Reading over the Blog 'Hand Rearing Birds' which featured Shadow & Co. it was hard to believe that was in May 2016 and its now February 2018. Shadow is still with me and he is still in the house ()
Shadow January 2018
He now has a mate (a white zebra finch) and they have just finished rearing these 6 lovely little chicks.
A 'Family' photo left to right: Shadow, two of the chicks , Snowy (the mum) and the other 4 chicks.
Guess there's no chance o
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
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
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 me
Well it is now the 25th May 2016 and Shadow and Co. are all doing well. I still have them in the house - nothing wrong with them - It's ME I'm finding it difficult to put them outside in the aviary.
Saying that I have been trying not to handle them so often and I have taken the nest box away that they always slept in at night. (I'm being cruel-am I not?)
25th April 2016
Shadow and one of the Bengalese chicks
25th April 2016
The four hand reared chicks.