|
Post by silascrutherton on Mar 26, 2018 20:07:52 GMT
Well, we're still working on an idea of lowering the nest without disturbing things too much...not sure what we're going to get there. As a clarification, are you saying I should wait until the hatch to lower it? It would be very invasive if I were to try to lower it right now. We are waiting for chicks. They could start arriving as early as tomorrow, I think, and by Saturday at the latest. If I'm counting things correctly.
|
|
|
Post by Hezz on Mar 26, 2018 20:16:55 GMT
I would wait. The entry hole is not at floor level, the chicks will not fall out immediately they start moving around.
|
|
|
Post by silascrutherton on Mar 26, 2018 21:13:39 GMT
Awesome, that what I would have thought. Thanks again - I will keep you posted as anything happens, or doesn't...
|
|
|
Post by silascrutherton on Mar 27, 2018 19:25:08 GMT
OK...so I have no images yet...but I was just informed that there is some little plaintive cheeping coming from the cozy. They are arriving!!!
Updates to come...
|
|
|
Post by Hezz on Mar 27, 2018 19:30:58 GMT
Exciting times ahead.
|
|
|
Post by clt80 on Mar 27, 2018 20:06:00 GMT
Very heart warming. Looking forward to seeing the chicks in due course.
|
|
|
Post by silascrutherton on Mar 30, 2018 14:59:08 GMT
We've got two little ones hatched now. HOLY COW they are tiny. Such little voices as well.
Still waiting on the last little one...
|
|
|
Post by silascrutherton on Mar 30, 2018 17:21:39 GMT
OK - so here is what we are currently planning...
Right now the cozy is suspended over a perch. We want to go in and remove the perch today.
Tomorrow (or Sunday, or another day soon) I want to lower the cozy. I still can't really figure out how we can incrementally lower it. How disruptive would it be if we just quickly lowered it with Zeke and the babies in the cozy? It is suspended from the top of the cage by two little clips. We could quietly and softly loosen the clips - honestly with the way it is built it would still be safe. And then, later on, with Zeke in the cozy, just quickly lower it to the ground.
How dangerous (for the babes that is) would this be? I know nobody can really tell me what little Zeke is thinking, but is this too risky to do? Would Zeke panic and ignore the babes?
Thoughts anyone?
|
|
|
Post by Hezz on Mar 31, 2018 1:02:21 GMT
Firstly congrat on the two chicks .... I think slowly rather than anything quickly - if she feels the hut moving, she will shoot out and that's only natural. If you could tie some rope/string/twine onto both of the clips and once you have unclipped the hut then perhaps ever so gently and slowly lower it towards the floor. If you could put a small box in for the hut to sit on, so that it is not right on the floor of the cage .. I think Zeke would prefer that - being up a little but not so far up that the chicks are at risk. May be a plastic container turned over. It needs to be something solid and stable so that the hut doesn't move around on it, so nothing too slippery or rounded. Then reposition your perch so that Zeke can go in and out easily. Good luck, however/whatever you do (it).
|
|
|
Post by clt80 on Mar 31, 2018 20:33:02 GMT
How is it going silascrutherton have you managed to lower the nest? When Shirley one of my hens had chicks the nestbox was on the bottom of the cage (only place I could safely put it) and when I use to clean the cage I'd pop a piece of tissue in the entrance so I could gently lift the nestbox up to sweep the shavings etc out from underneath and change the paper on the bottom of the cage under it. I was very gently when I did this and Shirley never seemed to bother. When I removed the tissue from the entrance after I'd finished cleaning and put the nestbox back in place, she'd be carrying on regardless doing whatever she was doing in there: feedin, keeping chicks warm etc. I have to stress I moved it really slowly and gently, no sudden movements. Hopefully you will be able to move your nest/cozy without upsetting your hen or the chicks. Good luck from me aswell.
|
|
|
Post by silascrutherton on Apr 2, 2018 17:29:25 GMT
Hey all, Quick update - all three eggs have hatched. One last Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and one on Friday. They are all so tiny! It's amazing how much of a size difference there is between them though. Yesterday we did the lowering. We did what was advised - we put some heavy string on the clips, unclipped them, and very slowly lowered everything, momma included. She didn't seem to be panicking, and she stayed on the babies the whole time. I THINK it went well, but honestly I'm a little worried. I didn't see how much time Zeke was spending on the babies before we lowered them, but she seems to be spending more time out of the hut. We do find her in there, so it's not like she's just ignoring them completely. I think she might be nervous now when someone comes in the room. Is this normal behavior? How long should the momma be on the babies at this point? I'm not sure there's much that we can do to help out right now - she is how she is. Any ideas?
|
|
|
Post by Hezz on Apr 2, 2018 20:32:24 GMT
Leave her alone for now, except for food and water changes etc; be as unobtrusive as possible. Is the male feeding her at all, have you seen? Is the room warm enough for the chicks? Just a couple of things to think about, but really all you can do is wait and watch closely without disturbing her too much. Interfering and feeding the chicks at this stage would be your last resort. Too many things can go wrong at this early stage. If you can get a chance, see whether they have full crops, when Zeke is out, without stressing her too much, so that you know they are being fed.
|
|
|
Post by clt80 on Apr 2, 2018 21:01:01 GMT
Oh how lovely they've hatched. I don't know if this is of any help, but Shirley use to come out - not all the time - but to stretch her legs so to speak. She'd spent so long in there incubating that now and again she would come out once hatched. Usually she'd come out for five or ten minutes then go back inside. She'd nearly always jump back inside if I came in the room, like she wanted to protect her babies.
|
|
|
Post by silascrutherton on Apr 3, 2018 13:38:11 GMT
So a little longer update to answer some questions:
1) While Zeke still doesn't seem to like us coming in the room, she does appear to be sitting in the nest still. I think that she may be getting better. We're doing just what was suggested - leaving things alone as much as possible and letting her get back to being comfortable.
2) The babies are still there - as of last night they were still at times making the adorable little cheeping sounds. I'm still nervous, but also hopeful that things might turn out OK.
3) Link, the male, seems to be doing better than Zeke. He's skittish as well, but he seems to be attentive. He is feeding her.
Actually, there is more to the story with Link. We used to have 4 parakeets - Link and Zeke, who are about 2 years old, and 2 parakeets that a friend had given us. We don't know how old they are, but we think they might be 8-10 years old. Their names are Percy and Pedro. About 6 months ago, Pedro unexpectedly died. We don't really know what happened, but from what we can piece together Percy and Pedro had been chewing in a perch which broke in the night and poor Pedro must have been injured in the fall. Percy was a little hurt as well, but she seemed to recover.
Well, Percy was seeming very sad. She wouldn't move very much and didn't seem to eat. We weren't sure what to do, but the cage where Link and Zeke were living was actually a double cage, so we put Percy into the other side. That seemed to help out, and she was getting more active.
Fast forward to now - Percy isn't doing well again. She doesn't seem to move or even eat. But here comes Link to the rescue - we think that he is feeding both Zeke and Percy.
Anyway there are some ramblings for this Tuesday morning. We'll keep an eye on things, but for now that's all that we can do.
|
|
May 31, 2016 12:24:10 GMT
mamamia
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 23
|
Post by mamamia on Apr 3, 2018 17:29:58 GMT
I am in the same boat, we were encouraged to get a snuggle hut b/c 1 of our boys gets stressed & a breeder said she had success using them to calm.... & it did he would go hid inside if the others were "annoying" him. But now we've seen both our females bred by the oldest 2 males. (13+ & 11) the last 2 days. I am so sure of atleast 1 of the attempts I went & got a nest box!
|
|