Will they be okay

[gomer]

All sounds good.Might be a good pair to keep for fostering.Might pay not to interfere unless needed.Especially if they are in a outside aviary when fledging time is near.

[jamezyboo21]

Well, the baby zebra didnt make it. The 2 societies fledged yesterday. The baby gould is alive and well, he is 16 days old now and the socities are still feeding him even though the 2 socities have left the nest. They have been going in the nest at night to sleep though and sometimes during the day they go in the nest so the baby gould is still being fed and kept warm. To make it a little easier on the society parents i have been helping feed the gouldian as well.

[L in Ontario]

Sorry to hear about the baby Zeb. Good news about the Soc's fledging and the Gould still being looked after. We'll need pics soon.

[gomer]

Shame about the zeb.hope the gould is getting a good feed.

[jamezyboo21]

Well the baby gould made it and is doing well, hes 6 weeks today. he has started to eat own his own but still begs every once in a while. Yesterday was the last day for him to let me feed him. Each day he would eat less from me and today he didnt let me feed him at all. He still lets me hold him and he follows me around when i let him out of the cage. I think he is started to moult or something because i can already see 3 pin feathers on his head and all the fluffy feathers are falling off and hes getting more green on his back, i think he is gonna be purple breast because his feathers are dark instead of white. The socities are sitting on 6 eggs so far and they still feed the gould. i have already seperated the society fledglings and they are already 2 months old.

[L in Ontario]

That's great progress for your birds - congratulations!

[B CAMP]

Congratulations on that gouldian chick

[FinchezRule]

Aww it sounds like your Gould is semi-hand tamed.....congrats on the little guy making it.

[jamezyboo21]

Thanks, i hope he stays that way. he is so funny. he knows when its time to eat. WWhen he was eating from me he would sit and watch me make the formula and then he would fly right on my hand and start begging.

[FinchezRule]

Ah that's awesome....I bought some Handfeeding formula but I can't find a syringe or anything small enough to feed newly hatched finches....do you have any suggestions for when they're newly hatched?

[jamezyboo21]

i heard ppl tried toothpicks or hair pins. i was lucky enough to find a small syringe and the little tips you can buy for them for small finches.There is a breeder here where i live that sells them at her bird store for a $1.00.

[Sally]

You can use a flat toothpick, especially when they are newly hatched, and you can also use a leg band application tool. You make the formula just thick enough so it doesn't run all over the place, sort of like pancake batter, scoop some in the groove of the tool, then slip the tool in the baby's mouth with the groove side down (only when the baby actually opens its mouth to beg), and the baby will lick the food off the tool with its tongue. Much easier and safer than using a crop tube. I have used syringes with a white plastic feeding tip on older babies, closer to fledging time, but for me, it is too hard to use those on tiny babies.

[BirdCrazy]

I use the flat toothpicks and they work great! You have to throw a ton of them out though to make sure you don't use one with splinters or rough edges. I used to switch to a tiny pippette but this time I am still using a toothpick and my Gould baby is almost 4 weeks old. It is pretty much like spoon feeding it. You have to keep them warm and have some humidity too at first. I use a small R-Com incubator. Good luck if you ever try it again! I lost a few at the beginning but have done really well once I got the hang of it.