4rth Baby Gouldian tossed ?!?!

[Sandra]

Agreed; keeping him with the parents is good.

They won't love the disturbance, but they usually tolerate it.

I have regular apple sauce not organic

[Sandra]

is unsweetened apple sauce that isn't organic, can I use it?

[finchmix22]

I think that will be alright just for today.

[MiaCarter]

Agreed. I think the regular apple sauce should do the trick! It's got sugar and moisture, which is exactly what they need right now.

[Sandra]

Agreed. I think the regular apple sauce should do the trick! It's got sugar and moisture, which is exactly what they need right now.

Thank god for your guys! Is 1145am and I just got back from the store. I made a warm-ish more liquidy mix for them.

I took nest and parents were in it. I hand feed babies with the parents there as they refused to leave the nest.

I never handfed birds .... I don't know how well I did. I just gave a pinch to get air out before handing formula to the babies. They took it. But like 1 'bite' only and then they closed beak. I didn't notice crop. But I hope I did good. There ARE 2 babies!

[MiaCarter]

Sandra -- You're in luck, as there's a thread on this!

Read through this:
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12441

[Sandra]

Thank you MiaCarter, I will check the link.

I just fed them again. 2nd feeding. So am guessing my first ever hand feeding went well?

The babies just took a bite and the parents stayed in the nest again. They just watched me and didn't try to chase me away. I checked the crop and I saw it was fuller.

I'm hating myself for not posting a pic of the earlier dead babies. I could of saved more babies ... well I know there are still risk but at least they are eating now.

[afinch]

Looks like that baby was well dead by the time it got tossed. And either it was not fed, or it stopped eating and that caused it to die.

[Sandra]

Because they tossed 4 dead babies, I believe that the parents don't know they should feed the babies.

At least there isn't much disturbance, as I have the forever nest that opens at the back. So since the nest is on the outside, I just open the back door and quickly feed the babies. The parents don't even fly away.

This second time, I checked and crop was empty before I fed them.

[finchmix22]

Sandra
Sounds like you're doing well with your first time at handfeeding. Keep up the good work. You may notice the parents are learning by watching you feed their babies. Hopefully, they'll take over or at least keep incubating.

[Sandra]

Thanks finchmix22 ....

I understand them being young is a critical stage but so far so good. The babies takes 1 bite and then they stop being noisy. The parents sits right on them tho. I have to push the parents a little to feed the babies.

Almost time for the 3rd feeding ..... I can hear the babies. Do I also have to feed at night?

[Sandra]

Quick question .....

Since I feed the babies straight from their nest with parents there .... I try to clean their beaks with a q-tips ... but doesn't go too well as the babies moves too much ....

Since the formula does get dried up ... how do you clean the babies faces properly ... or its not that bad?

BTW once again on 3rd feeding their crop were empty and after feeding they were fuller.

[MiaCarter]

Sandra -- Sounds like you're doing well!

I always take the babies out of the nest to feed. My set up necessitates that. But it makes it easier to clean them. And you don't need to worry about drips soiling the nest.

I use a warm, damp Q-tip to wipe them up.

But feeding them in the nest will show the parents what to do, so that's a good thing.

Make sure you're heating it to around 104 degrees (but never over 108, as that can cause crop burns).

You should feed them 'round the clock for the first few days. I've always done through the night until day 10, but I've heard of many others who do through the night for the first 3 or 4 days, then just 1 or 2 feedings in the night thereafter.

As they get bigger, the amount they can take per feeding will increase in a big way, so you can space out the feedings more and more as they grow.

You'll also gradually thicken the food consistency as they grow.

You should be feeding right before their crop empties (though let it empty fully at least 1x per 24 hours).

I agree; I think the newer parents just don't realize they need to feed.
I had a mom who didn't feed. The babies died one by one and she kept sitting. She would NOT leave that nest. I pulled the nest down to remove the dead babies and she wouldn't move. I had to coax her out with a chop stick. You could tell she was very distressed by it. She honestly thought that sitting on the babies was parenting. She just didn't know.

Here's a good writeup:
http://www.gouldianfinch.info/breeding/handfeeding.htm

[Sandra]

I have a hard time pushing the parents off the babies. This morning for some reason they left the nest and I thought that they had abandoned! The daddy is back in the nest and he is growling a the female to not get in. I have a heater in that area that is on and off. esp if the parent aren't there.

One baby isn't growing well. I can tell the bigger one is growing and a lot more stronger to eat, but not the small one. He barely eats.

[MiaCarter]

Sandra -- As they get bigger, you may find it's easier to remove them from the nest.

I typically remove the nest, then place a plastic spoon (plastic because it's warmer than metal) just beside the babies. Then I tip the nest ever so slightly to roll them into the spoon.

I put the siblings on a heating pad while they wait their turn to eat.

I sit on the floor, cross legged with my knees raised up. I'll bend one arm, putting the elbow alongside my torso and my hand with the baby rests on my knee. I rest the other elbow on my knee for stability and feed that way.
I'll put my pinkie down on the hand with the baby for added stability.

The smaller one may have been born a day later than the first one, so that could account for his smaller size.

I would try to do some extra feedings for him if you can get him to cooperate. And it wouldn't hurt the bigger one to have some extra feedings.