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Emmy

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Posts posted by Emmy

  2. Posted

    Hi Gary,

    I bought my two  from Brinsea.  The one I use most is the one where the temperature is set and you have to turn the eggs manually I find this gives me the chance to check the eggs regularly using the Ovascope (also from Brinsea). (It's their smallest ones I have -think the design has been changed slightly just recently)

    The other one can be set to turn the eggs but you have to buy an extra disc to fit quails eggs but I think I'm correct in saying there is no disc available for smaller eggs when I use this one I still have to turn the cockatiel/finch eggs manually the other difference with the 2nd one is you can alter the temperature easily, also  turning times and if you want to have it switched off for short periods.etc (I think I'm correct re the explanation for adding that feature -switching it off for short periods- is to mimic what happens naturally when the birds are incubating eggs when they do come off the nest for short periods from time to time.) 

    I reckon with the second one, because you can alter the temperature easily it can perhaps be  used as a brooder for a short period after hatching.  I have done that but only for a short time before I got my 'hospital' brooder.

    Hope that helps

    Emmy

    Emmy .

  4. Posted

    I've found, when hand rearing the birds from the incubator,that up to the 6th /7th day is the most difficult -(I don't use a crop tube) so far the two of them are OK but one is definitely larger. It's making me wonder if the smaller one isn't feeding as it should. I'm still  using one part formula  to 5 parts water.

    I wouldn't be without my incubators now - It has saved a few birds in the past and its like watching a miracle every time you see a chick hatch.

    You should treat yourself to one Gary;):lol:

    Emmy

  5. Posted

    I've put  a few eggs in the incubator that I had  found when cleaning the cages. after they were in the incubator I forgot what cage they came from. A few were fertile others not.

    On the 6th December two of the eggs hatched out and I'm hand rearing them.

    This is Pip and Squeek  just hatched                       Now in brooder 2 days old 

     resized.jpg Pip and Squeek 7th Dec 2016 2dys old (4)resized.jpg

                                                                                                                                                                                      

     

    8th December new chicks (1)rezsized.jpg

    This is enlarged to show the marking inside the mouth.

    Just discovered that each colour of finch has different markings inside their mouth and you can tell what  they will be from those markings. I was sent a link from EFinch. Not sure if I can post it here but if its allowed I will.

    So far the babies are 4 days old and doing OK but its early days yet now getting fed every 3 hours instead of two hours and only once during the night now.

    Emmy

    • Like 2

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Welcome to the forum Angel

    You have 5 pairs all sitting on eggs - That's just great.

    Are you going to keep all the young ones?  I always find it difficult to part with them but sometimes its necessary to part with some.

    Hope all goes well with the breeding.

    No matter how long you keep birds you will never know everything and new information is always being passed on so please just keep asking and also tell  us how things are progressing.

    Emmy

    • Like 1

  11. Posted · Report reply

    HAWK!!!
    Had to put one of my young diamond doves in the hospital cage the other day  I've had a hawk at the aviary for 3/4 days now and I think it had managed to get a hold of the young dove's tail feathers -must have happened 2 days ago and it had been bleeding and the blood had dried and a lot of tail feathers had been pulled but were stuck to the bird --by the time I was finished bathing it-- poor bird now had only one tail feather left. I was worried about the fright it has had . Reckon the shock could be worse than losing its tail feathers. 

    Thankfully its back in the inside flight now and looks OK

    Emmy

  14. Posted

    Thanks for posting that beautiful photograph.  Glad it has all worked out for you.

    I have two that have just fledged from their nest in the outside flight  but they have gone back into the nest to sleep. Now if I was their 'real' Mum I would be showing them the way into the inside flight where it's nice and warm and where they would even have a 'night light':lol:

    In the Spring when I had a few nests with chicks hatching out at the same time when they had fledged most of  the young ones went to sleep in the same nest  On one occasion there were 10 chicks in the one nest.

    Emmy

  15. Posted

    Should be OK because they are kept indoors and it will be warm enough but me personally would put the nest back up again.

    Maybe other members think differently though. 

    My fault is I tend to treat my birds like they were tiny 'human beings':D 

    (Guess I shouldn't have owned up to that :ph34r: wont be long until I get locked up and the key thrown away:lol:)

    Emmy

     

  16. Posted

    Good news that they have all fledged but just after they fledge they normally go back into the nest box to sleep at various times during the day and they sleep in it at night.  I would have left the nest box up for a while yet.

    Emmy

  17. Posted · Report reply

    First Welcome tot he forum.

    I'm not saying this will work with your birds but it does work when a finch starts to pluck feathers from another in the cage

    Cut approx. 6/7  lengths of normal parcel string (Each about 12cms long) fold them in half and loop them through the bars of the cage this will keep the birds  occupied.

    You could perhaps fix 2 or 3 to the cage to give them a choice.

    Hope it helps.

    Emmy

     

  18. Posted

    10 hours ago, tillysmum said:

    im just the slave that provides the food, worry's and shuffles off to leave them to it :D

    I know that feeling - same with  me ;)

     

    That's great news, the fact that you have different colours of chicks means that parents must be 'split' for other colours. 

    Emmy

     

     

  19. Posted

    Hi FinchSox first welcome to the forum.

    I have hand reared zebra finches and it's not an easy option.  If you click on BLOGS on the menu bar and choose  Hand Rearing Birds by Emmy this is a step by step account with photographs about how I hand reared a zebra finch and 3 Bengalese finches.

    You don't have to play recorded finch sounds but as well a turning the egg at regular intervals you need some humidity too.  (this is explained in my blog.

    If your egg hatches you will need a hand rearing formula (if its for finches it should not be corn based)

    I have just had a zebra finch hatch out in my incubator  30 minutes ago

    I'm still not sure if I will be able to foster it into a Bengalese nest, if not then I will have to attempt to hand rear it.

    These are photos I took when it was hatching about n hour ago -- It will stay in the incubator for tonight.

    resized no 1.jpgresized.jpg zebra finch hatching resized.jpg

    zebra finch hatching 7pm 2nd November 2016 (4resized).jpg zebra finch hatching 7pm 2nd November 2016 (5)resized.jpg

     

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    Reckon the wee chicks will be OK on their own at night they'll keep each other warm. Some of mine have done that in the past.

    Are the birds in a cage in the house or are they in an aviary outside?

    How many chicks are in the nest?

     

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Sadly the wee one died but the other two are just adorable - if they hadn't been ordered I think I would have kept them. They are still getting the formula but just 3 times a day now and they are eating seed and greens as well a cuttlefish plus the occasional bit of a rich tea biscuit.

    Guess they will soon be giving me lessons on the computer (lol)

    23rd October 2016 Tosh and Rusty getting cuddles (1).JPG        23rd October 2016 Tosh and Rusty learning computer skills (9).JPG

     

    It's not ending with those two though, two other pairs have eggs in nest boxes one has 4 eggs and the other pair have 3 eggs (one of those three eggs  hatched out today.)

    Cuddles the one I hand reared from when it hatched out in the incubator  is whistling tunes now so it's going to be  a 'talker' too. 

    Mad house this is with Bobby the parrot chatting away, then Tiko the Baraband parrot joins in and now Cuddles! no need for CD's in my house ;)

    Emmy

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Hi Barbara first -welcome to the forum:D

    I'm presuming that its zebra finches you have- but it doesn't really matter if its not because I think this would apply to all species.

    If you don't separate the males from the females you will eventually end up with more eggs - even if you remove the nest box there will still be the chance they will make a nest themselves (a pair of mine laid eggs in their feeding bowl ).

    If you want to keep them together you would have to remove any eggs that was laid but there would be the chance that the 'Mum and Dad'  - if they were desperate to rear another clutch they could maybe start pecking the  youngsters feathers to make a nest-  one way to help stop this is to cut 8 or 10 -10cm lengths of normal parcel string fold them in half and loop it through the bars on the cage and they will peck away at that.

    That was good of you rescuing that pair.  Hope it all works out for you.   Maybe some other member will be able to give you some more ideas.

    Emmy

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  25. Posted · Report reply

    I really missed going to Stafford Dave, but my friend did managed  to get what I wanted - not birds!!!:D

    The smallest of the three chicks isn't doing so good just now. I had to take it to the vet on Monday to get its crop emptied, I know how to do this but I'm very apprehensive to do it myself because it would be so easy to make a small mistake and it could easily die. 

    I had thought it was perhaps sour crop but I was told  the vet found that a few seeds had been stuck in its crop  from the time when it had been getting fed by the parents . Now it has to be fed very small amounts of formula but often. So it has been getting fed every hour ( but not during the night) gradually increasing  the amount of formula and the time  between feeds, but at the moment its not looking too good.   All three are still in the brooder with the temperature increased.

                   10th October 2016 Titch- 2 weeks old- just back from vet after getting its crop emptied (3).JPG 

        This is the wee one just back from the vet on the 10th October after getting its crop emptied

    How's your cockatiels doing Dave, any of them 'Talking'  yet ? :lol:

    Emmy