BABIES!!!!!

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:09 pm

of COURSE I'm at work, but John just msn'd me and I have baby birds!! Of course I also forgot to make a fresh batch of egg food. So I gave him directions for making egg food and thankfully I have a tupperware of fresh veggies in the fridge that he can give in the mean time, I also told him to cook some pasta while the egg cooks so he can give her that while the egg is cooling. Ack! I'm so close to panicking you have no idea!!!

Why'd this have to happen while I'm at work for 12 hours!?!?! Also what are the directions for feeding soaked seeds??

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:13 pm

HOORAY! Baby birds are the BEST! Congrats!!!
peep peep peep!

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:31 pm

Congrats Thalia. I know how much you have looked forward to this moment.

Relax though, the chicks will be fine til you get home. They don't normally get fed right away.

I never did the sprouted seed thing. It seemed like alot of work for little reward and I was concerned about not doing it properly and killing my birds.

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:05 pm

hmm I wasn't talking sprouting seeds, but soaked seeds, I thought I saw someone in another thread talk about feeding soaked or softened seed? maybe I'm mistaken, oh well, John got the egg all mashed and said Andie was feeding them

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:42 am

well actually when I got home on Sunday night, John's "mashed" egg was actually big huge chunks of egg that the poor birds had to peck pieces off of lol. I made them some proper egg food the next day though. I also went out and bought dried egg food, so when they run out of the real stuff John can just give them dried until I get home and make real stuff again. I snapped a few pics this morning, they're of terrible quality since getting the nose of the camera into the nest hole is pretty tricky, but in the first one with a little imagination you can see 2 heads and in the second one there's at least 3 bodies, that's all that fluffy stuff in the foreground I believe lol. Andie and Sam obliged me by getting out of the nest while I snapped a few quick shots then hopped back in as soon as I took the camera away, they're being such good parents!
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... aysold.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... babies.jpg

vetbridge · Post by **vetbridge** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:16 pm

I have been giving soaked seed to my gouldians and they love it. I fill a mason jar about 1/4 full with seed. Then I cover the jar with a piece of pantyhose (which I bought at the dollar store while my son laughed at me). Screw the ring top on to hold the pantyhose in place. Fill with water and empty. Rinse and repeat.

vetbridge · Post by **vetbridge** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:17 pm

Oh, and congratulations. My goulds are on eggs right now. Hopefully I will be sending out hatch announcements soon.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:31 pm

hi thalia
congratulations on being a mom,i can just make them out!

ken

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:10 am

Well the babies are still doing great, I snapped a few more pics but they're either really blurry or all you can see is their fluffy backs lol. I do have one concern though... Andie and Sam seem to be spending less time on the nest, is that normal? This morning both of them were out of the nest when I uncovered the cage and last night when John covered them they were out. They're still feeding the babies, but do I need to worry? Also Sam has started singing again, which he hadn't been doing since they started sitting tight, am I giving them too much protein so they're thinking of breeding again before this clutch is done? I'm keeping them fully stocked with egg food, should I be removing it and giving them more veggies and fruit instead?

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:21 am

hi thalia
in my experience its not unusual at all ..some times my zebs have laid another clutch well before the babies have fledged and they still carry on feeding the youngsters..what i usually due if the cock is singing then obviously he is wanting to breed again i put another nest in so the young can stay put and the adults can start to lay again this stops any sqaubbling that may occur and will stop the male from trying to eject the young from the nest so that the female can lay again

ken

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:14 pm

oh ok! we'd better get on drilling out my coconut then! lol John'll be thrilled, another clutch so soon, they really should be called Rabbit Finches lol

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:34 pm

hi thalia
another good thing about zebs they have the ability to store the sperm from the first mating for at least a fortnight so really the next clutch is really made without the male peforming as it were

ken

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:52 pm

REALLY? so a fortnight is 3 weeks right... which means some of these babies might actually be Alfred's? That's SO exciting, also a little frustrating on the genetics end of things lol.

Post by **Hilary** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:58 pm

Oh, wouldn't that be a sweet (and fluffy) memorial to Alfred?!

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:44 am

Some hens can store sperm for up to approx. 16 days post copuation.