Allison & Parker

[OutlawedSpirit]

We did have number 6 hatch! So the full clutch hatched and so far mom and dad seem to be keeping up with all the babies so they will all stay with them for now. I will start pulling the oldest couple babies at this point if either mom and dad cannot keep up with feeding all 6 babies, or if it seems to be putting too much strain on them.

I was pretty excited this morning. While I was handing out everyone's breakfast, mom actually came out of the nest box and stayed out while I opened the lid and peeked in on the babies. Then she went back in when I was done. Hopefully she is starting to understand the routine and that I am not going to hurt her little ones, because it is much less stressful for all of us if she is willing to just step out for a moment instead of me having to chase her out to check and make sure everyone is okay.

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

I pulled the oldest and youngest from the nest for a quick peek yesterday just to make sure everyone is being fed well, which they are. I have such good parents. Anyway, I snapped a picture of the oldest and youngest side by side I thought you might all appreciate. The oldest is 10 days old and the youngest is 2 days old.

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[OutlawedSpirit]

So the two oldest have already left. I generally don't sell babies before they are weaned, but the two oldest went to a friend of mine who is a very experienced breeder, so I know she is able to properly handfeed them. I would not let them go before weaned to someone I did not know was experienced enough to properly care for them and especially not to someone I did not know at all.

Now that that is out of the way, I pulled the other four out of the nest today to start hand feeding. The oldest is 18 days old and the youngest is 11 days old. I have a picture from today of all of them in the bowl I used to transfer them from nest to brooder, and then a picture of just the oldest to show how far along he's feathered out so far. I do know the oldest is going to be a green. He has one tiny tail feather just barely starting to poke out of the tip of the sheath, but it's enough to see that it is green. I just love when colors start to show!

I will say that with the next clutch, I think I will pull the older babies a little earlier. They are being much more stubborn than the younger two about accepting a hand feeding. I know they'll accept it fine in another feeding or two, but it still stresses me out until they do. The youngest baby gave me a perfect feeding response the first time. I wish they were all that cooperative.


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[OutlawedSpirit]

Only the baby is brave enough to check out the scary evil millet.

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