Just for fun, here's Rocky the budgie at a few hours old. Love at first sight doesn't begin to describe how we feel about our Rocky.
I'll never forget when Rocky was born on November 14, 2022. I wasn't even sure her egg was still viable after cooking in the incubator for almost three weeks. When I candled it that morning I ran into the living room where my husband was sitting screaming "There's a bird inside and it's peeping at me!" There was no hole in the egg yet, and we had no idea how long the hatching process would take. A day or two, maybe? Would he need any help? We both had to work from 3 to 9 so we reluctantly put the egg back in the incubator and went to work, prepared to keep vigil over The Egg until The Baby hatched. We had all the necessary supplies to hand feed our new baby but it was our first time and we were both very nervous.
When we got home from work at 9:30pm I ran to the incubator and there she was! She had broken out of the shell and was kicking and squirming around the incubator- a strong, healthy baby at 2 grams. I read that you shouldn't feed the newborn until "several hours" after hatching so we went to bed at 11pm but I didn't sleep. At about 2am I prepared her formula and sat on the floor because I was afraid of dropping her. I cradled her in my warm palm, head pointing up and supported between my thumb and forefinger. To my surprise and delight, as soon as I touched the edge of the baby-sized spoon to her little beak she began to lap up the formula and I watched it run down her esophagus into her crop. When her crop was nice and round, I wiped her tiny face and put her back in her incubator with a little stuffed Goldfinch to cuddle with. Later that morning, my husband John named her Rocky because she was a fighter and he was convinced Rocky was a boy. The feeding routine took over our lives for the next 30+ days as Rocky grew into the beautiful budgie she is today, loaded with personality. Rocky isn't a "sweet" budgie- she's so much more than that. She decided at a few months old that she didn't like hands and she set boundaries that we respect to this day. She's friendly, smart, fearless and independent, the alpha female of our flock, and is very bonded to us. She prefers our company to other budgies except perhaps for her cagemate and faithful manservant Beau, who adores her. We've raised two more babies since then but Rocky will always have a special place in our hearts.
Rocky's first baby picture.
View attachment 81634 After her first meal.
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Now we must share our food with Rocky, including roast beef and cheese.
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) working her as helper. Oddly she was so happy here. Her ego got such a big boost. She taught me how to crochet with helpful beak and talons. It was far more difficult learning computer with her around.
I take it that you'd like to make this one your official entry?
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