handfeeding and rate of development

rogue · Post by **rogue** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:10 pm

hi all i am currently handfeeding two society finches that the perents rejected. my question is when do their eyes open and could handfeeding delay this? They are 10 dyas old and while i can see the feathers beginning to push out on their wings and the coloration on their bodies their eyes are not open. i can see pupils and they move a little but not open any help greatly appriciated.

Lacie

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:44 pm

From what I've read, their eyes normally begin to open at 7 days, so yours are overdue. Are you certain of their age?

I can't say if handfeeding would cause a delay. Hopefully someone will come along and provide you with an answer.

rogue · Post by **rogue** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:13 pm

yea i am sure of the age. I had to help one out of its shell . one hatched on the 13 and the other one the one that i had to help out of the shell hatched on the 14. I lost 3 that also hatched on the 13th before i pulled the remaining. I have been handfeeding since the 15th when i noticed there was no more yoke inside their tummies. their eyes used to be all black now i can see a pupil. they are growing good. when i first weighed them they were .97 grams and .88 grams now they are 2.81 and 2.71. Since i work at petsmart the vet there had a quick look for me he is very experianced with birds and thinks they are doing great. I have handfed older parrots but this is something new for me.

Beep · Post by **Beep** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:04 pm

Welcome to the forum Rogue, I have never hand fed Finches, but I should imagine that anything out of the normal parental rearing routine would indeed slow down growth. Can you tell us what your feeding schedules are, procedures you're using, and what you're feeding them. I'd be very interested in hearing, as you seem to be having success with it.
I only hear that Society Finches are great parents, and that they often adopt Babies not their own. Any ideas why yours rejected their young. I was wondering if it was possibly because of your scent on them from the moment of hatching? What led you to intervene at that time?
I know, lots of questions, but I'm new to Finches and I'm curious as to all aspects of their care. My daughter also works at PetSmart, and All of my Finches have been adoptions from there. Nice to have you with us here, and we hope you keep us up to date on their progress.

rogue · Post by **rogue** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:30 pm

I was renting a house with my now exboyfriend. We had a large fight on the 12th and the birds went to my uncles house for the night while i moved back into my paretns house. friday the 13 i got a call at work saying that 4 had hatched. I moved them to my parents house that night. Saturday the 14th i noticed the parents were refusing to go into the nest looking in but never actually going in i gave them until later that night watching them then noticed three were dead. i took the one living baby and the remaining egg out of the nest for the night and put them in an incubator i had used for ducks years ago. The egg had no top and the baby was moving but had not made progress for more than eight hours before i wetted it with a litttle warm water and helped it the rest of the way. The next morning i gave them a good feeding with exact handfeeding formula and a toothpick and tryed putting them back in the nest. the parents sat on them for about an hour then again had no interest so i put them back in the incubator and have been handfeeding ever since. I think it was a combination of stress form all the moving and the fact that they were first time parents that caused this to happen. I can go into more detail if u like it has been a very time consuming job. every three hours including in the middle of the night, plus my 2 jobs. the parents layed new eggs about a week later. the babies are steadly gaining weight and we hit the 3 gram mark this afternoon.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:22 am

hi rogue
i have hand reared zebras and societies in the past it is a time consuming job...but well worth the effort in the end..to know thaat you actually reared something that could have died is a great feeling

ken

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 6:34 pm

I am a little confused as to what you mean when you say that they eyes are not open but you can see pupils. Do you mean that the eyelids are only a tiny bit opened allowing you to see the pupils? They start out not being able to open their eyes very much at all (just a slit), but within a few days (~5-7 days) after their eyelids begin to open, they will be able to open their eyes completely. I may try to post pictures soon to illustrate.

rogue · Post by **rogue** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:34 am

i can see a difference in coloration thru the skin

Post by **Hilary** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 12:18 am

My chicks seem to consistently open their eyes on the 10th day after hatching, if that helps.

Hilary

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