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The other two eggs were hatched this morning. This is exciting with 5 Gouldian chicks in the nest now!Babs wrote: a_gouldian
If the remaining eggs are part of the clutch that hatched, I would leave them. They may still hatch, and they wont harm the current hatchlings unless they are cracked or broken.
Excellent, keep at it, sounds like yer doing oka_gouldian wrote:The other two eggs were hatched this morning. This is exciting with 5 Gouldian chicks in the nest now!Babs wrote: a_gouldian
If the remaining eggs are part of the clutch that hatched, I would leave them. They may still hatch, and they wont harm the current hatchlings unless they are cracked or broken.
Now aren't you glad that you did not remove those 2 eggs?a_gouldian wrote:The other two eggs were hatched this morning. This is exciting with 5 Gouldian chicks in the nest now!Babs wrote: a_gouldian
If the remaining eggs are part of the clutch that hatched, I would leave them. They may still hatch, and they wont harm the current hatchlings unless they are cracked or broken.
5 Gouldians in one nest, well done Andy, the parents have certainly got there work cut outa_gouldian wrote: This is a pic I took today of the 5 chicks. 3 hatched on Sunday and 2 hatched Monday night or Tuesday morning.
Stuart whiting wrote:Wish you the best of luck, hope all goes wella_gouldian wrote: Thanks to all for the input. We removed the Society eggs this morning and left the two unhatched Gouldian eggs in the nest for now. The female did not want to get off the nest the first time I opened the box the she did the second time. I had to wait until one of the males was out of the nest eating because there is no way he would have gotten off the nest except with a push! They are feeding the chicks so it's looking good right now
We lost another chick this afternoon. I hope it is one of the chicks that hatched two days late, and not random. The Societies are feeding them often and eating a lot of food. There is at least one Society always in the nest with them (we have 2 males and one female fostering them). It is hot here and today the room was 90F (is that OK for the chicks?). The female Society was giving them some "air" room, standing over them or just to the side, but not tight on top of them. When it is cooler in the room 75 - 84F they sit tighter to keep them warm I have noticed.Babs wrote: a_gouldian
This is all part of the natural selection process. Ideally gouldian babies should hatch within 1 day of each other, as Debbie taught me. But when fostered, you may have put their eggs in order of laid (this disrupts that process). And societies usually sit the first day they lay. Gouldians do not. Gouldians wait til about day 6 to sit so their offspring all are incubated and hatch all together. In the wild this is a strategy. And they will stomp out the youngest if they can to compete.
So you did a good job letting everyone hatch. Losses are part of nature. Now you know why we advised you to take out the society eggs, as their hatchlings would not have survived..
Nothing more satisfying than seeing gouldian parents perform well, and waking up to 3-6-9 babies in the nest all hatched the same day, as it should be.
They are in a breeding flight cage on the third floor of the house and it reached 90 two days in a row in the room they were in even with the windows open. Tomorrow it is supposed to go into the mid 90s so we will hook up a portable air conditioner. Another chick was lost last night even with the supplemental feedings. The last chick looks healthy and is much bigger than the other chicks. The chick that passed away last night was about 40% smaller than the remaining chick. It's crop and head was noticeably smaller, but it was lively. The nest does not have any odor and the chicks feces look normal in color when they poop while being hand fed, similar to the owl chick we are hand feeding.Babs wrote: a_gouldian
The heat can be a factor. Has it gotten over 90 degrees? The societies are feeding them and it appears their crops have eggfood. That is usually a good thing. Societies are very attentive parents by nature. Is this a cage or outdoor aviary? Are you able to get them somewhere a bit cooler without chilling the chicks?
Something else may be going on with this many deaths, such as disease. There are several diseases societies are immune to but can carry. Campylobacter and Cochlosoma are two of them. Someone else needs to chime in on the disease portion, as I have read very little on it. Does the nest have any odor?
Bring the temperature down gradually so the parents and chicks have time to adjust. ;)