FINCHforum

I decided these guys are doing well enough and have made it enough days (oldest is 6 days, youngest is 3) that I can post a quick picture of these little frys.

The biggest three on the right are siblings; their parents (a lightback/ccfw male and a bc.bf female) for some reason decided not to feed them, but have been sitting delligently while i handfeed (yay natural incubator!)

The smallest/youngest two on the left are also siblings, they are the smallest kids in a larger clutch (eumo.bf.bc.ccfw dad and /bc mom), and werent getting fed, as their oldest siblings were gigantic and much older. They moved in with the other kids, so they are being sat on, too.

I'm using Lafeber's handfeeding formula + a pinch of Morning Bird probiotics + a pinch of Morning Bird Thrive every meal, feeding every 2.5 hrs from 6a to midnight, and i'm using a metal banding tool to feed (that works well, though they tend to gulp and get air in their crop, but it hasnt been an issue at all, the air is always gone by the next feeding). I boil the banding tool, small cup the food is in, and my mixing tool (a metal butter knife) before EVERY new batch of formula, which is mixed fresh for each feeding, an never saved or reused.

Why didn't I try Societies? I did lol I set them up with fake eggs the instant these two pairs laid eggs, and the Socies sat well, but when I tranfered in day old babies and eggs and some egg shells, they bit at wing tips and scratched one baby's throat, so i removed the kids at once. So my Societies are pretty, but only good a baking, not feeding ;p

So glad I was able to quit my job and become a stay-at-home-wife last week; otherwise these guys would have never made it! enjoy some pics!

I know these guys look really small for their age, but most of them missed 1-2 days of being fed before i totally took over feeding, so we'll just have to catch up

WrenNAustinTX

I just love babies, and your bunch are oh so cute. Good luck with the hand feeding. I hope all of your little ones do well.

~Elana~

You are indeed the highlight of the moment, I take my hat off to you,amazing, awesome stuff, good luck.

Good luck with them!!!

Update, now with fatter crops!

They look great! Big Guy certainly earns his name! I always find that handfeds tend to develop a bit slower than parent-raised, so they will be a bit smaller at each stage of development. Once they wean, they catch up in size, and soon you won't notice any difference at all.

Sally Big Guy and (to some extent) Pinkie have convinced their parents to feed them (through screaming and other tactics). Not enough to where I can leave those two alone, but enough so that he is getting a huge boost. Cheater lol

Ah, so he is getting the best of both worlds--smart little devil!

Still growing! Almost too big to all sit in my hand, now. Big Guy and Pinkie got banded yesterday, and Biter and friends should be banded any day now

Light Dots died some time between 7a and 10a this morning. She (maybe he, don't know, but let's say she) had been concerning me by not wanting to feed, air in the crop between feedings, and just plain being outstripped in growth and pin feather development by her younger sibling, Revlet.

Ah well, both Light Dots and Revlet were being ignored my their parents, who other fed their other three babies like crazy, so maybe they knew something i'm learning; Revlet is very tiny, but I hope he makes it.

The other three are from a different clutch (abandoned by first time parents) and are growing wicked fast and should be busting out of their pin feathers any day

So sorry to hear about Light Dots. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to lose babies when handfeeding. Be careful on the amount of feed they are getting, greedy little babies can eat more than is good for them.

Update! Revlet is 14 days old, and Big Guy is 17 days old.

Congrats! They look fabulous!

Oh they are so adorable! You did your hard work and congrats!

David

Congratulations. They look great. Can't believe the parents are still sitting with the chicks but now feeding them. You think they'd do it just to keep you out of the nest. lol

As for the Societies, I'd try letting them hatch the eggs out on there own. I've not had great luck transferring hatched chicks to them. They usually don't get taken care of.