New Parrot finch babies

[MariusStegmann]

Three of the 4 eggs of my parrot finch babies hatched. Hopefully the 4th egg will still hatch. I am quite exited because I only got the parrots about 6 weeks ago and they are still youngsters. Unfortunately they didn't pair up the way I wanted them to do, seagreen with seagreen and red heads with red heads. My seagreen hen has chicks with a red head male. Hopefully the cold doesn't kill the babies. Tomorrow it is the winter soltice and thus far it has not been colder than 7 celsius.

[Ginene]

Congratulations on the new hatchlings! Hopefully all will be well and your little ones will do wonderful. Best of luck

[MiaCarter]

Congrats on your babies!
I hope they do nicely, even with the cold!
Is the aviary such that you could add a heat lamp to warm the nest area?

I hope you'll keep us updated!

[Sally]

Congrats on the Parrot finch babies! Hope they stay warm. We are just the opposite right now, about 33 C.

[MariusStegmann]

Thanks. Today is actually a perfect day here. Not a breath of wind and the temp is about 23 Celcius.

[MariusStegmann]

Mia, if they nested in the enclosed area of the aviary, a heatlamp could have been used, but they nested in a different part of the aviary, still under the roof, but a heatlamp won't make the slightest difference in that area.

[monotwine]

yay for you! babies in winter are always a risk, but good parents will sit tight and keep them warm for at least 2 weeks. good weather predicted so far.

[Angela&Shalamar]

Congrautlations!

[Rox]

Congrats Marius!! Holding thumbs the chicks make it all the way.

How gorgeous has the weather been this weekend!? A slice of heaven in between the cold and rain

[MariusStegmann]

Rox, yes the weather has been fantastic for mid winter. I see rain is predicted for wednesday.

Monique, the pair look to be good parents so far. The youngsters that I got from you are colouring up nicely. How did you get your parrots to eat the corn on the cob? I have sliced a bit from the top of the corn off, but they don't seem to be eating it.

[Smurf]

Congrats on the new chicks, took me about 7 months to get first chicks due to ending up with 1 cock firing blanks and 5 hens from the first 3 pairs i bought. Once i found a new cock i started having success with 7 chicks colouring up now and 5 more in nest plus a new pair about to nest.

Once breeding they are great parents so i'm sure you'll have them fledging in a few weeks.

Your Winter sounds like our summer, about 23 deg here today which is exceptionally good weather for us

[finchmix22]

Congrats! Can't wait to see pics.

[MariusStegmann]

Smurf, sometimes we get snow on the mountains in winter and then the temp drops overnight to about 5 - 7 Celsius. We have not had significant snowfalls this winter. When it rains it is cold and miserable 15 -16 Celsius. However on the days when there are no clouds the temp gets to the middle twenties. I suppose it confuses the birds because it seems like spring. I am glad that you had success with breeding parrot finches.

[monotwine]

Marius, I simply put raw corn on the cob (mielies) into the aviary. They dive in. Never had to tempt them. Just leave one in for a few days for them to try something new (weather is nice a cool, so you don't need to worry about spoiling).
Glad to hear the youngsters are colouring out. Mine are all done now and settling down looking for mates. I need to get stuck into my aviary and separate the pairs. This funny weather is making them think its spring.

[MariusStegmann]

The red head female has coloured up completely but the young seagreen male has not completely coloured up. So you don't actually cut the actual cornseed to make it easier for them to get to the insides? A mielie seed is quite tough.