Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 11:31 am Post subject: Chick independence?
Hi, I have two chicks that have been out of the nest for 11 days now; when can I move them into another aviary?....they seem independent, only occasionally getting fed and not really pestering dad.
It's just that the cock bird is now having to feed the hen(still!) who laid yet more eggs in another box which was occupied! these were incubated for a while(@ 1 week) by the resident lone hen sitting on her own infertile eggs!. She shoed off by the other hen who just popped in and popped one out everyday!
Anyway, as far as more background to the saga..... after giving the lone hen the boot she took over incubating(I removed the infertile eggs); she then left the two chicks (heavily fledged at this stage) in her original box to be fed by dad.
Presently, it looks looked like she has 5 chicks?, bit hard to tell....just a tangle of pink with all their necks platted around each other!.
The lone hen needs moving( dad doesn't need the extra chore of keeping her on the move!), and need to move the 2 chicks as well....leaving the parents to get on with rearing the 5? chicks; 2 new vacant aviarys/flights alongside the one containing a soap-opera shambles.
Who should I move where and when?. Should the chicks be directly alongside?, or put in a buffer of the lone hen?.
This is what Kakariki do..
mum lays eggs sits and hatch, Dad feeds her and chicks
About when the pin feathers appear Mum goes off to lay in another nest and sit
Dad carries on feeding chicks and mum in new nest
1st lot come out of the nest, about 10 days to 2 weeks before the isis devalopes.
At this stage they are feeding themselves but Dad also feeds them, Mum and possibly the newly hatched 3rd batch.
Once the iris is devaloped the chicks are wearned and removed as this can cause problems in the nest.
(if they appear out of the nest before this the nesting boxes are too shallow)
About the time the chicks come out of the nest the new batch are nearly ready to devalope their pin feathers, An Mum then heads back to the old nest to lay again....and so on... _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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