And here's a photo I snagged of the M/M society foster pair's babies (left side of the cage). Pardon the poo! ;-) The remaining egg apparently wasn't viable, but I haven't disturbed them to candle it. Not much sense in it, at this point. :-)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Pic of the Hatchlings & Also A New Baby!
We have a new youngster in the house! My M/M/M society foster trio has hatched a single hatchling within the last 24 hours or so. I don't know if the other eggs are viable (last time I candled them, I couldn't tell either way). The bio parents are either Patches & Sandy or Tip & Echo. Tip & Echo were adopted a couple of weeks ago, but they had an egg in the nest. I *should* be able to tell once it gets its adult colors in a few weeks. If it's pied, chances are, it's Patches & Sandy's baby. If it's fawn or CFW, it's Tip & Echo's. Of course, with zebra finch genetics, sometimes it's just the luck of the draw.
And here's a photo I snagged of the M/M society foster pair's babies (left side of the cage). Pardon the poo! ;-) The remaining egg apparently wasn't viable, but I haven't disturbed them to candle it. Not much sense in it, at this point. :-)
And here's a photo I snagged of the M/M society foster pair's babies (left side of the cage). Pardon the poo! ;-) The remaining egg apparently wasn't viable, but I haven't disturbed them to candle it. Not much sense in it, at this point. :-)
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Switcheroo
The M/M foster society pair (on eggs) that's beside the other M/M foster society pair (with chicks) is going crazy trying to help feed those little chicks on the other side of the divider. Poor things! The chicks are being VERY well taken care of, but they want to help so badly, even to the point of yakking up some food to try to feed them. The eggs they're fostering are likely duds (Tangerine laid them well after I separated her from her naughty mate awhile back), so I did something I don't normally do. I switched Frostie and Streak's four (hopefully) viable eggs for the four dud eggs. Frostie needs a break from egg-laying anyway, and incubating the dud eggs for couple of weeks will give her body a chance to restore its calcium reserves. And hopefully the M/M foster pair will have some chicks of "their own" to care for in a few days. :-) That means both of my society M/M foster pairs have eggs/chicks that actually belong to Frostie and Streak. LOL! She's been a little egg machine lately.
Pearl and Smudge have at least two newly-hatched chicks, just 1-2 days old. I didn't want to disturb them to do an exact head count. She had two back-to-back clutches, and I'm pretty sure the first clutch wasn't viable. There was probably 10-12 eggs in the nest at one point. They tossed two eggs during the day. One was infertile, and the other was DIS. Not sure yet how many of the others are fertile.
I also moved Patches in with Onyx, whose baby girl (Diamond) was recently weaned. Diamond is now in with another very young female, Powder, until they get to be breeding age. :-)
Alfalfa (crested male) and Whisper are still incubating their eggs. :-) I haven't candled them again to see if any more are viable.
Cloud and Domino's youngsters are doing great under their mom's care. They're perching and flying like pros now.
The little society chick with the lost leg fledged a couple of days ago. So far it hasn't figured out how to perch, so it sits in the bottom of the cage with its mom and sibling cuddling with it. Too adorable! I put it back in the nest a couple of times, thinking it would be more comfortable, but it doesn't stay put. Today it figured out that it could prop itself up using the cage divider tracks in the floor of the cage, using the wires to balance. Instead of putting it back in the nest, I left it propped up, figuring that it's a good way for it to learn to perch. In a sense, it made itself a pair of crutches. :-) The parents (a M/F/F trio) are taking exceptional care of the youngsters.
Shelly (paired with Ghost) keeps laying eggs, but they keep disappearing. I suspect they're being eaten. If they're being tossed, I sure haven't found them. She's got a cuttlebone and gets regular calcium supplements, so who knows. (?)
And that's the news for today! :-)
Pearl and Smudge have at least two newly-hatched chicks, just 1-2 days old. I didn't want to disturb them to do an exact head count. She had two back-to-back clutches, and I'm pretty sure the first clutch wasn't viable. There was probably 10-12 eggs in the nest at one point. They tossed two eggs during the day. One was infertile, and the other was DIS. Not sure yet how many of the others are fertile.
I also moved Patches in with Onyx, whose baby girl (Diamond) was recently weaned. Diamond is now in with another very young female, Powder, until they get to be breeding age. :-)
Alfalfa (crested male) and Whisper are still incubating their eggs. :-) I haven't candled them again to see if any more are viable.
Cloud and Domino's youngsters are doing great under their mom's care. They're perching and flying like pros now.
The little society chick with the lost leg fledged a couple of days ago. So far it hasn't figured out how to perch, so it sits in the bottom of the cage with its mom and sibling cuddling with it. Too adorable! I put it back in the nest a couple of times, thinking it would be more comfortable, but it doesn't stay put. Today it figured out that it could prop itself up using the cage divider tracks in the floor of the cage, using the wires to balance. Instead of putting it back in the nest, I left it propped up, figuring that it's a good way for it to learn to perch. In a sense, it made itself a pair of crutches. :-) The parents (a M/F/F trio) are taking exceptional care of the youngsters.
Shelly (paired with Ghost) keeps laying eggs, but they keep disappearing. I suspect they're being eaten. If they're being tossed, I sure haven't found them. She's got a cuttlebone and gets regular calcium supplements, so who knows. (?)
And that's the news for today! :-)
Monday, May 28, 2012
Not Gonna Hold My Breath, But ...
... Whisper and Alfalfa have at least one viable egg! Alfalfa is my crested male, so I'm hoping like crazy to get some crested youngsters from him. :-) Whisper is a white female, and has successfully raised a clutch in the past. Alfalfa is, to the best of my knowledge, a new parent. I'm watching them as closely as I can. So far, so good, but at the first sign of any problem, I plan to move the eggs to my societies so that hopefully I don't lose it/them.
I just love seeing a little heartbeat! :-)
According to the zebra finch genetics calculator, there's about a 50/50 chance of a youngster being crested, so, in theory, half the clutch should be crested, if I'm reading it right. :-)
http://zebrafinch.info/colours/genex.asp#
I just love seeing a little heartbeat! :-)
According to the zebra finch genetics calculator, there's about a 50/50 chance of a youngster being crested, so, in theory, half the clutch should be crested, if I'm reading it right. :-)
http://zebrafinch.info/colours/genex.asp#
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Baby Pics
Below: Cloud and Domino's two youngsters, and Cloud. They'd just woken up. One was still half-asleep on the perch. :-)
Below: The two society babies from the top cage in the bird room. One of these is the one that's missing a foot thanks to the so-called "bird safe" nesting materials. They're close to fledging, so I had to be careful snapping a quick photo. It came out blurry, but I didn't want to startle them. :-)
Below: The two society babies from the top cage in the bird room. One of these is the one that's missing a foot thanks to the so-called "bird safe" nesting materials. They're close to fledging, so I had to be careful snapping a quick photo. It came out blurry, but I didn't want to startle them. :-)
Had To Move Domino
Yep, I ended up moving Domino. He was still being a little monster toward Cloud, hissing at her and chasing her all over the cage, even with the additional space. I slipped the divider back into the cage long enough to catch Domino in the net, with Cloud and the youngsters on the other side of the divider, then moved him in with Tangerine. Then I took the divider back out, opening the full cage up again. Cloud should continue caring for the two youngsters. I tried to move him as quickly and quietly as possible. :-)
Tangerine and Domino didn't seem to know what to think of each other. LOL! Tangerine's a little spitfire herself, so perhaps they'll make a good pair. Or WW3 will break out. ;-)
Zebra finches: gotta love 'em! >rolleyes< ;-)
Tangerine and Domino didn't seem to know what to think of each other. LOL! Tangerine's a little spitfire herself, so perhaps they'll make a good pair. Or WW3 will break out. ;-)
Zebra finches: gotta love 'em! >rolleyes< ;-)
Friday, May 25, 2012
Yes! Two Foster Babies! :-D
I was able to peek into the M/M foster society nest enough to see that there are indeed two zebra chicks! Woo hoo! :-D They are Frostie and Streak's eggs ... the ones they abandoned and were ice cold when I found them. It looks like they didn't stay cold for a long enough time that it hurt the chicks. Got lucky on that one! :-) I can just barely make out the sounds of them peeping for food. They'll get louder as they grow. The foster dads are taking excellent care of them so far. :-)
Here are a couple of (rather lousy) photos. You can just barely make out the babies underneath. I didn't want to disturb them too much. :-)
Here are a couple of (rather lousy) photos. You can just barely make out the babies underneath. I didn't want to disturb them too much. :-)
Two (I Think!) Hatchlings!
One of my M/M foster society pairs has (I believe) 2 hatchlings! They flat refuse to let me even peek, so I'll have to wait a few days to be sure how many there are. The biological parents are Frostie and Streak (zebra finches). Note to self: These are on the left-hand side of the cage.
My other M/M foster society pair is incubating zebra eggs, but they also refuse to let me peek. I'll check again later. I hope those eggs are good, because the parents are Sunset and Sugar. Sunset passed away a few days ago, and they hadn't yet started incubating the eggs. Sugar showed no interest in the eggs after that, so I moved them to the societies. Note to self: These are on the right-hand side of the cage.
And the M/M/M society trio is also incubating some zebra eggs, but it appears that only one is good. The others were infertile and DIS. If the remaining egg hatches, I hope they care for the single chick.
(All of the above societies are in my craft room.)
The society babies in my bird room are all doing fine. The oldest pair should be fledging soon. The youngest, a single chick, has a bit more growing to do. It's got solid white wings, and its head is as bald as Captain Picard's. LOL! :-)
My other M/M foster society pair is incubating zebra eggs, but they also refuse to let me peek. I'll check again later. I hope those eggs are good, because the parents are Sunset and Sugar. Sunset passed away a few days ago, and they hadn't yet started incubating the eggs. Sugar showed no interest in the eggs after that, so I moved them to the societies. Note to self: These are on the right-hand side of the cage.
And the M/M/M society trio is also incubating some zebra eggs, but it appears that only one is good. The others were infertile and DIS. If the remaining egg hatches, I hope they care for the single chick.
(All of the above societies are in my craft room.)
The society babies in my bird room are all doing fine. The oldest pair should be fledging soon. The youngest, a single chick, has a bit more growing to do. It's got solid white wings, and its head is as bald as Captain Picard's. LOL! :-)
Another Plucky Dad!
Domino (the father of the two just-fledged chicks) is being fussy and plucky towards his mate, Cloud. Sigh! Luckily I caught him in the act before any serious bickering had started. The cage divider was still in place from where I temporarily had another pair in the same 30" cage, so I tried to put him on the other side of the divider. He'd have none of THAT! He pitched a royal hissy fit, trying to get back to their chicks. So, instead of separating them, I just pulled the cage divider out completely, and opened the full length of the cage up to give them all more space. I'd planned to do that anyway as soon as the chicks fledged, so it worked out well as far as the timing. I just didn't want to make any big changes while the chicks were still in the nest for fear of abandonment.
I added another perch and a ladder so the chicks can have an intermediate landing spot between the floor and the regular perches. Their navigation systems (LOL!) are still clumsy. They know where they want to go, but have trouble landing in the exact spot where they want to be. They'll get the hang of it VERY quickly, though, usually within 24-48 hours. :-) Newly-fledged babies are so fun to watch. I also added an extra food and water cup, and put a piece of spray millet on the floor to tempt the chicks into learning to eat on their own. Spray millet is almost like candy as far as birds are concerned. :-)
Hopefully Domino will stop making a pest of himself now that they have extra room. Apparently he wants "his" chicks all to himself! ;-) I'm keeping a close eye on him. Usually the dads want the youngsters gone so they can start a new clutch with the mom. Hopefully he won't start plucking the chicks while we're asleep later.
I added another perch and a ladder so the chicks can have an intermediate landing spot between the floor and the regular perches. Their navigation systems (LOL!) are still clumsy. They know where they want to go, but have trouble landing in the exact spot where they want to be. They'll get the hang of it VERY quickly, though, usually within 24-48 hours. :-) Newly-fledged babies are so fun to watch. I also added an extra food and water cup, and put a piece of spray millet on the floor to tempt the chicks into learning to eat on their own. Spray millet is almost like candy as far as birds are concerned. :-)
Hopefully Domino will stop making a pest of himself now that they have extra room. Apparently he wants "his" chicks all to himself! ;-) I'm keeping a close eye on him. Usually the dads want the youngsters gone so they can start a new clutch with the mom. Hopefully he won't start plucking the chicks while we're asleep later.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Two Fledglings!
One of Domino and Cloud's two chicks fledged today! It's definitely a black cheek like its dad. :-) (Sorry for the lousy photos. The only camera I had with me is my cell phone's camera.)
I noticed that its foot/leg looks a little strange in the photo, so I went back and checked to make sure it was okay. It's fine. I guess it's just the way it was standing. It may have had its foot below the cage grate. After a few hours of practice, they learn how to stand on the perches and grate. They're pretty clumsy at first, but they can fly surprisingly well! A little kamikaze-style, but it works! LOL! :-)
Just before I went into the bird room to check on the above chick's foot, the other chick had fledged. :-) I didn't have a camera with me at all this time, so I'll have to get a photo of the other youngster later. It's a black cheek as well, and has larger cheeks than the first fledgling. Perhaps one is male and one is female! :-)
My society foster pairs/trios are on 2-3 viable zebra finch eggs. We'll see how it goes. :-)
I noticed that its foot/leg looks a little strange in the photo, so I went back and checked to make sure it was okay. It's fine. I guess it's just the way it was standing. It may have had its foot below the cage grate. After a few hours of practice, they learn how to stand on the perches and grate. They're pretty clumsy at first, but they can fly surprisingly well! A little kamikaze-style, but it works! LOL! :-)
Just before I went into the bird room to check on the above chick's foot, the other chick had fledged. :-) I didn't have a camera with me at all this time, so I'll have to get a photo of the other youngster later. It's a black cheek as well, and has larger cheeks than the first fledgling. Perhaps one is male and one is female! :-)
My society foster pairs/trios are on 2-3 viable zebra finch eggs. We'll see how it goes. :-)
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
DIS :-(
The two previously-viable eggs that my societies were fostering didn't make it. I candled both, and they're DIS (dead in shell). I'm not sure what happened. I don't think it was anything the societies did wrong. I left the eggs in place for now, still being incubated, in case the societies are needed in the next few days for additional fostering. If not, I'll remove the eggs and give them a break. :-)
Sprinkles and Breeze did have several eggs that they were ignoring, but they've tossed all but one. I candled it, and it was infertile. They're pretty young; that's typical.
I also checked Frostie and Streak's nest this morning, and found that they had 2 (out of 4) viable eggs, but the eggs were ice cold. I didn't see a heartbeat in either egg, so I don't know if there's any chance of them making it at this point, but I moved them under my newly-incubating society pair (M/M) since Frostie and Streak had obviously stopped incubating. I wish I knew their ages, but I bought both of them, and neither seller was able to provide their ages. They abandoned their last clutch of eggs too, so it's very possible that they're getting on up in age and no longer want to fool with chicks.
Still waiting a few more days before candling the M/M/M society trio's foster eggs to make sure they should be showing one way or the other if they're viable or not.
I may re-pair Kristy (crested zebra) and Blackie. They've had time to bond, but they seem indifferent to each other ... even a little fussy sometimes. She sleeps on the far side of the cage from where he is, so there's obviously not a lot of love in the air. ;-)
Oh, and Shelly and Ghost (my "senior citizen" pair) have an egg. The last few times I tried to breed Shelly, she just dropped the eggs all over the bottom of the cage rather than laying them in the nest. That was several months ago, and she pretty much stopped laying eggs after that. But this time she put the egg right in the nest, so perhaps the two "oldsters" decided to raise a clutch of chicks after all. Given their ages, there's a good chance that the egg(s) will be infertile, but we'll see how it goes. :-)
Sprinkles and Breeze did have several eggs that they were ignoring, but they've tossed all but one. I candled it, and it was infertile. They're pretty young; that's typical.
I also checked Frostie and Streak's nest this morning, and found that they had 2 (out of 4) viable eggs, but the eggs were ice cold. I didn't see a heartbeat in either egg, so I don't know if there's any chance of them making it at this point, but I moved them under my newly-incubating society pair (M/M) since Frostie and Streak had obviously stopped incubating. I wish I knew their ages, but I bought both of them, and neither seller was able to provide their ages. They abandoned their last clutch of eggs too, so it's very possible that they're getting on up in age and no longer want to fool with chicks.
Still waiting a few more days before candling the M/M/M society trio's foster eggs to make sure they should be showing one way or the other if they're viable or not.
I may re-pair Kristy (crested zebra) and Blackie. They've had time to bond, but they seem indifferent to each other ... even a little fussy sometimes. She sleeps on the far side of the cage from where he is, so there's obviously not a lot of love in the air. ;-)
Oh, and Shelly and Ghost (my "senior citizen" pair) have an egg. The last few times I tried to breed Shelly, she just dropped the eggs all over the bottom of the cage rather than laying them in the nest. That was several months ago, and she pretty much stopped laying eggs after that. But this time she put the egg right in the nest, so perhaps the two "oldsters" decided to raise a clutch of chicks after all. Given their ages, there's a good chance that the egg(s) will be infertile, but we'll see how it goes. :-)
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Cloud and Domino's Baby Is Doing Fine :-)
I'm happy to report that Cloud and Domino's baby -- the one I found with its leg stuck in the vent hole of the nest box -- is doing fine, and so is its sibling. The parents didn't get upset that I had to alter their nest a little and replace some of the nesting materials. :-)
So far both babies are dark-colored, so they'll probably look a lot like their dad, who's a black-cheek normal gray. (The mom is white in color.)
Still no hatchlings under my M/M society pair. I haven't candled the eggs again as of yet, but two of the eggs were viable last time I checked. They're not overdue yet, so I'll give them a few more days and see what happens.
My non-incubating M/M pair seems to have FINALLY started sitting on the fake eggs. I'll keep an eye on them for a day or two longer to make sure they're REALLY incubating, and if they are, Breeze and Sprinkles (zebra finches) have several eggs that they're ignoring.
And my M/M/M society trio is still incubating the zebra eggs I put under them a few days ago. I haven't candled them yet since it's probably too soon to tell anything.
So far both babies are dark-colored, so they'll probably look a lot like their dad, who's a black-cheek normal gray. (The mom is white in color.)
Still no hatchlings under my M/M society pair. I haven't candled the eggs again as of yet, but two of the eggs were viable last time I checked. They're not overdue yet, so I'll give them a few more days and see what happens.
My non-incubating M/M pair seems to have FINALLY started sitting on the fake eggs. I'll keep an eye on them for a day or two longer to make sure they're REALLY incubating, and if they are, Breeze and Sprinkles (zebra finches) have several eggs that they're ignoring.
And my M/M/M society trio is still incubating the zebra eggs I put under them a few days ago. I haven't candled them yet since it's probably too soon to tell anything.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Predicaments!
I'm beginning to think my bird room is jinxed or something. Lately it's been one predicament after another! I'm officially proclaiming, "Enough Already!!!" ;-)
Predicament #1 (this past weekend)
There are currently 20ish occupied cages in my bird room, and every day I check over each cage while I feed and water the birds, replacing cuttlebones as needed, fixing perches that may have fallen, etc. Well, I finished up the first wall of cages, and went to work on the next wall, where the crested male's cage is. I was shocked to find him dangling by his leg! He'd somehow managed to get his band hung between the cuttlebone holder and one of the cage wires. There was blood everywhere. I thought he was a goner, but he suddenly he fluttered. I got him unhung, and checked him to see exactly what was wrong. In his struggles, he'd pulled his band about halfway down his foot, squishing his toes together, and he'd injured his wing from fluttering around. The blood was from his wing, but thankfully it looked much worse than it actually was. I tried to push the band back up onto his leg, but it wouldn't budge. The band is a closed breeder band, so there was no way to take it off. Now what? Ack!!! I decided that perhaps putting his foot into some cool water might help. Maybe it would make his foot and leg slippery, as well as make his slightly-swollen foot shrink a bit. It worked! The band slid right back up into place. MAJOR WHEW!!! I gave him some NV Powder in his water and a heat lamp, and by the next day, he was relatively fine. I imagine he's a bit sore, still. His mate was soooo sweet to him, cuddling up, preening him, and trying to help him feel better. I hope this is the last "adventure" we have with him for awhile! LOL! (He's one of the birds that escaped at the bird fair. Did I write about that? I can't remember. If I didn't, I'll do so soon.)
Predicament #2 (today)
I was just in the bird room a few minutes ago, turning the lights on and doing a quick food/water check. Cloud and Domino hopped out of their nest when I opened the door, so I peeked in and checked on their two youngsters while they were out of the nest. One of the youngsters was laying on its side which is strange at their age. I didn't think a whole lot about it, but after I checked on the other birds, I peeked back at the sideways youngster, who was still on its side. Something just wasn't right.
I removed the nest box from the cage, and immediately saw the problem. The parent birds had "wallowed" around in the box so much that they'd pushed the nesting materials out of the center leaving about 1/2" circle of the plastic box exposed. Normally that little bit of exposure wouldn't be a huge deal, but the baby had managed to get its leg caught in the vent opening in the plastic box. That's why it was laying on its side. It was stuck all the way to its thigh! I gently pulled his leg back through, and put more nesting materials in the box to cover the vent hole up (not enough to block the circulation, but enough to keep the babies' legs from falling through. The baby seemed a little disoriented at first, but seemed better after a couple of minutes. I left the room so the parents could feed them (they were anxiously waiting on their babies to be brought back!), but I'll check on them again in a little while. That was an Abba nest box, too ... the "Cadillac" of nest boxes! I'll have to come up with something a little more permanent, but breathable, that the birds can't "wallow" out of place.
Predicament #3 - (March 30 and April 1)
What a weekend! We went to the little bird fair in Chattanooga on Saturday morning. I needed 3 female zebras to pair up with 3 of my males, another 30" cage, and some various supplies. Shopping list in hand, off we went.
I selected 3 female zebras right off the bat. The vendor put them into a wire carrier and twist-tied the door closed. We bought the rest of the stuff we needed, then at the last table, I spotted not one but TWO crested zebras! I've been looking for cresteds for a year now! YIPPEE!!! And for just $10 each, close-banded. DOUBLE YIPPEE!!!
The vendor captured the female crested first, and put her into the wire carrier along with the other zebra females from the first vendor. Then he captured the male, put it into the carrier, and fastened the twist-tie back so that the door couldn't accidentally come open. Well, I don't know if it didn't get fastened correctly, or if it came undone somehow, but as we started to pay for the two cresteds, I looked down and to my horror, my birds were escaping!!! Both of my precious cresteds were gone, along with one of the female zebras from the first vendor. I was so, so disappointed, especially since the building is actually a sports arena with VERY high ceilings (probably 30'-40' high). We could see them flying around, but there was no way to catch them.
Suddenly the female crested flew back down and landed on the table besides us. Together, we and the vendor cornered her, and managed to catch her. YES! One down, two to go.
We waited and waited, but the other two didn't come back. Finally we had to leave (we're on a 3rd shift schedule and were already 3 hours late going to bed). We asked how much we owed, and it was $10 for the female crested. The vendor we bought the crested(s) from wasn't going to be there on Sunday, but all the other vendors said they'd be on the lookout for the remaining two escaped birds, and would call us if they were able to catch them.
We went home and got some sleep. No phone call. :-(
We hadn't intended to go back on Sunday, but thought we better, just in case they'd lost our number or something.
We got there, and were disappointed to hear that the birds hadn't turned back up. The doors to the fair are open most of the time, so most likely the birds found their way out.
I picked up a few more supplies while we were there. Some items had been discounted since it was the last day of the fair, so I saved a bit of money.
Then we went back home. We'd just laid down to go to bed, and the phone rang. It was one of the bird fair vendors. They'd caught the male crested! It landed on the table of the cage vendor, and they managed to catch it. They immediately gave it food and water, and it ate like a little piggy.
Robert threw his clothes on and hurried back to pick the little guy up. Robert normally doesn't care for cresteds, but thinks this one is adorable. (He paid one of the vendors for him, and they're going to pass the money along to the original vendor.)
So after a year of searching and a major mishap, I finally have two cresteds. YAY!
The little female from the first vendor never turned back up. I hope she at least made it outside where she might have a slight chance of survival, instead of being stuck in the huge empty building with no food or water.
Predicament #4 (April 1)
I bought some female societies, to pair up with some of my males. I'd bought 10 unsexed societies at the bird fair in Atlanta last time, and although you'd think roughly half would be male and the other half would be female, NINE of the ten turned out to be male. Gee!
The new female societies needed their toenails trimmed badly, plus I wanted to band them, so I started doing so when I got them home. On the very last one, I went to trim her toenails (DH was holding her), and I had the excess length in the clippers. Just as I was pressing the clippers, she suddenly jumped, and a second toenail managed to get inside the clippers just as they closed. It happened in just a split second. The second toenail got cut clean down to the toe, and blood was pouring everywhere! I FLEW to the kitchen to get some flour, and managed to stop the bleeding. WHEW. Both she and Robert's hand were covered in blood by the time it was over with. I felt so horrible! :-( I gave her some NV Powder just in case, and left her in the cage by herself to recuperate. This evening she seems no worse for the wear. :-) We moved her in with the other new societies a little while ago so she'd have some buddies. What a way to welcome her home, huh? Poor little thing.
Predicament #5 (around May 6)
One of my society babies got its foot tangled up in the nesting materials. I normally use paper towels for this very reason, but bought some fibers specifically for birds at the bird fair, figuring the parents would like to build their own nests (at least partially). No problem, right? Well, these fibers are NOT safe for birds after all. By the time I found the problem, the baby's foot had already had the circulation cut off for too long and it eventually lost its foot. Grrr! It'll adapt ... birds are very good at that, and it's doing fine ... but it's so unfair to the little guy/girl. The package the nesting materials came in was just a plain plastic bag, so I don't know who manufactured/packaged it, and I don't know the seller's name, but they've been at several bird fairs. You better believe I'll be having a discussion with them if they're at the next fair! :-/ This isn't the first time I've had problems with "made-for-birds" products, either. It seems that the things I make for my birds are so much safer! I'll be trusting my own instincts and my own self better from now on.
No more predicaments!!! Sigh!!! ;-)
Predicament #1 (this past weekend)
There are currently 20ish occupied cages in my bird room, and every day I check over each cage while I feed and water the birds, replacing cuttlebones as needed, fixing perches that may have fallen, etc. Well, I finished up the first wall of cages, and went to work on the next wall, where the crested male's cage is. I was shocked to find him dangling by his leg! He'd somehow managed to get his band hung between the cuttlebone holder and one of the cage wires. There was blood everywhere. I thought he was a goner, but he suddenly he fluttered. I got him unhung, and checked him to see exactly what was wrong. In his struggles, he'd pulled his band about halfway down his foot, squishing his toes together, and he'd injured his wing from fluttering around. The blood was from his wing, but thankfully it looked much worse than it actually was. I tried to push the band back up onto his leg, but it wouldn't budge. The band is a closed breeder band, so there was no way to take it off. Now what? Ack!!! I decided that perhaps putting his foot into some cool water might help. Maybe it would make his foot and leg slippery, as well as make his slightly-swollen foot shrink a bit. It worked! The band slid right back up into place. MAJOR WHEW!!! I gave him some NV Powder in his water and a heat lamp, and by the next day, he was relatively fine. I imagine he's a bit sore, still. His mate was soooo sweet to him, cuddling up, preening him, and trying to help him feel better. I hope this is the last "adventure" we have with him for awhile! LOL! (He's one of the birds that escaped at the bird fair. Did I write about that? I can't remember. If I didn't, I'll do so soon.)
Predicament #2 (today)
I was just in the bird room a few minutes ago, turning the lights on and doing a quick food/water check. Cloud and Domino hopped out of their nest when I opened the door, so I peeked in and checked on their two youngsters while they were out of the nest. One of the youngsters was laying on its side which is strange at their age. I didn't think a whole lot about it, but after I checked on the other birds, I peeked back at the sideways youngster, who was still on its side. Something just wasn't right.
I removed the nest box from the cage, and immediately saw the problem. The parent birds had "wallowed" around in the box so much that they'd pushed the nesting materials out of the center leaving about 1/2" circle of the plastic box exposed. Normally that little bit of exposure wouldn't be a huge deal, but the baby had managed to get its leg caught in the vent opening in the plastic box. That's why it was laying on its side. It was stuck all the way to its thigh! I gently pulled his leg back through, and put more nesting materials in the box to cover the vent hole up (not enough to block the circulation, but enough to keep the babies' legs from falling through. The baby seemed a little disoriented at first, but seemed better after a couple of minutes. I left the room so the parents could feed them (they were anxiously waiting on their babies to be brought back!), but I'll check on them again in a little while. That was an Abba nest box, too ... the "Cadillac" of nest boxes! I'll have to come up with something a little more permanent, but breathable, that the birds can't "wallow" out of place.
Predicament #3 - (March 30 and April 1)
What a weekend! We went to the little bird fair in Chattanooga on Saturday morning. I needed 3 female zebras to pair up with 3 of my males, another 30" cage, and some various supplies. Shopping list in hand, off we went.
I selected 3 female zebras right off the bat. The vendor put them into a wire carrier and twist-tied the door closed. We bought the rest of the stuff we needed, then at the last table, I spotted not one but TWO crested zebras! I've been looking for cresteds for a year now! YIPPEE!!! And for just $10 each, close-banded. DOUBLE YIPPEE!!!
The vendor captured the female crested first, and put her into the wire carrier along with the other zebra females from the first vendor. Then he captured the male, put it into the carrier, and fastened the twist-tie back so that the door couldn't accidentally come open. Well, I don't know if it didn't get fastened correctly, or if it came undone somehow, but as we started to pay for the two cresteds, I looked down and to my horror, my birds were escaping!!! Both of my precious cresteds were gone, along with one of the female zebras from the first vendor. I was so, so disappointed, especially since the building is actually a sports arena with VERY high ceilings (probably 30'-40' high). We could see them flying around, but there was no way to catch them.
Suddenly the female crested flew back down and landed on the table besides us. Together, we and the vendor cornered her, and managed to catch her. YES! One down, two to go.
We waited and waited, but the other two didn't come back. Finally we had to leave (we're on a 3rd shift schedule and were already 3 hours late going to bed). We asked how much we owed, and it was $10 for the female crested. The vendor we bought the crested(s) from wasn't going to be there on Sunday, but all the other vendors said they'd be on the lookout for the remaining two escaped birds, and would call us if they were able to catch them.
We went home and got some sleep. No phone call. :-(
We hadn't intended to go back on Sunday, but thought we better, just in case they'd lost our number or something.
We got there, and were disappointed to hear that the birds hadn't turned back up. The doors to the fair are open most of the time, so most likely the birds found their way out.
I picked up a few more supplies while we were there. Some items had been discounted since it was the last day of the fair, so I saved a bit of money.
Then we went back home. We'd just laid down to go to bed, and the phone rang. It was one of the bird fair vendors. They'd caught the male crested! It landed on the table of the cage vendor, and they managed to catch it. They immediately gave it food and water, and it ate like a little piggy.
Robert threw his clothes on and hurried back to pick the little guy up. Robert normally doesn't care for cresteds, but thinks this one is adorable. (He paid one of the vendors for him, and they're going to pass the money along to the original vendor.)
So after a year of searching and a major mishap, I finally have two cresteds. YAY!
The little female from the first vendor never turned back up. I hope she at least made it outside where she might have a slight chance of survival, instead of being stuck in the huge empty building with no food or water.
Predicament #4 (April 1)
I bought some female societies, to pair up with some of my males. I'd bought 10 unsexed societies at the bird fair in Atlanta last time, and although you'd think roughly half would be male and the other half would be female, NINE of the ten turned out to be male. Gee!
The new female societies needed their toenails trimmed badly, plus I wanted to band them, so I started doing so when I got them home. On the very last one, I went to trim her toenails (DH was holding her), and I had the excess length in the clippers. Just as I was pressing the clippers, she suddenly jumped, and a second toenail managed to get inside the clippers just as they closed. It happened in just a split second. The second toenail got cut clean down to the toe, and blood was pouring everywhere! I FLEW to the kitchen to get some flour, and managed to stop the bleeding. WHEW. Both she and Robert's hand were covered in blood by the time it was over with. I felt so horrible! :-( I gave her some NV Powder just in case, and left her in the cage by herself to recuperate. This evening she seems no worse for the wear. :-) We moved her in with the other new societies a little while ago so she'd have some buddies. What a way to welcome her home, huh? Poor little thing.
Predicament #5 (around May 6)
One of my society babies got its foot tangled up in the nesting materials. I normally use paper towels for this very reason, but bought some fibers specifically for birds at the bird fair, figuring the parents would like to build their own nests (at least partially). No problem, right? Well, these fibers are NOT safe for birds after all. By the time I found the problem, the baby's foot had already had the circulation cut off for too long and it eventually lost its foot. Grrr! It'll adapt ... birds are very good at that, and it's doing fine ... but it's so unfair to the little guy/girl. The package the nesting materials came in was just a plain plastic bag, so I don't know who manufactured/packaged it, and I don't know the seller's name, but they've been at several bird fairs. You better believe I'll be having a discussion with them if they're at the next fair! :-/ This isn't the first time I've had problems with "made-for-birds" products, either. It seems that the things I make for my birds are so much safer! I'll be trusting my own instincts and my own self better from now on.
No more predicaments!!! Sigh!!! ;-)
Nothing Yet!
I just peeked into the M/M society (foster) nest. No hatchlings yet. I didn't candle the eggs, but hopefully they're still okay. The foster dads are incubating their little hearts out. :-)
Sandy, one of my zebra finch females, became eggbound over the weekend. With some extra calcium and some heat, she was finally able to pass the egg. Since I had to move her around in order to get the heat lamp on her, I figured she'd most likely abandon the eggs in the nest, so I went ahead and moved the eggs to my M/M/M societies. Didn't want to take any chances. It's too soon to tell if they're viable, but I know for sure that they've mated (and mated and mated and mated!), so I figured the foster societies would be the eggs' best chance for survival (assuming they're viable). I replaced Sandy's eggs with known-dud eggs so she wouldn't know I "stole" her eggs. :-)
It's interesting that 2 of the 3 females I bought at the bird fair ... both from the same vendor ... have become eggbound ... one fatally. :-( The third female is one that escaped from the carrier, so I don't know if she would've had eggbinding problems or not. Maybe it's just a coincidence. The crested hen I bought from Mr. Barnett is doing fine, as are all my other hens, so I don't think it could be an issue of calcium deficiency. (They're given calcium supplements and eggbread 1-4 times a week depending on whether they're laying eggs, plus they've got cuttlebones available 24/7.)
Interesting, to say the least. :-/
Sandy, one of my zebra finch females, became eggbound over the weekend. With some extra calcium and some heat, she was finally able to pass the egg. Since I had to move her around in order to get the heat lamp on her, I figured she'd most likely abandon the eggs in the nest, so I went ahead and moved the eggs to my M/M/M societies. Didn't want to take any chances. It's too soon to tell if they're viable, but I know for sure that they've mated (and mated and mated and mated!), so I figured the foster societies would be the eggs' best chance for survival (assuming they're viable). I replaced Sandy's eggs with known-dud eggs so she wouldn't know I "stole" her eggs. :-)
It's interesting that 2 of the 3 females I bought at the bird fair ... both from the same vendor ... have become eggbound ... one fatally. :-( The third female is one that escaped from the carrier, so I don't know if she would've had eggbinding problems or not. Maybe it's just a coincidence. The crested hen I bought from Mr. Barnett is doing fine, as are all my other hens, so I don't think it could be an issue of calcium deficiency. (They're given calcium supplements and eggbread 1-4 times a week depending on whether they're laying eggs, plus they've got cuttlebones available 24/7.)
Interesting, to say the least. :-/
Friday, May 11, 2012
Tossling :-(
Pearl and Smudge tossed their single hatchling. It was too late when I found it. :-( It's fairly common for parents to not want to expend the time and energy to raise a single baby, so perhaps they'll have another clutch soon.
Cloud and Domino's two youngsters are growing like weeds. :-)
Cloud and Domino's two youngsters are growing like weeds. :-)
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Two Viable Foster Eggs!
I just candled the zebra finch eggs that a M/M pair of my societies are fostering, and two of the eggs are viable! :-D I got to see something I'd never seen before: one of the chicks actually moving around inside the egg. That was TOO COOL! :-) The two viable eggs belong to Bambi & Bagel (marked "BB") and to Whisper & Creamsicle (marked with a dot). One of the eggs has a tiny indention in it. It's not a hole per se', but I'm a little concerned about it.
I probably won't candle them again since the primary foster dad (the one who's been doing the most incubating) got a little annoyed with me. That's a good sign, though, that he's more likely to take excellent care of the chicks. :-)
If everything goes well, a couple of little zebra chicks should be hatching in about a week! :-D
I probably won't candle them again since the primary foster dad (the one who's been doing the most incubating) got a little annoyed with me. That's a good sign, though, that he's more likely to take excellent care of the chicks. :-)
If everything goes well, a couple of little zebra chicks should be hatching in about a week! :-D
Some New Photos
Above: Onyx (L) and her youngster, Diamond (R), who fledged a few days ago. Smudge is the dad, but I had to move him to a different cage because he started plucking Diamond.
Above: Powder, who's almost regrown all of her feathers after her dad heavily plucked her and her brother. She's quickly becoming a lovely little lady!
Above: Wocka, our red factor canary. He's actually a brighter color in person. The light behind him made the photo look washed out.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
May 9 Update
Cloud and Domino tossed one of the chicks, but the other two are still doing fine. It's not surprising, especially considering they're first-time parents. Many, if not most, finches make mistakes at first, but letting them try is the only way they'll learn to care for their youngsters. I often try to pair a new parent with an experienced parent so the new one can be "shown the ropes", but in this case, Cloud and Domino quickly bonded ... head over tail feathers for each other ... so I left them together.
Pearl and Smudge's single youngster is doing fine, as are the society babies. One of the society moms is SUPER-protective of her nest, and has a royal fit if anyone gets too close. She "allows" me to give them fresh food and water, but still sits in the nest and glares at me the whole time. LOL! I'd much rather have a protective parent, of course, than one that's uninterested in the babies. :-)
We lost one of the birds we'd bought at the bird fair. She'd had problems with egg-binding ever since we brought her home, and even though we gave her a heat source and as much calcium as we could without overdosing her, she just couldn't pass those eggs. :-( It's just "one of those things". Unfortunately there's not much else one can do with a finch. Sometimes with larger birds, a vet can manually expel the egg ... a very delicate procedure that I wouldn't dare try myself ... but finches are so small that it would be difficult if not impossible. :-(
Pearl and Smudge's single youngster is doing fine, as are the society babies. One of the society moms is SUPER-protective of her nest, and has a royal fit if anyone gets too close. She "allows" me to give them fresh food and water, but still sits in the nest and glares at me the whole time. LOL! I'd much rather have a protective parent, of course, than one that's uninterested in the babies. :-)
We lost one of the birds we'd bought at the bird fair. She'd had problems with egg-binding ever since we brought her home, and even though we gave her a heat source and as much calcium as we could without overdosing her, she just couldn't pass those eggs. :-( It's just "one of those things". Unfortunately there's not much else one can do with a finch. Sometimes with larger birds, a vet can manually expel the egg ... a very delicate procedure that I wouldn't dare try myself ... but finches are so small that it would be difficult if not impossible. :-(
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Adoption Day
Today is a happy and sad day. Eight of my birdies were adopted. The pintail whydahs, Ash, Echo, Quartz, Tip, Popcorn, and Winter all went to live with a family in Rossville. They have a 13-year-old autistic son, and the birds are going to be a surprise for him. It sure is hard to let them go, but there's simply no way for me to keep them ALL. The response my ad received was overwhelming, and except for the older pair on my Available For Adoption page, there's currently a wait list again. The wait time is at least 10-12 weeks at this point.
Cloud and Domino's three youngsters are all doing well. Pearl and Smudge just welcomed a new youngster into the world. Plus my society trios are caring for three youngsters too. :-)
Cloud and Domino's three youngsters are all doing well. Pearl and Smudge just welcomed a new youngster into the world. Plus my society trios are caring for three youngsters too. :-)
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Third Egg Hatched! :-)
Cloud and Domino's third egg hatched! That's 3 for 3, which is outstanding for first-time parents. All are doing well so far, and hopefully will continue to do so. The chicks are pink with white fuzzies. I can't wait to see what they look like when they're grown. Cloud is white, and Domino is a black-cheek. :-)
Blackie and Quartz are being a bit fussy with each other now. I may have to re-pair them.
Blackie and Quartz are being a bit fussy with each other now. I may have to re-pair them.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Two New Zebra Finch Babies!
Two new zebra finch babies hatched yesterday, finally! I'm hoping the third egg will hatch today. The parents (Cloud and Domino) are young, and this is their very first time being parents, but so far, so good! Sometimes first-time parents don't know how properly incubate, and even if the chicks hatch, sometimes they don't understand how to feed the chicks, so there's always a chance things could go wrong. So far they've done an outstanding job. :-)
I moved Blackie in with a new mate yesterday morning since he was picking on his and Onyx's unweaned youngster, and Onyx is continuing to feed the baby. Blackie and his new mate (Quartz) aren't totally crazy about each other yet, but hopefully they'll grow on each other.
Freckles and Copper are new cagemates as well. They make a GORGEOUS pair, and they've already hit things off nicely with each other. :-)
I moved Blackie in with a new mate yesterday morning since he was picking on his and Onyx's unweaned youngster, and Onyx is continuing to feed the baby. Blackie and his new mate (Quartz) aren't totally crazy about each other yet, but hopefully they'll grow on each other.
Freckles and Copper are new cagemates as well. They make a GORGEOUS pair, and they've already hit things off nicely with each other. :-)
Thursday, May 3, 2012
3 Dud Eggs, Not Sure Yet About #4
The eggs that were damaged/shaken (?) in transit weren't viable. :-( The fourth egg appears, so far, to be infertile, but I'm letting the societies incubate it for awhile longer to be sure.
On a brighter note, one of my society trios has at least one new hatchling. They flat refuse to scoot over a smidge so I can peek, and of course I don't want to force them, so the exact number of chicks will have to remain a mystery for the time being. I know for sure that they had at least 2 viable eggs. I'm hoping for some l'il crested babies! :-)
One of my M/M society pairs is sitting on 2 viable eggs. I candled them today and was able to see the little heartbeats. :-) Both are zebra eggs, but I misplaced the paper that told me which parents they belong to. I'll have to find it. They have 5 eggs total. All were viable at one time, but one was punctured somehow, and the other two failed to develop to the "heartbeat" stage. I suspect it happened because the two societies didn't incubate consistently at first. My guess is that they incubated enough to start the development, but once they temporarily stopped incubating, the eggs got too cold and the development stopped.
Some of my zebras are on viable eggs, too. I know of at least 7 good eggs at this point. :-)
Onyx and Blackie's youngster fledged a couple of days ago. The dad will need to be removed from the cage this morning. He's started picking on the baby. I have a new mate waiting for him, though. :-)
If all goes well, I'll have several societies and zebras available for adoption soon. :-)
On a brighter note, one of my society trios has at least one new hatchling. They flat refuse to scoot over a smidge so I can peek, and of course I don't want to force them, so the exact number of chicks will have to remain a mystery for the time being. I know for sure that they had at least 2 viable eggs. I'm hoping for some l'il crested babies! :-)
One of my M/M society pairs is sitting on 2 viable eggs. I candled them today and was able to see the little heartbeats. :-) Both are zebra eggs, but I misplaced the paper that told me which parents they belong to. I'll have to find it. They have 5 eggs total. All were viable at one time, but one was punctured somehow, and the other two failed to develop to the "heartbeat" stage. I suspect it happened because the two societies didn't incubate consistently at first. My guess is that they incubated enough to start the development, but once they temporarily stopped incubating, the eggs got too cold and the development stopped.
Some of my zebras are on viable eggs, too. I know of at least 7 good eggs at this point. :-)
Onyx and Blackie's youngster fledged a couple of days ago. The dad will need to be removed from the cage this morning. He's started picking on the baby. I have a new mate waiting for him, though. :-)
If all goes well, I'll have several societies and zebras available for adoption soon. :-)
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