Help! baby lovebirds

[bartRN]

I've just peek on Lucy's nestbox and happy that 3 of her 4 eggs already hatched. I just hope that the last egg will hatch too. Right now I'm giving them chopped Chinese cabbage and grated carrots aside from the bird seeds which I add more sunflower seeds so the baby lovies will grow faster. Can you recommend any other soft foods?

 

[MikeyTN]

You can cook egg, pasta, fresh veggies and fruits, all kinds of stuffs!!! Does one of the babies have red eyes??? It's hard to tell from your picture but one of the chick looks like it have red eyes....a Lutino chick perhaps??? Only time will tell once they start to feather out. Are you planning on hand feeding or just co-parenting?

 

[bartRN]

Thanks Mikey...I'll serve them boiled egg tomorrow. Can I include the shell?.. I notice that also that one of them seems have different eyes, the two got black eyes and the other one looks red. I thought the one with red eyes was the last one to hatch and it will become black also soon..I don't know???? ..how come that's different? Because Lucy is a orange faced olive while her mate Natsu is peach faced green. I don't think I can handfeed them because I got work. Maybe I'll let Lucy and Natsu take care their babies but I wish I can wean them out and tame.

 

[MikeyTN]

Yes you can serve the egg with shell! No, they're born with their existing eye color. So the red one would be a interesting one, most likely a Lutino. You can co-parent so they would stay tame! That means once they start to feather out, you can bring them out for a little bit each day and handle them.

One thing to always remember when your birds are having babies, there may be sacrifices you must make if you let them breed. Sometimes you must take over to hand feed the chicks if anything goes wrong!

 

[bartRN]

Wow I've got one special baby then but I wish they will stay all alive. I don't know how that happen? Maybe one of Lucy or Natsu is split Lutino.I'm afraid to handfeed because it will be my first time and their to small to handle I think and I'm scared I can't handle them gently so I'll make their parents do the task but of course I'll watch over them so I can pull them out if Lucy and Natsu are not taking care their babies. If I have time , i'll try to handfeed.How old can I handfeed them?

 

[MikeyTN]

IF they care for their babies properly, you may not have to hand feed, it's just in case if you need to, you need to understand how! Different breeders pulls babies at different ages, I tend to pull at 14 days, but earlier if I must. But the younger they are, they more frequent you must feed. So it is wise to keep a hatch sheet so you know when they hatched exactly. Since you had no idea when the other ones hatch, find out if the last egg would hatch out tomorrow or the day afterwards, that would give you an idea with the approximate age of the other siblings. Usually hatch every other day so if the fourth egg hatches tomorrow, I'm still on the 29th even though it's near 3 am on the 30th, but you get the point, anyway so it would be the 30th the last baby hatch so you count backwards making the first baby hatched out on the 24th, second 26th, and third on the 28th. That is guess estimate as some chicks can hatch on the same day or hatch a day apart. But usually what I told you prior is usually what happens by the every other day hatching time. You can usually tell which one is older by their size differences. Feeding a newly hatch chick is a tiring process trust me....lol.....

 

[bartRN]

I wish the last egg will hatch tomorrow and I'll make a record then. Lucy became very protective and I can't pull out the babies easily if I want to handfeed them..hahaha actually i've been bitten by Lucy twice when I took a picture of them. Hahaha...once I pull them out to handfeed, can I still return them in the nest box so Lucy and Natsu take in charge feeding again or i'll be handfeed them until they can eat on their own.. And I don't think I can do that lol

 

[MikeyTN]

Once you pull to feed, you must finish the task! Unless your only doing supplemental feeding for a under grown chick that your putting back. Just remember IF you were to hand feed, always let the crop to be fully emptied before feeding! There's lots of videos on Youtube on hand feeding process, but it's best if you can learn from someone locally when you can witness it in person first hand.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

What cute babies!

 

[Pajarita]

Please co-parent instead of hand-feeding. It's much healthier for the chicks and kinder to the parents and it results in the same amount of imprinting/taming.

 

[bartRN]

How does co-parenting works?

 

[MikeyTN]

I explained it to you earlier, it's by taking the chicks out while young and socializing them so they would be used to you handling them. You do that daily for a little bit then put them back.

 

[bartRN]

Sorry for asking about co-parenting. I just want it to be clear, meaning there's no need to handfeed them in co parenting. All you have to do is get them then hold them for a while then return them back. Am I right?..by the way seems the last egg is not fertile because until now it didn't hatch.

 

[MikeyTN]

Yes your correct! Your basically letting them get used to being touched and handled. The last egg might of died too...check again tomorrow...

 

[bartRN]

Thanks again Mikey.. I'll check again tomorrow

 

[Pajarita]

You can also give them a feeding. I know an excellent breeder in South Africa who does that, 20 minutes of handling and one feeding a day and back into the nest with them for the parents to do the rest of the work. Babies are healthier, much better adjusted than hand-fed birds and just as tame.

 

[bartRN]

There's no hope for the last egg to hatch I think because until now it didn't hatch even though Lucy keep on warming it.... Do you think one of the parents is split Lutino because they were able to produce one baby with red eyes? Is it Lucy or Natsu? And i've read that Lutino is sex link meaning if Natsu is the split lutino, the baby with red eyes is female. Is that right?

 

[bartRN]

You can also give them a feeding. I know an excellent breeder in South Africa who does that, 20 minutes of handling and one feeding a day and back into the nest with them for the parents to do the rest of the work. Babies are healthier, much better adjusted than hand-fed birds and just as tame.

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't think I can handfeed. I'm afraid because I don't have experience in handfeeding and a lot of caution should be observe especially in the temperature of the food. Maybe when they turn 1mos old where they can eat seeds on their own. I'll feed them in my palm.

 

[bartRN]

What should I feed to my baby lovebirds aside from eggs, pasta, birdseeds? Do you think the two are malnourished because they seem being left behind in terms of growth compare to the other one. I think their 3 weeks old already. I haven't started co-parenting them. Lucy and Natsu really take care and feed their babies that's why I give them the chance until the babies are 1 month old. Do you think I should handfeed them?

 

[MikeyTN]

The father is carrying the lutino gene. I don't get into the genes too much cause it gives me a headache reading on them...lol....Monica would know though. Even though I've bred them in the past, never really got into Lovebird genetics.

From the pictures, is that food particles I see on the baby's head and body??? They might be bad feeders from being first time parents, also the oldest chick might be taking all the food away from the younger two which can result in stunt in growth. This is part of the reason why learning hand feeding is important. In this case you should think about removing the oldest chick to hand feed. Or the younger two if the problem persists.