I haven't posted in awhile. The good news is that my baby Yellowsided Conure is doing great. I think it might be a male and he is weaning now. He is gorgeous and I hope to post photos of him soon. He is so vibrantly colored! He is super cuddly and craves my attention constantly. This does not make my other green chhek happy as she wants my attention too and this drives Riley my Wihite Wing Parakeet crazy as he thinks he is Number 1 so he is screaming a lot. But I love all of my pets and that also includes 3 parrotlets plus 1 breeding pair in the same room right now. My other breeders are all outside getting ready to hopefully go to nest.
The Bad News -
Which brings the bad news. I lost my sweet little pied baby I was hoping to hand feed. When I went to pull him for hand feeding at just under 2 weeks of age, I was shocked to discover that while he was the size of an almost 2 week old his development was retarded and he was still a pink rubber baby when he should have had down feather fluff and pins coming in. I decided to pull him that day and try to save him but I have seen this before and I knew it was a losing battle. I could see that he was severely dehydrated, and fairly thin.
When I set him up in the brooder I noticed that his feet were turned inward and twisted and that he could not support his own weight on his legs at all. I put him a a snugly ring to help him support himself. I fed him and while he didn't cry he did have a feeding response. It broke my heart to see this as I knew the outcome would end sadly.
I fed him every few hours , made sure the humidity levels were good, etc to try and keep him hydrated, but every time I checked him he just seemed a tiny bit worse.
He was a little fighter, and would open his tiny eyes when I was there to feed him. His whole body would shudder with the force he had to use to lift his little head. His crop started to slow down. I knew things were coming to an end. I am sad to say I lost him a couple of days later, but I was relieved that he did not suffer.
Sometimes chicks are born and they have a failure to thrive. It is sad to see and go through, but t is part of what comes with breeding birds.
Our weather here has been odd. One day super cold and windy, the next super hot and sunny, dry, etc!
I also had a pair sitting on a clutch of 5 fertile eggs. I was sad to discover that when it came time to hatch none of the chicks made t out of the eggs. This pair has bred before and given me beautiful babies, so I was shocked as they are very good parents as well. I am guessing that the extreme changes in weather had something to do with it and the humidity level was probably not high enough for the eggs to hatch! I am not giving up, but I have been sad and not wanting to post!
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