society finches fostering bccb - update

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:27 am

My society finches have hatched out five (maybe six) bccb eggs.
I know they will feed them without mealworms, but do the babies need them? If so, I am going to have to get some for them.......

FinchezRule · Post by **FinchezRule** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:57 am

They don't necessarily have to have mealworms but the babies do require a higher content of protein then do zebra or societies. This can be given in the form of eggfood which you can make yourself, maybe a dry insect mix mixed in if the societies accept that.

Good luck with the hatchlings!!! My RCCB's always lay 4 eggs never 5 or 6...then again I haven't had any successfuly fledge

FinchezRule · Post by **FinchezRule** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:58 am

They don't necessarily have to have mealworms but the babies do require a higher content of protein then do zebra or societies. This can be given in the form of eggfood which you can make yourself, maybe a dry insect mix mixed in if the societies accept that.

Good luck with the hatchlings!!! My RCCB's always lay 4 eggs never 5 or 6...then again I haven't had any successfuly fledge

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:07 am

FinchezRule wrote:They don't necessarily have to have mealworms but the babies do require a higher content of protein then do zebra or societies. This can be given in the form of eggfood which you can make yourself, maybe a dry insect mix mixed in if the societies accept that.

Good luck with the hatchlings!!! My RCCB's always lay 4 eggs never 5 or 6...then again I haven't had any successfuly fledge

Thanks for answering. They have homeade eggfood every morning and I also have some dried insect treat. I think they get enough protein I just wasn't sure if the babies required mealworms to grow successfully. I cannot believe I have six of them! I didn't plan this. The parents have abandoned every clutch so I tossed these in the society nest. They are great fosters and I have no concerns about them feeding them.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:46 am

Wow! Congrats on the five (or 6!) baby BCCB's!!! Wahooooo!

Post by **Sally** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:39 am

Wonderful!! You are having just the best breeding season, Donna. As long as you provide lots of high-protein foods which your Societies will eat, the BCCB babies should get enough protein. They do require more protein than many other species, but it doesn't have to be mealworms. We just usually give mealworms because they are about the only live food we can provide to our BCCBs.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 6:18 am

Sally wrote:Wonderful!! You are having just the best breeding season, Donna. As long as you provide lots of high-protein foods which your Societies will eat, the BCCB babies should get enough protein. They do require more protein than many other species, but it doesn't have to be mealworms. We just usually give mealworms because they are about the only live food we can provide to our BCCBs.

Thanks Sally. I have to admit that I didn't really want these babies, it just happened. I am trying to make the breeding stop for a while. All nest are down now except for theirs and one other which is about to come down.

I peeked at them yesterday and they are doing great. My society finches are just something else!!! One of those babies is twice the size of the others. It hatched out about three days ahead of the others.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:04 am

Best wishes for successful fledging and weaning of these babies, Donna.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:08 am

L in Ontario wrote:Best wishes for successful fledging and weaning of these babies, Donna.

Thanks Liz. I am going to try and get some pictures of these babies today. The last time they raised two that I THOUGHT were bccb and they turned out to be two little owls.

The owls are also apparently a little fuzzy like the courdons. I KNOW that four of these are courdons, but not sure about the other two. They may be owls. That is the downfall of having a mixed open aviary. They go all over the place sometimes to lay their eggs. But then the upside is that you get surprised too.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:03 pm

Well I don't have a clue what has happened, but all of these bccb babies have died. It appears the society finches would not feed them. Not sure what the problem was as they have always done a wonderful job at fostering.

There was one other baby in there with them that was twice their size. Could be one problem. But they have raised courdons for me before. I tried switching the last one over to my other society that is sitting on eggs and she would not feed it either.

The one big baby is still living. I think it is an owl though. Can't tell yet.

Post by **Sally** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:17 pm

So sorry for the loss of the BCCB babies, Donna. With fosters, there is always the chance that they won't feed, especially with the babies that look so different than their own. CB babies are so quiet for the first week or so that sometimes the fosters just don't get triggered to feed. Even when they are good fosters. My Felix and Oscar, that were so fabulous last season, raising BCCB and Strawberry babies, are just duds this season.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:45 pm

Oh that's a sad situation to see. Hard to say what the cause was but I'm glad that the one bigger hatchling is doing well at least.

FinchMommy · Post by **FinchMommy** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 1:22 pm

Awwwwwww, I'm sorry!

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:24 pm

Sally wrote:So sorry for the loss of the BCCB babies, Donna. With fosters, there is always the chance that they won't feed, especially with the babies that look so different than their own. CB babies are so quiet for the first week or so that sometimes the fosters just don't get triggered to feed. Even when they are good fosters. My Felix and Oscar, that were so fabulous last season, raising BCCB and Strawberry babies, are just duds this season.

I think that is what happened this time Sally. They were so small and quiet because the other baby has a stuffed crop all the time.
I guess I just expected them to feed since they have never let me down before.

williep · Post by **williep** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:09 pm

So sorry for your loss dfcauley. I'm sure you'll have better sucess with them next time.