Four Hatchlings In Cage #3!

All four eggs in Cage #3 have hatched!  The chicks look great, and are being well-fed. :-)

Hatchling In Cage #3!

There's one brand new pink wiggly in Cage #3, and three more eggs to go. :-)

Funny Pics

Group Photo!

New Page Added

I've added a new page ... "The Birds of Moonrise Aviary".  It contains photos and details of all my birds.  The link is over on the right, near the top of the page.  :-)

Four Good Eggs! :-)

The chocolate trio in Cage #3 are incubating 4 viable eggs.  :-)

It Didn't Make It :-(

The little non-growing chick didn't make it, as I expected.  The foster parents fed it and kept it warm, but there was obviously something wrong with the little fellow.  :-(

The foster parents tried so hard that they were still keeping it warm even after it passed away.  They didn't remove it from the nest as many finches normally do.  They just kept right on trying to be good parents.  Sweet little things. <3  I removed it and changed out the nesting materials.

Chick Update

The mom in Cage #2 tossed the chick, however, I believe it was an accident because she flew out of the nest in a rush when I was giving them fresh food.  The baby fell through the cage floor and into the seed tray.  Since I was standing right there when it happened, I quickly rescued the chick.  After seeing that the chick only had a tiny bit of food in its crop again, I handfed it.  It ate very well this time, thankfully.  I then moved it to the nest in Cage #5, where there are already eggs being incubated.  Edit: Those eggs turned out to be duds/DIS.

The foster parents hopped right into the nest within 30 seconds of me putting the chick in, and started warming it back up.  They're very experienced parents and have raised quite a few chicks, so I'm confident in their abilities.  I'll still keep a close eye on it to make sure it's being fed.  I feel like this is its best chance for survival.

ETA:  I hear it begging for food, even though I just fed it.  LOL!  Little piggy.  :-)

11:30pm Update:  I hear it begging loud and clear! :-D  I haven't disturbed the foster parents to check on it (they're sitting TIGHT and give me "The Look" if I walk past their cage), but as long as I can hear it begging and the intermittent pauses as it's being fed, all is well.

Concerned About The Chick In Cage #2 :-/

This chick hatched on approximately January 1 or 2, but is much too small to be 7-8 days old.  The parents are feeding it, and are keeping it warm, and it's begging much louder than it was a few days ago, but its physical development is too slow.  I've started handfeeding it supplementally, while letting the parents continue to care for it.  Good thing it's the only hatchling in the nest, or its siblings would've outgrown it.  I don't see anything physically wrong with it, but that doesn't mean there's nothing internally wrong.  Unless it starts gaining some size in the next couple of days, I'm afraid it's not going to make it.  :-(

Update 8:30am - I went to feed it again before going to bed, but this time it didn't want to eat. It had completely digested the handfeeding formula from earlier, and had a tiny bit of food from its mom in its crop, but I could only get a very small amount of handfeeding formula in it.  It should have been eager to eat.  Maybe it'll surprise me, but I'm not optimistic. :-/

Update 7pm - It had a tiny bit of food in its crop from its parents, but its skin looks dry-ish.  I tried to handfeed it again, thinking it was becoming dehydrated.  I was only able to get a little into it, about half as much as the photo above.  The parents are still feeding it, although I wish they'd feed it more, and they're keeping it warm, but I'm still worried.

Cage #1 & #6 Babies Update

The light blue-banded youngster in Cage #1 is a boy. I just heard him practice-singing.  That was fast!  :-)  I'm not sure about the other youngster yet (orange band).

The purple-banded white youngster in Cage #6 is a boy.

The white-banded chocolate pied youngster in Cage #6 is a boy.

Update

Haven't posted in a few days.  Been sick with the flu. :-(

Cage #1 - The two youngsters have left the nest.  The parents should start to wean them soon.

Cage #2 - A single baby hatched on approximately New Year's Day.  :-)

Cage #3 - Nothing new to report.

Cage #4 - Owl finches; they're doing fine.

Cage #5 - Incubating ELEVEN!!! eggs!  A few were duds, so I removed them.  At least 4 candled as being viable.  Should be due to hatch in roughly 9-12 days.  (Edit: They turned out to be DIS.) It looks like two hens were laying at the same time.   I removed the three weaned youngsters and put them in Cage #6, along with the three youngsters from Cage #3.

Cage #6 - Three fawn pied youngsters from Cage #5 and three chocolate pied youngsters from Cage #3.

Breakdown:
From Cage #5 - Fawn Pied Youngsters

Red Band - Crested, Gender Unknown
Purple Band - Non-Crested, Almost Solid White, Male
Hot Pink Band - Crested, Gender Unknown

From Cage #3 - Chocolate Pied Youngsters

Yellow Band - Crested, Male
Black Band - Crested, Probably Male
White Band - Non-Crested, Gender Unknown


Here are some photos: