I am so surprised! Mom wasn't coming out of the box at all and dad was going in the box, which he has never done before. I didn't see her at all yesterday, and didn't see her poop pile either, so this morning, after checking on her, I coaxed her out of the box - She was sitting on two babies!!!! They are soooo tiny! I never expected any of these eggs to hatch. I checked out the other two eggs left. The oldest one, I doubt is good, as she has been laying on it for about 20 days - and this is the one that she ignored when it was hatched. Anyway, I picked it up, then picked up the other egg that's left, and the 1st one weighs almost nothing, and the 2nd one is "much heavier." I was told by another breeder that since this is her first clutch, that I should remove all the left over eggs after she has two babies. Should I do this? What do you think?

 

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and praying that these little ones make it - although I will be thrilled if they do, as I am not counting on it. So many people have told me that the first couple of clutches usually don't make it.

 

Keep us in your thoughts - I'll try to get pictures soon.

 

Julie

I was told by another breeder that since this is her first clutch, that I should remove all the left over eggs after she has two babies

 

why i cant understand why he would say this

Leave the eggs until about a week after the due date, four babies is fine for a hen to look after.

 

Glad to see that you have some babes, now you need to check on mom and bubs at lest ones a day (two is better) to make sure all is going well. ARe they being feed? To check that you need to look around their neck area for a yellow blob that is their crop and means they have food in it.

 

So many people have told me that the first couple of clutches usually don't make it.

Look around here and you will see HEAPS of first time clutches that worked, even ones that bred and raised clutches with out a box. It does happen.

 

Make sure the parents have plenty of green and seed and egg food to help them feed the babies.

I must say that I agree with Nerwen...there's loads of poeple that's first breeding experience was 100% successful

My hens have always had no less than 5 eggs each and often even 7or 8, the unhatched eggs( if there's any) are nearly always disguarded by the hen and I usually don't have to remove them.....Alot of my first time layers have had a full clutch of 7 babies and all have survived and thrived

Thanks for all of the responses. The three babies are doing great! Mom even lets me watch her feed them - what a treat that is for me . They all appear to be well fed and thriving. All Dad does is eat and eat and eat and about every hour or so, goes inside the nest and, I'm guessing, and feeds Mom (and the babies?). I read that the males help her feed the babies. Is that correct?

 

The breeder that said to remove all eggs after two babies were hatched said to do that because first time moms would have a hard time sitting on her eggs and tending to her new babies. I am so glad I didn't listen to him, as we have three fabulous babies.

 

She actually laid 9 eggs, with three falling through the grate before I put the nest box up. She broke two more in the next box within hours after laying them, and the last four, she sat on. (remember, the first one was days before eggs 2-3-4, and she didn't sit on it at all. When I picked it up (yesterday) it felt so light, like it was hollow. We held it up next to a light bulb and it appeared to be empty. It also had a stain on it, what looked like where the yolk had settled. Anyway, we did take it out yesterday.

 

Mom and Dad seem to be very diligent parents, tending to their babies like they were pros. I haven't gotten a picture yet, as I don't want to upset Mom, but will try to today. I'll post it when I get them.

 

Mom and Dad have lots of brocolli (the only green they'll eat), egg food, and vitamin-enriched parakeet seed. They don't like pellets ... won't touch them, but finally he is eating the egg food. I haven't seen her actually eat in weeks, but he feeds her often... I've seen him.

 

This is a wonderful experience for me, and my daughter is as excited as I am. (She is not a kid, 25 yrs old). She wants to name the babies already!

 

I'll keep you informed, and thanks for your help.

 

Julie

:hap:

It is so very exciting, the first few days, even after a clutch or two. If I ever get jaded with new life, then there is something seriously wrong.

At this stage Dad will just be feeding Mum, at about 4 weeks he will be feeding the babies more.

Try them with some different vegies, now is the time they are most likely to try them, and it is healthier to have variety (just like kids). And put some cuttlefish, close to the box if you can, Mum should enjoy that, and they should have access to it all the time anyway.

 

As the babies get a bit older you might need to give Mum a hand cleaning out the box. Dried up poop can cause deformities in developing legs, so the box needs to be kept clean, something that is harder as they get older for poor old Mum. She may be pushing all the poop to one side of the box now, clean it out for her if you can, or she may be taking it out of the box herself.

Aww that is lovly to hear Al dad will do is eat and eat and eat, he needt o eat to keep himself feed, mom feed and all the bubs feed, that's a lot of food. At this stage he would only be feeding mom since they babys need crop milk, something special that mom can make. But lin told you all that But I would think by week 3 both are feeding the babes.

 

This is a wonderful experience for me, and my daughter is as excited as I am. (She is not a kid, 25 yrs old). She wants to name the babies already!

Go for it Bea a member here once named her eggs :nest: You can take a leaf from her book and change the names later on

:nest:: Are you saying naming eggs is unusual?

Nope

Just plain odd :nest:

Well done

Thanks for your responses. I have to tell you, this is the most exciting event to witness since the birth of my own children! The babies are doing wonderfully and the parents are like "old pros," even though they have never had a family before. She is so diligent and caring and it's awesome to watch how gentle she is with her babies. This morning when she came out of the next box, she was covered in food from feeding the babies. It was down to the black dots on her chest feathers! Dad cleaned her up real good, though. Dad gave her a good cleaning and made her beautiful, once again.

 

I have a question about keeping them clean, which you touched on earlier. I'm trying to keep the keep the nesting material as clean as possible by using my fingernails to scoop the poop out, but it's not possible to get it clean - and this is only 2-3 days, or so. I can just imagine what it's going to look like in a week! Should I take the babies out and move around the nesting material so they can be in clean spots? The poop is stuck to the nesting material and I can't get it off. The book I read said it's imperitive to keep their little beaks spotless, as well as their feet toes, so they don't grow malformed. It also said to remove any stuck poop extremely gently and carefully with a Q-Tip and warm olive oil. I imagine the more poop there is on the bedding material, the harder it will be to keep everyone clean. So, should I move around the nesting material or not?

 

I have pictures! I feel like a grandma showing off her grandkids! (Laughing out loud).

Here's Mom with Dad in the background.

 

and babies

 

See what I mean about all the little poopies? They are not loose, but are stuck on the material. (Makes me wonder about the choice of a bedding material I was sold from a bird store owner/breeder).

 

I have more questions, but they can wait as they are for later on. Thanks so much for all your help.

 

Julie

 

:hap: :hap:

oh how neat, and dad looks so proud :hap:

SO very very cute

 

What is the nesting material you are useing? There is no way you can keep it spotless :ausb: the hard round ball of poop are good it means it isn't soft enough to stick to feet or beaks and cause problems. If they do get any on they beak or feet uisng the q-tip or normal cotton balls with warm water would work too.

 

Can you just throw the nesting material away and add some more?or it is trapped in the box?

Can you just throw the nesting material away and add some more?or it is trapped in the box?

 

Yes, I can throw it away and add more. Is that okay to do? Last night, we took some material from the sides of the box, flattened it out as much as we could, and placed it over the dirty area that we could not get clean. It helped, but I would be much happier if we could change the material. Glad to know that is okay to do.

 

So far, there was only one poop that got stuck on a baby's foot, but Mom cleaned it off before I even had a chance. She's such a good mom!

 

This morning, when I uncovered the cage, both Mom and Dad were in the box. I called to Dad and he poked his head out of the box. It was the most adorable site

 

I think the youngest baby grew almost 1/2 again in size yesterday! I can almost watch them grow from hour to hour - They are huge already, compared to when they were hatched. I look at them and think, wow! they were tiny enough that they came out of those little eggs . They were as small as a long finger nail - and now, they are so much bigger and plumper.

 

That's it for this morning - Have a great day, all

 

Julie

and the Budgie Family

 

:dbb1: :grbud:

(the three little babies, (Laughing out loud) - someday they'll dance)

Mum may get a bit upset if you change the nesting material, but it sounds unlikely, as she is allowing you to scrape the poop out etc. Just try to minimize the amount of times you do change it. Personally, I would just take the nesting material out, and you will find she will scrape all the poop into one corner, and you can easily clean it out. But that may upset her more, removing it completely. Do what feels right to you, your doing a great job Granny

Beautiful. The parents are very pretty. I look forward to watching them grow. Best of luck.

Do what feels right to you, your doing a great job Granny

(Laughing out loud) - Granny! My kids aren't giving me grandkids, so my fids are! )

 

I am excited! Number One chick is just beginning to open its eyes! I can see them with a tiny opening in the center. This wasn't there 12 hours ago! This is SOOOOOO thrilling! Number Three is catching up in size to Number One and Two, and no longer looks like a runt!

 

As far as the nesting material. I think what I'll do is just replace the center where they are laying, and has gotten so dirty, with a nice fresh piece. She is so wonderful ... she will even let me watch her feed them. I love just watching her in the box with the babies poking out from under her wings. She fluffs herself out as big as she can, as they no longer fit underneath her. Where as when I first found them, I couldn't even see them when she was in the nest box, now I see little tiny wings and legs poking out from under her feathers. She is still keeping them real clean, but seems that she is having a bit of trouble keeping herself clean. Her feathers underneath her beak, down to where her dots are, are quite sticky-looking, but I do catch Dad trying to clean her from time to time. It's the messiest in the morning, when she first comes out of the nestbox. There's nothing I can do about that as it would certainly traumatize her if I had to catch her and I won't do that - not unless there was something serious going on that was risking their health. I have a feeling messy feathers don't go on the "serious" list ).

 

Well, time to go start dinner. I just had to tell you about the eyes starting to open. It's so exciting! By the time they are fledgelings, I am going to have more pictures of them than I did of my own kids! ) I took some more a few minutes ago and I'll take another few in the morning, and post them both. Have a good evening (actually, I don't know what time of day it is in Australia now, but it's evening for me .

 

Julie

and the Budgie Family

Congrats Whoo Whooo...glad everything is going well

glad things are still going strong and no messy feathers don't go on the serious list My hen looked likea grub a lot of thet ime too, but they do clean themselves up a bit now and then and at the end look just as normal

Today the eyes have a larger opening on Chick 1, and look at the picture,!!! you can see feathers just starting to come in one the backs of Chick 1 and Chick 2. It's hard to see in the picture but they are getting what looks like a dark shadow on their backs and I can see the very tiny pin feathers coming in. Can you see the eye opening (the middle chick).

 

 

I have to say, it's as much fun tell you about this as it is seeing it myself! I am loving every minute of it.:ausb: I't amazing, but their wings look like little arms, especially the way they wrap them around one another. Wings had never looked so much like arms to me, but in the babies, it is so obvious.

 

So, I cleaned the bedding last evening, yes, everything in the picture is new! - all in about 18 hrs. I thought all that white stuff was poop, but I was watching Mom feed the babies and saw the food that the baby didn't get, before mom cleaned it up, and it was a little white ball. That's what was all in the next. Now, I'm starting to see green, which I am quite confident is actually the poop. Ahh, you know what they say.... live and learn... well, I'm sure learning! At least I can keep it clean now as Mom didn't seem to really mind us cleaning out the box and changing some of the bedding.

 

Back to baby watching, (Laughing out loud) - I try not to bother Mom but do peak in there on a regular basis. She is wonderful, and just looks up at me and goes back to what she was doing. I'm so lucky!

 

More tomorrow )

 

Julie

and the Budgie Family

 

Sunday's picture

 

Monday's picture.

 

They are getting their nails forming and the nostrils are starting to open. Eyes are still closed on #3, but opening on #1 and #2. They are getting bigger by the hour! The pin feathers underneath the skin have broken through on all three and look white now, I can't wait until they start getting fuzz! :fear)

 

I couldn't believe it, but Mom laid another egg! She is getting quite thin and I really don't want her to deal with sitting on eggs and risking the health of the babies she already has, so I took it out, and was so glad to see that it was broken. I think Mom and Dad are having a big too much "fun!" I hope she doesn't continue to do this. What do I do if she does??? I really think she needs a rest after this cluth has left the nest.

 

Mom is coming out of the nest a bit more now, but runs back in as soon as anyone comes near the cage. The baby's cries are much louder now, I can hear them from in the room, and don't have to put my ear up next to the nestbox anymore. They cry for food quite often, but as you can see in the pictures, their crops are full and are every time I check on them. Do you think they're getting enough to eat? If so, why are they crying?

 

Well, that's today's update. Have a great day.

 

Julie

and the Budgie Family

congrats that sounds sooooo exciting!

 

 

Here's the latest. Look at the fuzz! The smallest one seems to be a different color than Chick 1 and 2. It is definitely the smallest chick too, probably takes after Mama, who is also a very little bird. Chick 3 is developing in the same timeframe as the other two, but is just smaller, even when adjusting for the difference in age.

 

It's so amazing - I can see the difference in the food Mama is feeding the three chicks right through the skin on the crop. Each day leads to something else new and something else to be excited about. I hope you aren't getting bored with my excitement, (Laughing out loud). Non-bird people definitely would question my sanity, (Laughing out loud).

 

The youngest is 9 days old today. They are really starting to look like chicks now, instead of fetuses . Oh, Mama laid another egg last night, but thankfully, she is breaking them. Do you think she knows that she can't sit on eggs while taking care of her babies?

 

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

Julie

and the Budgie Family

SO SO cute and we NEVER get bored with baby talk :fear

 

So it looks ike you going to have an odd one out with the last one. Can't wait to see more shots of them growing up.