Abandoned nestling?
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:37 am
4 of the 6 chicks my hen is currently raising fledged within a few days of each other, leaving two "stragglers" in the nest. One of the stragglers was pretty well along in development, but another was a "runt" (same age, but very slow in development). While both babies remained in the nest, they both got fed.
However, as soon as the more well developed chick fledged, mom stopped visiting the nest--just concentrating on the now 5 fledgelings who needed her attention, and no longer visited the "runt" to feed him.
I gave him a supplemental hand feeding when his crop had been left empty for several hours after the morning lights came on. When I came home later in the day, his crop was empty again and it was clear he was not being fed. I hand fed him a second time and thought about what might be going on here.
It is not unusual to hear about 'abandonment' in the case of a single chick left in the nest. Finches will often see a lone baby as "not worth their time" according to some sources. Perhaps in this case the hen was so distracted with 5 fledgelings that the runt in the nest becamse part of the "out of sight, out of mind" phenomenon. Though a complete understanding of why finches do the things they do is not really available at this point, I now had a problem to deal with, and I'm happy to say it has been resolved.
I thought I would post my solution so that any of you may run into a similar problem in the future can try this to see if it helps in your case:
I took the runt out of the nest, removed the nest from the cage completely, and placed the runt in a "clear" seed cup (lined just on the bottom with paper towels) which I fastened to the side of the cage directly adjacent to the hen's feeding station. This way the baby could see the hen when she approached, and the hen could also see him. The runt begs vigorously every time he sees the hen, and "out of sight is out of mind" is no longer an option for her--so she feeds him! The runt is funnny because sometimes he begs so vigorously he falls out of the seed cup (only a 2" drop to the floor of the cage, so he's never hurt), but he seems to get fed when he's on the ground as well. So I think the biggest solution in this case (where the chick is old enough to beg vigorously, is capable of thermoregulation, and can "hold his own" pretty well on the floor of a smaller breeding cage) is to put the chick in direct sight of the hen--by removing him from the nest and placing him close to where she eats.
The runt not only begs his mom for food, but he'll also indescriminantly beg ANY of the other fledgelings who happens by his clear "seed cup" nest. This morning I actually saw one of the older fledgelings feed him! This really amazed me, since the older "sibling" just recently figured out how to eat bits of food on its own and still begs the mom for supplemental feedings--which is to say that this chick is not yet independent. Yet here he was feeding the runt.
However, as soon as the more well developed chick fledged, mom stopped visiting the nest--just concentrating on the now 5 fledgelings who needed her attention, and no longer visited the "runt" to feed him.
I gave him a supplemental hand feeding when his crop had been left empty for several hours after the morning lights came on. When I came home later in the day, his crop was empty again and it was clear he was not being fed. I hand fed him a second time and thought about what might be going on here.
It is not unusual to hear about 'abandonment' in the case of a single chick left in the nest. Finches will often see a lone baby as "not worth their time" according to some sources. Perhaps in this case the hen was so distracted with 5 fledgelings that the runt in the nest becamse part of the "out of sight, out of mind" phenomenon. Though a complete understanding of why finches do the things they do is not really available at this point, I now had a problem to deal with, and I'm happy to say it has been resolved.
I thought I would post my solution so that any of you may run into a similar problem in the future can try this to see if it helps in your case:
I took the runt out of the nest, removed the nest from the cage completely, and placed the runt in a "clear" seed cup (lined just on the bottom with paper towels) which I fastened to the side of the cage directly adjacent to the hen's feeding station. This way the baby could see the hen when she approached, and the hen could also see him. The runt begs vigorously every time he sees the hen, and "out of sight is out of mind" is no longer an option for her--so she feeds him! The runt is funnny because sometimes he begs so vigorously he falls out of the seed cup (only a 2" drop to the floor of the cage, so he's never hurt), but he seems to get fed when he's on the ground as well. So I think the biggest solution in this case (where the chick is old enough to beg vigorously, is capable of thermoregulation, and can "hold his own" pretty well on the floor of a smaller breeding cage) is to put the chick in direct sight of the hen--by removing him from the nest and placing him close to where she eats.
The runt not only begs his mom for food, but he'll also indescriminantly beg ANY of the other fledgelings who happens by his clear "seed cup" nest. This morning I actually saw one of the older fledgelings feed him! This really amazed me, since the older "sibling" just recently figured out how to eat bits of food on its own and still begs the mom for supplemental feedings--which is to say that this chick is not yet independent. Yet here he was feeding the runt.
