LG Babies Hatched A Soc Baby

[L in Ontario]

I have a few pairs of Gouldians. One yellow pair laid 6 eggs and half way through incubation I "had" to move their cage (I know I shouldn't have), and of course they immediately abandoned the nestbox. I gave the 6 eggs to my pair of Society finches (who I had prepped just in case by giving them a fake egg each day the Gouldian pair laid an egg) and removed the fake eggs. A week into sitting on the 6 real eggs (that's all the incubating time remaining since the Gouldians were sitting well until then), the Society hen started laying her own eggs and ended up with 4 of her own in addition to the Gouldian eggs.

Two of the Gouldian eggs hatched a week after the Society started laying eggs. The four remaining Gouldian eggs were infertile and I removed them but left the Soc eggs with the babies that the Society finches were feeding well.

Now those two babies are 19 and 20 days old and should fledge next week. The Society parents are out of the nest more than they are in it this week. They basically only go in to feed and sleep with the chicks. the chicks have been resting on the four Society eggs, and...

This morning at 5:15am I was peaking in before I left for work as I felt the Society eggs are soooo overdue to hatch, when I noticed a tiny bit of pink sticking out from under one of the Gouldian chicks that shouldn't be there! OMG an egg had hatched just minutes earlier!! I surely hope it gets fed!! I did a "happy dance" all the way down the highway to work.

The picture isn't very clear but you can see the 2 Gouldian chicks with the brand new Society chick.

[FeatherHarp]

Oh my goodness...what a teeny tiny chick compared to the others.

I sure hope he makes it....let us know how things are progressing.

Be careful about that "happy dance" on the way to work....somebody might think you are on something...hehe!

[Sally]

That brand-new baby is so tiny--congrats! Hopefully, some more of the eggs will hatch out, it is always better to have more than one. The baby will absorb the yolk for nourishment the first day or so, but after that, you will have to watch and see if the Societies feed it (or them). Often, they won't even notice something that tiny when they are involved with the older two, but since it is their own baby, that might make a difference. Just keep a very close eye on things--ideally, they will feed the new arrival(s) right along with the about-to-fledge LGs.

[dfcauley]

Are these the same eggs you mentioned in another post that were dark and you weren't sure would hatch?

[L in Ontario]

Are these the same eggs you mentioned in another post that were dark and you weren't sure would hatch?

YES - these are them, right after you said - leave them a little longer!

I'm still hoping the other 3 Soc eggs (on the right side) will hatch as well. That baby was quite active this morning when I took the pic. Hopefully it will make itself known to the adults and that the other chicks don't smother it.

The Society eggs are only about 2/3's the size of the Gouldian eggs - hence the teeny, tiny baby.

Thanks all!

[L in Ontario]

Awww I spoke too soon. When I got home tonight a second Society egg had hatched but both chicks were tossed out of the nest and were dead.

Hopefully next time!

[dfcauley]

I am sorry! I hate it when these thing happen.

[atarasi]

Sorry to hear that Liz. Sorta weird that societies would toss out their own chicks, but at least you have two beautiful gouldians out of it.

[Sally]

Sorry you lost those two chicks. Even though they were their own, the Societies are involved with the Gouldians still. It doesn't always work to have them taking care of multiple species born at vastly different times. It was probably just too much for them to cope with.

[L in Ontario]

I think so too - that there was too much of an age difference. The Societies will lay more of their own eggs once the Gould's have fledged or weaned.