Well i'm sure some of you know that i'm doing my best at handrearing the last little baby of Bob and Akala. It's almost 24hrs old and i don't believe it's been fed once by the parents, only by me. However i don't think they're meaning to forget it, they just miss it under all those big fat siblings. Do you think there's a way to put the babies in two piles in the nest box so that the two big ones who are starting to get butt fluff are together and the smaller ones are together. I thought this might mean the baby isn't buried under it's siblings and would be fed. But would this freak the parents out? The other concern with this idea is the fact that they couldn't all be sat on....though how mum could sit on the massive tangle off babies i don't know.

 

I've thought about taking the two older ones for handrearing but i don't trust my handrearing abilities and would hate to lose two budgies.

 

Does anyone else have a great idea to get weeny baby noticed? I can keep feeding it approx. every 3 hours but it's going to kill me i think, (Laughing out loud).

You might have to try and let baby go a little longer between your feeds, so that it cries out to be fed by parents. They don't see the need to feed it as it isn't crying out anymore due to being hungry ....as you have fed it. Steel yourself and try holding out just a bit longer. Only feed if its absolutely necessary. It will squark loud enough to be fed and its up to the parents then to notice it. It's really hard when you are just breeding one pair at a time, as there is no back up foster parents to farm out the youngsters or extra eggs to.

Re separate area.....I guess you could put a piece of wood bead across the width of the nestbox floor but the older bubs may well cross it anyway, depending on how active they are.

Try a longer length of time....i.e. waiting to see if parents feed the baby.

Failing that you will have to feed up until its a tiny bit bigger and can cope with siblings and parental concerns.

Good luck. Email me or msn if you need more help :bluebudgie:

I tried waiting longer during the day, i gave it 3.5hrs rather than 3 at the lunch time feed. It was empty when i fed it after that and i'm scared to leave it too long. :bluebudgie:

I know this may sound silly but can you feed it 1/2 way put it back in the nest at that point it really is crying out and see if they notice? Or is that just a no no? Of course if they ignore him just finish the feed.

Good luck with the bub, Bea. With any luck Mum will start to feed it soon.

I know this may sound silly but can you feed it 1/2 way put it back in the nest at that point it really is crying out and see if they notice? Or is that just a no no? Of course if they ignore him just finish the feed.

Bit hard to split a feed at this age Lovey. They eat as much as would cover the head of a matchstick. :bluebudgie:

Could you pull the older chicks out when they're due for a feed, wait til the mum has fed the younger ones then add the older ones after? Its a bit of mucking about for the first bit but once she and the baby have it worked out they should be fine. The older ones won't miss out as they will squark for the missed feed once they get back.

Could you pull the older chicks out when they're due for a feed, wait til the mum has fed the younger ones then add the older ones after? Its a bit of mucking about for the first bit but once she and the baby have it worked out they should be fine. The older ones won't miss out as they will squark for the missed feed once they get back.

That sounds like a good idea :bluebudgie:

I might give that a go at the next due feed. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

With some help from Karen i put Noah and Scamp in a shallow container in the nest box so that they were separate and hopefully more noticable. Mum sat on them happily keeping them warm but after a 4 hour gap between feeds they were 100% empty, screaming the house down for food and just getting sat on. I gave her 15mins of this screaming to see if she'd get her act into gear but in the end i had to feed the both of them. Luckily at this age they're keen eaters no matter who's putting the food in their mouth, haha. This morning, 2 hours after last feed, Scamp was out of the container and still pretty full with a little black speck in his crop, like what you see in egg and biscuit, so i think he may have had a top up. Noah was pretty empty though so i took him out of the container too. I'll check in a couple of hours to see who's been fed and who hasn't. I'm calling around some pet shops looking for a heat pad so that i can use my fish tank as a brooder. With a hot water bottle being refilled every 3 hours i can keep the temp above 30C but it needs to be more stable than that. Hopefully i'll get a heat pad this afternoon at the latest so i have it all set up if the baby just isn't getting fed and needs to be pulled. The amount i'm having to disturb the parents digging the baby out from under the siblings every 3-4 hours can't be good for them in a stage that'd already be stressful.

Fantastic news!!! Scamp has been filled by Akala!! I'm so happy!! I haven't fed him since 6am this morning and it's now 11:19am and he's totally full as are all the others. What i find helps is scattering the babies around the nest box at feeding time so that Scamp isn't forgotten under a pile of big babies. I'll come home at lunch time (1pm ish) to make sure he's still fed and if i haven't had to feed him by tomorrow morning i think i can leave it up to his parents to care for him.

great news Bea and awesome determination on your part

He's definitely getting fed!! I've rushed home for 10mins to check up on him and they're all full of bok choy parent slush, haha.

YEAH!!!

Also wanted to add that he's looking stronger than he has the past 24 hours that i was feeding him. When i looked in the box i had to move them all so they were seperate just to confirm which one was Scamp, hehe. I am very happy right now cause i can see a full nights sleep happening tonight.

That is brilliant news, Bea. You've done really well to get him through to this point. Congrats.

 

Feathers.

That's great news Bea.. he will get the antibodies he needed from his parents.

Great job Bea!

Thats great news Bea.

Bet you still get up to check on him tonight!!

Bet you still get up to check on him tonight!!

........are you a mind reader.....:(Laughing out loud):

great news Bea and yes I know I would get up to at least check too

I did set my alarm to check during the night but i slept through it, oops. But it's okay, all babies are fed.

good to hear Bea

Yay. What good news to hear.

So glad its all worked out Bea. Takes the worry out of it and more sleep for you.

Cheers Karen