Chick Growth Chart

[Ms_F]

Just thought I would show how quickly baby parrotlets grow.
These are Pacific parrotlets, hatched Oct. 02-Oct.09
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/fairclothdawn/GrowthChart.jpg

[memmey]

I never clicked this offering because I never thought of raising them but honestly, this is FABULOUS!!!!! Did you hatch them? My Gosh would you look how wonderful. Little babies beautiful little babies!!!!!!Please could you tell us about your experience with them?Did the Mom sit on the nest? Do you have the father? They look so healthy please please journal this so we can read PLEASE.

[candi33]

cute pics! ANd sheesh, do they EVER grow fast huh?

[Ms_F]

memmy, you asked if I had the father. Yes, and for any that are unaware/have not bred: when breeding, you need to have the male because once the hen begins to sit on her eggs she only comes out of the nest once a day. (for water & a big poop) The male feeds her throughout the day, and without him she would be forced to abandon her nest.

Now on to the story:

I purchased the mother, who is a visual blue, from a breeder who said she would not breed. This didn't bother me, because I just wanted a companion to my little 2 year old male. They were together for 11 months and she wanted nothing to do with a nest box. Then all of a sudden she was sitting inside. We checked, and sure enough there was an egg!

She ended up having 7 eggs, which we figured wouldn't hatch, because it was her first clutch. All seven hatched. Our vet was amazed. Apparently 7 is a large number for one clutch. :D She was a very good mother & the male was a very good father, often spending time in the box with mom & babies.

I did a lot of reading, and purchased a brooder. I removed the first 2 babies at 12 days old to band them. Also the nesting box was getting very crowded & the older boys were beginning to flap their wings. I learned that 12 days is to old to band. There was no way they were going on their feet at that size. (live and learn) I slowly removed the babies 2 at a time when they hit the 10-12 day mark.

Hand feeding was enjoyable, until there were 7 babies begging for food at 6 am on the week-end!;) I fed them every 4 hours from 6am-10pm. At about 5 weeks I removed the first 3 and put them in a small cage with food, millet, chopped greens & water in shallow dishes. I also continued to hand feed 3 times a day. A week later I added the rest of the chicks.

Everyone was fully weened in about 2 weeks. I continued to take them out daily, love them up & let them fly around a bit. I ended up having to clip their wings for safety, as they where every where & into every thing!

All the babies are now gone, except for the little guy I have on hold for someone till X-mas. :( My female has begun laying eggs again, but we had to remove them, because we are in the middle of moving and couldn't hand feed in the near future. And I have now learned this lesson: The female will continue to lay if you do not remove the nest box. We were waiting until she layed her 7 (removing each right away so it would not begin to develop), then were going to remove the nest box...We removed the box last week, after she had layed the 12th egg.

All in all it was a wonderful experience for both me & my husband. (I had to put my foot down or we would have ended up keeping them all;)) And if I get the time in the future, I will definitely do it again.

[memmey]

My bird is not banded and I don't know about banding ..why is it that you do that? If you had not removed the nest she would have brood after brood? What would that do to her health? So you could have p'let after p'let after p'let. How did you get them to accept each other I have read that it is not easy to add a partner. I was told that mine killed her cage mate but I have no idea if that is true because she was a rescue and I know her and don't think her capable but again I don't know. Did yours bond at once, do they bicker? I have too many questions Sorry....mem

[Ms_F]

Don't be silly, there is no such thing as to many questions! We are all here to learn & share with each other.:)
My female is banded & my male is not. It basically helps identify the breeder, and how old the bird is.

It can be hard to introduce birds when they are adults, or if they have had mates in the past. My male had never been bonded, but my female had been with another male. I introduced them on a bird "play ground". He snapped at her tail a few times, but that was it. They do bicker sometimes, and every so often when you are talking to them he will poke her in the chest. Otherwise, they are very loving with each other, clean each other & sleep cuddled up together.

As for the egg laying. It is not healthy to keep the female laying clutch after clutch. It takes a lot of calcium & other nutrients to form eggs. If the female doesn't get enough of them it comes from her bones & body tissue. Lack of calcium can also cause her to become egg bound, where she can't pass the egg, which will kill the bird.:( Cuttle bone is a very good source of calcium for your bird.
I have read that most breeders remove the nest box for a few months between clutches to let the mother recover.

[BUUZBEE]

Great info Ms F thankyou!