Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:50 am Post subject: 1st time chicks
hello all!
I have recently placed my two Kakariki' in an outdoor aviary for more freedom and frshair.
as the beginning of summer was changable I gave my female HER nest box for shelter.
assuming she was attempting her 3rd dummyrun, i allowed her the 'time up'.but she is very stubborn and protective.last friday I checked the eggs,there were nine .the first 3 were dud(which i removed) but the nxt two were a solid dull white colour ..i carefully put back as was ans left.
Saturday curiosity struck me and heypresto-1st chick
monday i checked gingerly as she is hardly ever seen to leave nest to be fed..(doesn't feed self either?)..anyhow no noise but 2nd chick
have decided to leave well alone as worried i've stressed her enough.
am little concerned as chicks are on bare box..all material is around perimeter of box..what will happen to rest of eggs as doubt any more...
will she be getting enough food ?
any advice greatly appreciated, thankyou in advance
I suggest a thorough look at the diet sub-forum, plenty of interesting info, tips and remarks about the dietary needs and preferences of this hyper-active bird.
In fact I'd suggest with no fear any newcomer to the forum to look through the whole forum. You'll get plenty of nice info that probably you never thought about and not only will cover your basic questions, but will make you wonder about things that otherwise you would never thought of.
Regarding breeding, no worries, she seems to be doing ok.
Even before the hen starts laying the cock starts feeding her. Before laying it seems to be mostly a ritual, but after she starts brooding the male feeds her non-stop. She just comes out to poo, stretch legs and maybe a bite or a drink, then goes back to brooding (she does this a couple of times/day).
When the chicks start to hatch the hen keeps on brooding the eggs still not hatched, and the male keeps feeding her, and she feeds the chicks in return.
If I'm not mistaken it's only after certain age that the male feeds the chicks directly.
As Steptoe always says make sure they have a variety of foods with fresh veggies, so the chicks are fed off a complete diet.
If you just have 2 birds it's complicated to make a "salad" for them (they don't eat that much), so maybe you can take some of the food you prepare for yourself and give a part to them.
(i.e. if you are preparing a salad and some pasta for yourself, spare a few tablespoons for them).
Thankyou so much for nice feedback, feel alittle more at ease.
regarding the age neither my two are a yr old yet and the male-the youngest.wiill she cope feeding them solely?
the male is particularly fussing when come to feed so i've been giving him lots of spinach sweetcorn, pieces of tomato ,fruit and celery.will go get apple ,pear and carrot but i know he wont eat carrot.(trying also not to have any wastage as not wanting to disturb aviary too often for cleaning.)
I will scour all posts needed as find it ALL really interesting..
Heres hoping they make it...
Flowers and leaves...cali and broccolii stems, a few potato and pumkin skines, bit of chopped up beetroot, carrrot, sprouted afla and mustard seed
a few peas, and sweet corn...and chicken chop bones, or left over steak.
List goes ion and on
if you eat healthy so will your birds.
Basically the left over scrapes from dinner and dinner preparation.
Variety and consisatacy grows big healthy chicks into big healthy adults _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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