think, there he says you can use natural yoghurt for first feeds and baby rice cereal until you can get hold of hand rearing mix. Worth the read.

Hi all, I have hen with 6 eggs, 2nd round.(new Mum) 1st round each egg was laid in cage not nest box, I placed them into nest box and she incubated as normal. 2 hatched, she left them unfed both died, I removed 2 eggs to foster nest, 1 hatched. Now 2nd round she has laid all but 1 egg in cage again, same process. First is due to hatch on 7th. My query is: I only have 1 nest with small chicks that youngest would be around 2 weeks by the time these eggs hatch. If she does not feed chicks again I'm wondering if hen with 2 week old chicks may accept the new chicks, even for first day or so then to try to replace them with mum or start hand rearing them if she refuses to feed or start hand rearing straight off? Hopefully she may decide that she knows what she's doing and feed them but I'm wondering which way to go before they hatch. thanks for any advice in advance.

Well done Rochelle, it's a shame you have to hand feed but at least you should have some lovely chicks from it. Here's hoping all their feathers come through as normal. Dad may be an okay Dad with a new hen, maybe he was "henpecked" as well. l.o.l good luck with chicks and keep us updated. I'm watching my Mum who lays in box and didn't feed chicks this time to see if she's going to feed this lo,t due from the 7th. she's got 6 eggs but I won't have any hens able to take new buds by then so if she fails again I'll have to try handfeeding for the first time.

Elle on further advice from Kaz. where I mentioned about parents could be spangle etc. they can't be spangle if they don't look like a spangle if that makes sense. They have to either be spangle visually or not they can't be split for spangle. Kaz will hopefully correct this if I'm still off the track l.o.l

Hi Bretto, when I first started I had cages in aviary with others flying free. Worked okay until one hen on the outside decided she wanted to be in cage as well. Result was hen in cage attacked her through wire and ripped her cere that took ages to heal meanwhile hen in nest was leaving her eggs to attacked any bird that landed on wire of cage. So I divided my aviary so in breeding season, cages are closed off from aviary birds. I re-open it and remove cages so they then have full aviary again.

She may have finished her round of eggs. If she is incubating eggs and carrying on as usual, leaving nest for a few minutes etc then returning to eggs she should be okay. there is no set number of eggs per round, she may still lay, it's not always 2 days apart, it depends on the hen.She would still be swollen around vent as a result of laying. Keep an eye on her for any signs of stress or straining to lay another but It sounds pretty normal at this stage.

Great that you finally have them home. If Mum is going into box checking on chicks it sounds positive. She may not try to feed them if you have lid up, mine give me the evil eye until I replace lid usually. I think it all seems to have gone really well, just check to see if chicks have food in crops in the morning, if so they should be fine until you get back home. Did the seller tell you what veg's etc she had been giving parents? If you can continue with the same foods it will help them settle.

He's beautiful Rochelle, have fun.