FINCHforum

I didn't even know I had a second clutch. I have not been home much lately, just putting feed and water in the cages and then off, and I thought no one was sitting. Finally had a chance to catch up, and as I cleaned cages, I heard the unmistakable sound of Strawberry babies begging. Checked the nest, and these two little buggers already had their eyes open! And the babies did not have any eggfood, I was just doing the basics for a while there.

Today I decided to band them and so I got a couple of photos while I had them out. The parents have stuffed them, but you can see the huge difference in size. Fledging time will take some careful observation. There were two IF or DIS eggs in the nest, so I figure the biggest baby was egg #1 and the smaller baby was egg #4.

The one surviving weanling from the first clutch is going thru a molt right now, so looking pretty shabby. I had to euthanize one of the babies from the first clutch, as it apparently had neurological damage. It couldn't fly, and careened around the cage completely out of control, only quiet when it could prop up against something. I finally realized I was keeping it alive because it was a Strawberry and I hated to give up on it.

Sally,
They are sooo adorable! Congratulations. I love seeing the size difference. You think they are about one week apart? Less or more? Are both eyes open? Too cute! Life can sure surprise us when we least expect it to do so.

Deborah, I think they are 4-5 days apart, though the size difference is really huge. Both of them have their eyes open, but the bigger one has lots of feathers, not so much with the little one. Some days when I have checked, the little one would have an empty crop, but then would be full when I checked later, so I'm thinking maybe the parents are feeding the biggest one most. I hate nest checks, but I have to check each day to make sure they are still feeding, and I always put the biggest one back first, with the littlest one on top, so the parents don't overlook it.

Sounds like a good plan. I am doing a similar plan with the two owl fledges. They return to the nest each night and one begs way more than the other and is the younger of the two by a day or two. I help the little one back to the nest, after the oldest goes into the nest. The parents seem to still be feeding them in the nest at night, but I'm not sure about daytime.

Sally that is just berry berry beautiful

So sorry about the little one the decision could not have been easy

Congratulations on the two precious little berries!

Oh that is wonderful. What a lovely surprise. Best wishes for them. I find those odd aged ones really manage to catch up in no time.

Congrats! For me, it's the first time i see sucha thing, Strawberry babies!!! Well Done! Good luck!

Yay!! More berry babies! And look at the great job the parents were doing even without egg food. I am very impressed.

Congratulations! That's amazing. Good luck with them

The oldest baby fledged yesterday afternoon. I had to leave home for overnight, so I worried about it the whole time I was gone. But it was sitting on my pedi-perch by the water tube when I got home. The other baby has not fledged yet, still too young, but I did check it to make sure it is still being fed--it is. It shouldn't fledge before Tuesday, and I would actually be surprised if it fledged then. Though it really squeaked at me when I took it out of the nest to check its crop!

Congratulations Sally!!! They are so blessed you were willing and able to give them their start. Let's hope you can continue to have success with your Strawberry breeding.

Absolutely beautiful Sally
Now if you could just find a way to get some here up North

Once again, this pair has stopped feeding their babies. I don't understand why. The oldest baby looks pretty good, though it is getting thin, and the youngest baby has not been growing and is very thin. Both are now being handfed, though they are still in their cage with their parents. The oldest does not want to be handfed, of course, but the little one is now opening its beak for food--a good sign.

The first two pictures are of the littlest baby, the last picture is of the oldest as of yesterday.

Congrats and I want a surprise like that!