hand feeding baby cut-throat

trevorama · Post by **trevorama** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 7:42 pm

Just wanted to give you an update on the cut-throat baby we are hand feeding. So far, so good. (deep sigh) although I realize we're not "out of the woods" yet, things seem to be going well. pardon me while I doze off for a moment....... The little ones wing feathers are sticking out and you can almost watch them grow, his eyes are nearly fully opened. It's interesting how different breeds develop certain things at diff times than others. He's still naked but for the few downy fluffs on his head.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:00 am

Was this baby tossed by the parents? Did they only lay and incubate one egg?

I have a pair of cut throats, and I really don't enjoy them that much. They don't really do much!

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:04 pm

hi this is a picture of the first bird that i hand fed a fawn zebra,boy did i have some sleepless nights with this little terror,as you can see when i first picked it up off the floor its top mandible had been pecked away by my button quail so every few days i had to file down its beak till it started to grow correctly

ken

trevorama · Post by **trevorama** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:01 pm

Ken- I don't think I could have done what you did. I get so nervous just holding him. my hands go cold and he shivers every time I thouch him, so I'm working on trying to relax and not get stressed. My husband has warm hands so he holds him when he feeds him. Our schedules are different so he feeds when I'm not home. When one of the babys fell out of the nest my button quail sat on it!.

Emily- They all (3) babys fell out one at a time, over about 2 weeks, and the first 2 got cold and died etc, but we found this one soon enough. I don't get it. They were doing great (parents) but when this guy fell out, he got really cold. I warmed him back up and put him back but they checked hi out and, I guess, tossed him. He still had food in his crop but I think he got too cold and would not have made it. it took quite a while for his crop to empty, after we'd brought him in, but he's doing good right now. I think they need to be bred in a cage with a deep nest and lost of privacy. Plus they love them bugs!!

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:20 am

glad to here that things are going ok..hope they turn out for the best

ken

trevorama · Post by **trevorama** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:22 pm

thanks. His feathers are really starting to come in. He's all prickly.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:42 pm

hi trevorama

they are called pinfeathers ,for obvious reasons the feather tufts will start appearing at the top of these short quills and will give you an indication as to what colour the bird is going to be

ken

trevorama · Post by **trevorama** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:57 pm

yes, I'll be happy when his feathers are all in so I can turn the heat down plus I'm anxious to see whether it's a male or female. That's something I like about this breed. Also, he's really becomming self-aware because he's starting to pick at himself (at the incoming feathers). Must be itchy. This has proved to be a bit different than when I fed the society finch. He would latch on to the eyedropper and go nuts. This one is a bit more laid back. He never was very loud (when I heard him in the nest).

trevorama · Post by **trevorama** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:31 pm

Well, her (definitly a girl) feathers keep coming in. Health wise things look good, however, her appetite seems a bit lacking. She'll eat, but stops sooner than in the past. This may be a sign of trouble, I don't know. She never completely refuses the dropper, just takes less. So we're feeding her more often. All I can do is keep trying, right? Thursday will be approx 3 weeks old so hopefully she'll take her first flight and we can get working on eating on her own.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:43 am

if she is not moving about then its quite possible she is getting fat and that all the food is not being used....as soon as she starts moving she just might start eating more food !

ken

trevorama · Post by **trevorama** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:15 pm

Ah, hadn't thought of that. She's doing a lot of grooming and scratching and stretching. Also she pecked at a bit of millet.