Fledgling #2

The second youngster (left) left the nest just now. :-)  Sorry for the blurry photo!

Fledglings, And A Better Head Count!

One of the society chicks has fledged, and the other is >thisclose<, perched on the edge of the nest, trying to gather its courage to take the Big Leap.  :-)

In the community cage, I was finally able to get a better head count of the chicks.  Looks like there are five.  I had to peek using a handheld mirror, but the chicks all look very well fed and are growing like weeds.  :-)

I Think There Are Five!

I was able to peek into the nest a little better, and I think I counted 5 little heads.  Two eggs didn't hatch, so if there are 5 chicks, 1 of the 8 eggs disappeared.  I did find an egg in the floor, so perhaps it was tossed.  The chicks are peeping already, and are definitely growing! :-)  The dad is crested, but it's much too soon to tell if any of the chicks will be.

The other two chicks are doing well, too. :-)

We Have Feathers!

Just a quick photo of Dad in the nest, and one of the babies. The other baby is behind him, but you can see its beak sticking up.  They're very differently-colored.  One baby is dark, and one is light.  Too cute!  Hopefully I can catch the parents out of the nest and get a photo of both youngsters very soon. I can't tell yet if either of them will be crested.  :-)

Dad was not at all happy with me shoving the camera in his face!  LOL!  As always, pardon the poo.

Ah, here we go.  Dad just left the nest to go eat.  :-)  So far it looks like both of them are normals, not cresteds.  Dad is a chocolate pied crested, and the two females are chocolate pied (no crests).

Edited to add:  WOO HOO!!!!!  There were 8 eggs in one of the nest boxes that didn't appear to be viable. It turns out that they were VERY close to hatching when I candled them, which is why they looked odd to me.  I just used a mirror to peek in the nest, and saw a whole mess of hatchlings!  YIPPEE!!!  I couldn't get a head count, but I know there are at least 3 wigglies that I saw, and I'm sure there are more under the parents (they were in the nest as well).  These hatchlings belong to the trio that I'd mentioned previously ... where one of the hens kept laying eggs in the floor despite having two nests to choose from.  Looks like they finally figured it out!  :-D  It's a M/F/F trio, so I don't know if one hen laid all 8 eggs, or if they both laid eggs at the same time.  Either way, welcome to the world, little pink wigglies!  :-D

Photo of the Hatchlings :-)

Little nekkid cutie patooties! :-)

Now that the new societies from the bird fair are out of quarantine, I've done some cage-rearranging.  :-)  The little bossy butt male that seems to have earned the name King now has two ladies (also from the bird fair) in the cage with him.  No fussing as of yet.  >crosses fingers<

Then I moved Kenny to the cage with the remaining four ladies from the bird fair.  He's been singing to EVERYBODY in the community cage, trying his best to find a mate.  He even "put the move" on one of the other males, who was like "Dude! Back off!"  LOL!  I'm sure he'll enjoy having a cage full of women to charm.

In the community cage, the trio that was being so protective of their nest is sitting on SIX eggs.  I haven't candled them to see if they're viable, since it's hard to get the nest out of the cage, the way it's arranged.  The others have learned to avoid that particular nest, so things are peaceful again.  :-)

At this rate, I may have quite a few youngsters very soon.  :-)

The King of the Quarantine Cage

The six newer society finches from the bird fair have just come out of quarantine (all quarantined in the same cage).  :-)  I know for sure that there is one male, and I suspect the other five are females.  The male eventually decided he was The King of the Quarantine Cage, and started bossing his little harem around, chasing them, hissing at them, etc.  He wouldn't settle down, so I just moved his little feathered fanny to a cage by himself for the time being.  I'll see which of the girls he gets along best with (trial and error - sigh!), and will move a couple of them in with him.  I know he particularly dislikes the sweet little fawn pied female with the two dots on her head.

He's singing up a storm in his own private suite!  LOL!  (He's not totally "alone".  He can see and hear the other societies in nearby cages.)

Ahhhhh ... peace! ;-)

Moving him out temporarily will allow me to see if any of the other birds in the cage start singing (males).  Sometimes shyer males won't sing in the presence of a more dominant male.

Still Just Two Chicks

The third egg still hasn't hatched.  Not sure what's going on with it, but it's past the hatch date now.  It could just be a late hatcher, but it's possible it didn't make it for some reason.

The two hatchlings are doing great, and are being well-cared-for.  I can hear them begging for food already. :-)

Still 2 Hatchlings

The 3rd egg hasn't hatched yet.  I don't want to disturb the trio to try to candle it, so we'll just have to see how it goes.  The two hatchlings are doing great.  :-)

Two Hatchlings So Far! :-)

Two of the eggs have hatched!  They're pink, wiggly, and have very protective parents! (LOL!)  There's one more egg to go. Hopefully that chick will make its appearance soon. :-)

It's been quite awhile since I've had any youngsters in the house. :-)