I have a hen nesting who's mate is ignoring her and not doing his duty in any way. She has one hatched baby so far and other eggs. I do not see her come out of the nest box, however I am guessing she must do sometime. Should I foster her baby and subsequent babies or just keep watchful eye and see how she goes on her own ? I have put millet in her box with her and some egg & biscuit. She is feeding her baby.

Thats a hard one!! I guess while the hen is feeding her chicks I would leave them with her. But if you find the hen cant cope with the demand (especially when the other eggs hatch) you might be able to foster some of the chicks out. Let us know how she goes.

Edited May 11, 200619 yr by jenene283

I have just seen the father of the babies sitting at the nestbox. Haven't seen him feed the mother, but looks like he might get the hang of it. I tried checking on the mother and she bit me, the little tart

Oh, daddy is beautiful! Hopefully he'll learn to be a good dad too.

What a gorgeous pair of birds, I have a pair very similar. Maybe the cock is feeding her and you just havent seen him! Hens are very protective of their babies, and I speak from experience, they can bite VERY hard!

You bet !! I have had a few Mums, dads and babies, but this was the first time a Dad was off playing "Jack the Lad" and not doing his duty. Maybe the noise of the chick has spurred him into action. Most of my Mum's dont mind me peeking in, but some of the newer Mums get a bit paranoid. She is sitting on her own eggs and a couple of "foster children"....I am guessing this Bub belongs to another mother . Time will tell.

just check their crops I am sure you are, I know you are an excellent budgie gramma , keep us updated and send me some of those babies too. Cheeta got the last ones (crying over here and pouting).

You gotta know, I'd love for you to have one of my babies........but you gotta move closer

thinking really hard...need to get a VISA, Passport, grab the kids spends thousands to move to AU for budgies sounds reasonable -

Would be cheaper to airfreight good quality AUSTRALIAN budgies to you Lovey

They are a lovely couple. I bet the bubs will be beautiful. I hope that everything goes well and dad gets his act together. Can't wait to see pics of the babies!

i hope daddy figures out what he should be doing! (Laughing out loud)

is this his first time being a dad?

I was given this pair with a batch of five for free when a breeder stopped breeding. These two I was told had paired up but no babies yet....so I guess first time father. He is doing the right thing today so far so it is all looking good. I will check baby later again....need small ladder. They are up high. :ausb:

Great news! They sure are a beautiful pair! :fear

Baby being fed well. All seems well. Definitely looks like this one is Bunny and Kiwi's baby. Bunny abandoned her nest due to mice ( no more mice ) , but has started again elsewhere. Her eggs went under Ciara and Bonnie.