Emmy

Bobby is none the wiser about Piper and Darcy. I'm making sure he can't see or hear them ( Hope he doesn't read this) Emmy

For some reason it seems those two words "No More" have been deleted from my vocabulary but unknown to 'Bobby' both the newcomers are taking food from my hand now. Emmy

Thanks Dave The biggest problem for me is still to come-- where do I put them now?? I'll need to try to cut back on handling them (Pity you missed last Sunday's sale there were zebbies there.) Emmy

Peek-a-Boo everybody: That's my latest game with 'mum'. but for the past 5 days I've been VERY worried - I doubt you will believe me when I tell you why There have been two more additions to the family and their names are Piper and Darcy and they are 7years old, but the worrying thing is they are PARROTS!! and mum had said I was special and there would be no more!. O K they are not the same as me they are orange winged Amazon Parrots and are 7 years old- They told me they are married and hope to have some babies soon. now that is another worry - I definitely will not be roped into helping with any chicks that may appear. NO WAY!! Tiko and Tika have been moved. I can hear Tika but I can't see her anymore they are in a different room now .The cockatiels have been moved too but they are still beside me in the conservatory. Percy and Darcy have been given the WHOLE of the double cage -- I thought I would eventually be getting that! I was a bit happier yesterday when things started to get moved about again, My pals, (mum's grandson and his dad) did all the moving of the cages and when it was finished Piper and Darcy were nowhere to be seen. I soon came back to earth with a bang! She hadn't got rid of them they were just in another area outside. So now I need to keep on my best behaviour and try to please 'Mum' I started that this morning by going to sit beside her on the chair in the conservatory and let her scratch my head. She was so pleased she even took a video of me. (you can have a peek at it but don't let her know I've copied this:https://youtu.be/ZVQQU1RBuL4 I think she really likes me but she wouldn't let me get some of her crisps. She actually caught me trying to get into the packet. I'll be back soon Bye for now.

Thanks for the comment Andyn not likely to be a Damehood though-more likely to be a 'Dafthood' or 'Crazy Wifie Reward (lol) Although it takes up a lot of my time I get a lot of satisfaction and pleasure when I see them coming on and think if I hadn't done that they would not be here now- and I believe no matter what it is bird or animal they should all have that chance to survive if it is possible.

29th April 2016 They are now 26 days old This is them on the 19th April --16days old: Cute -looks like Shadow is growing ears like a rabbit There is a saying, "What a difference a day makes" well watching Shadow's and 1,2 & 3's (the Bengalese chicks) development nothing could be more true. The last entry was what was happening to them from the 10th to the 15th April when they were 12 days old and when I had transferred them into a proper nest box and put the nest box into a brooder. They were in the brooder for almost a week then they were transferred to a proper cage with the nest box inside on the bottom of the cage with no extra heating (the cage was near a radiator in the house) By the look on Shadow's face he doesn't seem to approve of the latest move. They were now being fed 4 times a day with the formula mix at the weaning stage: 1 part formula to 2 parts water. On April 20th I moved the nest box onto the outside of the cage, this encouraged them to hop out onto the perches to get fed. On the 21st April I decided to find out what would happen if I let the out from the cage to feed. So to keep them safe I took their cage into the shower room. What happened next really surprised me : When I removed them from the nest box and put them on top of their cage and stood back they immediately flew onto my hand. They now go to have a fly about in the shower room most days but always come back and land on me. They are now 26 days old and I've already put some millet spray on the bottom of their cage so next thing will be to get them to start eating by themselves but until then they will still need to be given some formula. will be continued:

Welcome to the forum Derek --Zebra Finches you could say is like a recurring infection and there's no cure for it There's just something about them that is so captivating. Have you made up your mind yet re the colours you are going to have? Emmy

I lost one of my Fife's last week too so I know how you are feeling. The first thing you always do is blame yourself but as your breeder said , 'these things happen' I was blaming the change in the weather too Outside Temperature all over the place the past day or so. Freezing here today hailstones, then sunshine and back to rain/hailstones again. Emmy

Fascinating those marking and I think gouldians look a bit odd too when young with their blue spots around their beaks. (Lol I just about missed the bird sale too. Good job my friend phoned to remind me because I was thinking the same as you! ) Emmy

10th April 2016 I am now feeding them every 3 to 4 hours and every time they get fed their nest box gets cleaned before they are put back. 7days old:.10th April 2016 One thing for sure Shadow has a really good set of lungs when they are wanting fed he is louder than the other three put together. This is when I really noticed the difference in the sound they make. Fascinating. Shadow is now 1 week old but the Bengalese are a few days older and I can see a difference in them every day. More feathers are appearing too. I’ve also increased the ratio of the formula to water: 1 part formula to 4 parts water. I am also using a larger syringe now which makes feeding much easier and takes up less time too. 8 days old: 11th April 2016 Every day that passes there is a difference. They were becoming a little bit squashed up in the dish I had them in so I decided now was time for them to go into a proper nest box but the nest box would be inside the large brooder which had a 60w red bulb (this would soon be changed to a 40w bulb but the nest box wasn't placed as close to the light bulb as shown in the photo the opening in the nest box faced away from the light and was closer to the vent that is in the side of the brooder 15th April 2016 More room to move about. The tub inside the brooder (top right.) contains a paper towel soaked with water to provide humidity when the lid of the brooder has been put back on. The container bottom right is the one the chicks slept in before being move This is not really a good photo of Shadow but now at 12 days old it shows not only the tiny pin feathers coming in on his back but also what is inside its mouth too (looks as though he has a little kitten or it could be his own little 'pet' on the roof of his mouth This is a better view of Shadow's 'little pet.' What do you think Shadow's 'little pet' reminds you of ? This is what I think To be continued - Part 3 coming soon.

Well I never thought this would happen, guess 'mum' must really miss teaching because she has decided to start a beginners class, I'm sure she said it would be the same as being in Primary 1.- the first Infants BUT so far it seems I'm going to be the only pupil.!?! I can't understand why Tika and Tiko and also the cockatiels are not being made go to school too? Maybe it will help me to speak properly and stop me trying to say too many things at the same time. She got a surprise today when she heard me copying what she keeps saying to Rabelou when she wants him back in. When I first heard her making this 'sound' I thought she had been watching too many 'cowboy and Indian' films- she sounded just like one of the Indian braves getting ready to go and try to scalp someone! Maybe that is why Rabelou obeys that command. She told me she has ordered a 'teaching' toy for me and its NOT to be CHEWED and that it had arrived today but she is not allowing me to see it yet! even when I said to her, "I love you!" the answer was still NO! Apart from teaching me new words we had some fun today. She was playing a game with me to teach me to say 'Peek-a-Boo' that was an easy one. Then out came my favourite treats -sugar snap peas and custard creams but I had to work ******* the next lesson before I got a taste of them. . I only wished she had made up her mind what she was asking me to do - first it was 'shake my hand' then it was 'How do you do?' (that to me sounded silly-- how do I do WHAT??) OK it was my foot she was referring to when she said 'hand' but she has always said I use my feet like a person would use their hands - Bet she couldn't do that with her feet She took a short video of the training session and I've managed to sneak a link to it for you all to see. https://youtu.be/gqfyHQrWdNg Time for my bed now but I'll be back to see you all again soon. Bobby

Oh Andy they're gorgeous they look like little soft bundles of fluff -reminded me of 'candy floss' Emmy

I would leave them for a couple of days at least before putting them together - You know the saying: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" Emmy

Daisymay , Could it perhaps be the eggs were not fertile.? I know when I first got my Fifes I was told to separate them first using the divider and this encourages them to mate when they get put together. Worth a try to find out if it makes a difference. This is a pair of my Fifes just before they were put together (Perches placed so they could get in contact with each other so cock bird could 'feed' the hen) Emmy (ps one of my canary eggs hatched out this morning(Tuesday 19th April) -the other one was dead in the shell)

The first thing I want to point out - This is what I believe - I would say only attempt hand rearing if the chick's life is in danger i.e if the parent birds die or if they stop feeding the chicks for some reason - please don't do it to get a tame zebra finch - the parent birds will make a far better job of rearing their young themselves. I thought I would begin by telling you about my most recent hand rearing event: This is Shadow's Story (Shadow's name was suggested by Clare (a member on the forum) when I first shared with her the photo of the chick's image in the shell- Thank You Clare that name was Ideal for the chick) Back in March this year when I was cleaning out some of my cages in the bird shed I found a few eggs had been laid on the bottom of the cages. So instead of binning them I gathered them up and decided I'd pop them into the incubator to find out if any were fertile (I had no idea which birds had laid them.)- the reason I put the eggs into the incubator was the eggs wouldn't have yet started to develop because they hadn't started to be incubated so it would be at least 3/4 days before any signs of fertility would show by candling the eggs. It turned out two of the eggs were fertile and at a later date, when I was checking them with the ovascope, in one of the eggs I could see the image of the actual chick inside the shell The chick (Shadow) almost fully developed inside the shell on 30th March 2016. . This is Shadow- it hatched out on the 3rd April 2016 Shadow at one hour old. The other fertile egg hatched out before Shadow. So I had two chicks to care for. I left them in the incubator for the first 12 hours - they don't need food during this time they survive on their egg sac. I began by giving them a few drops of water to which I had added 'electrolyte' (prevents dehydration) The hand rearing formula I used this time was 'Neocare by Vetafarm' I mixed a very thin mixture of the formula (1 part formula to 6 parts water) using the electrolyte solution, but still just gave the chicks a few drops at a time. To begin with I used a cocktail stick with the sharp end removed. My next decision was would I now foster the chicks into a Bengalese nest that already had 3 very young chicks or would I hand rear the chicks myself.? I thought perhaps the new chicks would probably have a better chance of surviving with the Bengalese ( I had fostered chicks with them before) I put the oldest chick into their nest first and when I saw it was being fed I put Shadow into their nest too. 7th April 2016 It's difficult to see the two chicks that are being fostered but they are at the top of the nest. Only 3 of the Bengalese eggs hatched out so they had only 5 chicks to feed and there were 3 Bengalese adult birds in the cage all helping with the feeding All was going well then 'disaster' What happened was actually a mistake made by ME! Cleaning their cages After I clean their cages, as usual I remove the cages to clean the shelves the cages sit on - this only takes about three to four minutes , then the cages are returned to exactly the same position they were in before. The next morning I got a shock the Bengalese adults were not on the nest as usual and then I realised I had mixed up two cages and their cage hadn't been returned to the exact position it had been in the night before. I feared the worst because I had learned from previous mistakes that if I moved the position of the cage for any longer than 5/10 minutes if the birds had eggs/young in the nest the parent birds came off the nest and didn't go back. I checked the nest and found that one of the foster chicks was dead, (I was surprised because it was the larger of the two foster chicks that had died) The three Bengalese chicks and Shadow were still alive but not moving they were cold and their crops were empty. If I hadn't checked when I did they would have died too. The incubator, switched on in the house because it had two rescued canary eggs in it as well as a few others (another story) so I quickly removed the 4 chicks and put them into the incubator to warm them up.. As I was also hand rearing 3 cockatiel chicks that had been neglected by their parents (yet another story!!) I had all the things ready for hand rearing the 4 chicks but the intervals for feeding them and the strength of the formula was different to that of the cockatiels (a lot of time would be taken up for this but if I wanted them to survive it would be necessary -that is why I first said DON'T choose to hand feed just to make a bird tame because you will be shocked at the time you have to devote to this and it would not be right to give up half way and let the chicks die. Shadow was now 4 days old. Once the chicks were warm and I had fed them I transferred the to a small brooder I had just bought (it was really for heating baby wipes - (Lionheart Baby Wipe Warmer a US product but can be bought in UK) 7th April 2016 The 3 Bengalese chicks and Shadow in the small brooder That first day I fed them every 2 hours. until midnight but I didn't feed them during the night. Their crop has to completely empty at least once in every 24 hours to prevent health problems occurring. This will be continued:

Daisymay were the eggs fertile? I have bred Fife Canaries and this is what I do. before I pair them up together I put the in the same cage but with a divider in the cage where they can see each other but can't get to each other. After a few days the cock bird will start to feed the hen through the divider. When they reach this stage I remove the divider and give them a nest pan and nesting material. I also gave them egg food daily. and so far most of the time that has worked for me. (perhaps you have done all that though.) Saying that at the moment I have two fife canary eggs in my incubator because the pair had nested in the outside flight and after incubating the eggs for a few days she came off the nest I checked the eggs and two were fertile they are due to hatch out soon. Emmy

Sorry I haven't let you know about my moving before now, but I'm just getting settled in. My new cage is here and it has been built up and guess where it has been put??!! In the conservatory - (if you could call it that!), from what I see it is filled with boxes of all sorts of things to get sorted out -I think it's all the things the other birds use too. I think the next thing I'll be saying will be: "This must get done tomorrow" because 'Mum' has been saying this every day for a while now but nothing seems to change. I've still not been allowed out to fly with Tika yet -I think 'Mum' doesn't trust me! but if I tell the truth it's ME that doesn't trust Tika! I think once 'Mum' finally does get things sorted out it will be quite nice in the conservatory, it's nice and light and gets the sun too, and 'Mum' has put in a large fan just in case it gets too hot. As you can see I've been doing a bit of 'sightseeing' and this was as high as I could go - no windows open so I just had to come down again -why? there was 'Mum' standing looking up and she had a custard cream biscuit in one hand and a sugar snap pea in the other - now that was too much of a temptation for me so she did win that time. I have lots of nice company in the conservatory, There's Tika and Tiko the Barraband Parrots and 5 cockatiels- one of them is always calling me 'Cheeky Chops' and is constantly asking me for a kiss! I think he must really like my BIG beak. I can't find the photo of me in my new cage but I'm sure 'mum' will be taking more photos of me soon (that is when she stops taking photos of the tiny chicks she is feeding just now (I think I'm going to be in 'Mum's Bad Book when she discovers I've chewed through not only the new perch she bought for my cage but also the large perch that came with my cage. I'll just have to remind her that I'll need all the proof I can gather for my CV if I want to qualify as a first class demolisher. Just thinking those blinds in the conservatory look good too) Bobby

Wishing you a Very Happy Birthday Emmy

Welcome to the forum Konstantina, you have beautiful zebra finches and I love the colours. I hope you enjoy the forum and look forward to you posting all your news about them. Emmy

Speedy is now 6 days old Going to sleep inside its 'Igloo' But sometimes it prefers something to cuddle into. Speedy and its Teddy. Just look at Speedy's leg!!! Emmy

Sadly re other egg- chick was dead in shell fully developed. -- The egg had started to pip but after while nothing else was happening but I left it too long before I interacted to help it out of the shell and the chick had died. Speedy is coming along fine - wish I had even just half he energy it has. Emmy

Oh YES I'll know where Speedy will be if it got out. It will be jumping about in Rabelou's tummy. Andy, I was just about to name this one 'Bumble' they really do look like the big bumblebees -same size too Emmy

I'd like you all to meet little 'Speedy' my tiny Chinese Painted Quail. This photo shows just how tiny it is. It hatched out in the incubator on the 1st of April --(The other egg I put into the incubator a few days later still hasn't hatched out yet.) but this tiny one is a fast mover -hence its name Speedy. Speedy's food and water. Learning to drink without drowning itself Because it has been on its own it's becoming very tame and jumps onto my hand. When it first went into the brooder I gave it a tiny Teddy to cuddle into but now I have made a little 'igloo' from some soft material and Speedy goes in there to sleep. I think you may be able to guess where Speedy's permanent home will be !!! Not sure if the other egg will hatch. just need to keep my fingers crossed. Emmy

Hi Sarah, Not sure what I'll do with them. one thing I do know for sure it's going to be VERY difficult to part with them but there will be more chicks emerging soon and I think I've finally run out of space The 3 of them had a 'walkabout ' in the shower room this morning- safest place to let them out to wander about. I think this is a nice stage of them growing every day you notice a difference. Emmy

Well the 3 chicks are now move into a big cage and Tosh is actually climbing. Yesterday was the first time all three of them sat on a perch. Titch and Tosh are definitely eating some seed/millet but all are still getting the hand-rearing formula too. Another few days should make a big difference. Emmy