Newbie' s Java Babies

[Dragonwolf1989]

My Javas that I bought last year started to lay eggs around September 3rd and the youngest to hatch was on October 4th. Is it normal for them to hatch on different days?

I can't quite remember the day they started to lay eggs but I do recall that there was a day gap after egg#1, a two to three days gap after egg#3, a longer gap after egg#5 and ended with 7 eggs.

I' m not sure when the first one hatched but I'm sure that baby #2 hatched on October 1st,#3 on October 2nd and the last one on the 3rd.

Their mother is a normal, the father a white. Both I bought at the store as babies. This is actually their first try in the whole parenting thing, I honestly didn't think they would be able to hatch any eggs. I read an article online that it was unlikely to be successful in their first year.

[lovezebs]

Dragonwolf1989

It sounds like the article was wrong .

Welcome to the Forum from Canada.

It is normal for eggs to hatch in the order they were laid, or from the date the parents start incubating regularly.

The one problem you might run into with the last hatchlings, is that they might be a lot smaller than the first hatchlings, and not be able to compete with their older sibling at feeding time. In this case, they may die.

I would keep a close eye on the smallest ones, and would recommend, supplement hand feeding bird formula at least once or twice a day, if you see that they are not being fed enough.

[Dragonwolf1989]

I'm guessing that the first three were duds since egg#1 and #2 were laid on the cage floor and the third one was actually laid when she was sitting on my hand.

I didn't get them their nest before the the first egg was laid and really unwilling to go near it till I repositioned the perch they sleep on right next to the entrance of the nest.

The youngest has yet to open it's eyes. Though I'm not that concerned about the feeding part, they all seem pretty well fed to me.

I'll attach some photos of them after I take some decent ones.
PS. Is four out of seven a good hatch rate for first-timers?

[lovezebs]

Dragonwolf1989

Glad to hear that all babies are being well fed.

I would say that four out of seven is fine. It is better for first time parents to have a smaller clutch which is easier to care for.

Good luck, and looking forward to some pictures.

[Dragonwolf1989]

[lovezebs]

Dragonwolf1989

A nest full of cute pinkie babies.
They look wonderful !!!

[Sally]

Dragonwolf1989 They look good, the parents are taking care of them! Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com where you will find many articles on finch care.

[Stuart whiting]

Hi there and welcome to the forum Dragonwolf1989

There's some good advice here by " Elana " lovezebs & Sally that I'd very much agree with,

I'm sure that yer birds will all be ok

Be lucky

[cindy]

My Javas that I bought last year started to lay eggs around September 3rd and the youngest to hatch was on October 4th. Is it normal for them to hatch on different days?

I can't quite remember the day they started to lay eggs but I do recall that there was a day gap after egg#1, a two to three days gap after egg#3, a longer gap after egg#5 and ended with 7 eggs.

I' m not sure when the first one hatched but I'm sure that baby #2 hatched on October 1st,#3 on October 2nd and the last one on the 3rd.

Their mother is a normal, the father a white. Both I bought at the store as babies. This is actually their first try in the whole parenting thing, I honestly didn't think they would be able to hatch any eggs. I read an article online that it was unlikely to be successful in their first year.

I raise a good amount of java... first time parents can have false starts while others can have anywhere from 3 to 10 eggs and all hatch. So a lot depends on the birds themselves.

Sounds like you have a normal and an all white pied... if dark eyed is a DEW or Dark Eyed Pied. DEWs are normal pieds. (silvers also have dark eyes, your babies will help determine what the parents carry) If red eyed it would be a REW or red eyed white... REWs are fawn pieds. Fawn is recessive in javas unlike other species where it is sex linked.

They love a good parakeet mix that contains oat groats, they relish egg food either fresh (boiled grated... avoid crushed egg shell when chicks are young in the nest... if giving it to them now grind it, shells can cut and get lodged in babies throats... small tears in tissue can open them up to bacteria)

Take fresh egg up every two hours to avoid spoilage, fungal and bacteria and replace or use dried egg food (mine love it). Protein is very important early on, later you can add some chopped greens, I offer that after fledging.

Mine also get Roudybush Nibles size pellets in their seed, it is now made with alfalfa (rich in a few vitamins)... they love it.

They also love chitted/sprouted fresh seed and sprouted millet strands, you can offer that with your egg food for the parents to feed to the young. Javas are not to picky about foods like other species. Naturally curious.

Most javas are really good parents, they even stay in the box with them at night, once fledged the babies return to the box several times and at night you may find the parents have joined them.

Best of luck with them!!!!

[lovezebs]

Dragonwolf1989

How are the kids doing?

[Dragonwolf1989]

I pulled them out of the nest on Monday.
Their parents hadn't been feeding them as much in the morning, I was getting a bit stressed from constantly checking to see if they were getting enough food.

Chick #4, which I now nickname Baby, has fallen a lot behind in development and has only started to grow its feathers. Chick #1 on the other hand looks like it has grown out most of its feathers and started to flap its wing.

They are fine, though I noticed that #1 doesn't beg a lot and only makes small begging noise, while its siblings are loud and feisty.

[Dragonwolf1989]

By the way, their dad has been eating a lot of the supplement minerals and his beak and eye ring is a bit pale. Is there something wrong?

[lovezebs]

Dragonwolf1989

I am assuming that you are hand feeding these youngsters to get them caught up.

Regarding the Dad, I am not sure what's going on.
One of our members, has raised many Javas over the years, let's tag her and see what she thinks.... Cindy .

[Dragonwolf1989]

Sad news, Baby just passed away a few minutes ago.

[lovezebs]

Dragonwolf1989

Oh no...
So sorry to hear that. Poor little chickie.

You mentioned that you pulled the chicks from the nest. Did you have them in a brooder, handfeeding them?