Checking the nest box!

This picture is of either Java or Kiwi at the same age as these babies are now. I had to start handfeeding them from the day they hatched because Coco did not know how, and was just regurgitating the food in front of them. It is nice this time that Coco and Charlie are now able to care for the babies themselves, but I want to be careful and not leave anything up to chance.

I have been researching the optimal age to begin handfeeding the babies. I find that most recommend around two weeks of age. I just found one that says to do it between 2-3 weeks. I have held the babies, just took them out quickly and checked crops to make sure their crops are full and healthy. I put a barrier so the parents can't see me or reach me and while Coco is down below eating I do it very quickly... REALLY fast!! It is scary putting my hand in the nest box, even if I see both parents below. They move so FAST!!! And I don't even want to imagine what they would do if they caught me! Charlie grazed my hand with his foot the other day when I was feeding them. I could not believe he could reach that foot so far out through the bars.
They have such a strong instinct to protect their nests! I've had Coco and Charlie for five years now, and so far, so good. I totally understand Charlie though. It is OK. He's trying to be a good dad. When the nesting season is over, we will go back to having long talks and lots of fun together.

Baby Amazon #3 Hatched today

When I checked the nest box a little while ago, I discovered egg #3 has hatched! Coco and Charlie are doing a great job. The babies look so healthy and are growing at a phenomenal rate. One can really see how much by comparing baby #1 to baby #3!!

The three babies are all nice and warm! It is so exciting that Coco and Charlie are handling parenthood so well. They had a rough start at parenthood. When Coco first began to lay eggs, they ended up broken on the bottom of the cage. This happened so many times that my parents eventually rescued the eggs and hatched the babies in an incubator and then handfed them from hatching. When Coco and Charlie came here, Charlie broke a few eggs, but Coco was able to bring two eggs to hatch in the nest box. With her first babies, she did not know how to feed them, and just regurgitated the food in front of them. Their cries of hunger resulted in more and more food being piled in front of them, until they were in danger of drowning! So I pulled them from the nest box. I hand raised Java and Kiwi, and Lola from their hatch date. But last year, Coco had an egg after I thought she was done laying, and I did not know it hatched right away! When I found the baby, it was healthy and well fed. So I left it with Coco and Charlie for two weeks. They did an excellent job with it until one day Coco became upset when my brother, Todd, entered the room. Coco started picking the baby on the head, so Todd brought it to me. I handfed Sunny and kept her until she was 8 mos. of age!

Baby #2 Hatched today

The second egg hatched today! The size difference between the two babies is incredible at this stage. Coco and Charlie are taking excellent care of the babies. They are nice and warm and the crop on the first baby is nice and full. I have to be very careful when I open the door to the nest box that they don't see me. They are very protective, but not as protective as they were when they were laying the eggs.

I am so glad there are two babies! When I had two at a time they were quicker to try new things, because one or the other would do it and then the other would follow. They would watch each other and one would try something new to eat and then the other would... Kiwi was always more adventuresome to try new food and Java is more willing to explore and examine toys, etc. I am sure they learn from each other and even get courage from each other. And they snuggle together. Many times I have offered Java something to eat and he would refuse to take it, so I would give it to Kiwi. He would carefully watch to see if Kiwi liked it and then go and take it away from her! Kind of like having your own personal taste tester on duty at all times!

Coco and Charlie are doing a really good job with the babies and I am so thankful for every day that they can manage the feeding...but I will take over before too long since I think the longer they are with the parents the harder it is to adjust to a different mom. Coco never seemed to be too upset when we took the babies, but she did not really know what to expect. She might have thought that is what happens when the eggs hatch...

The baby in the picture is a one day old! One of the earlier offspring of Coco and Charlie that my parent's hatched in the incubator. I am so glad that they have learned how to care for their own eggs and feed them at this stage. They are so tiny!!

Still just one baby

The picture is of a baby cockatiel that I hand raised a few years ago. The parents pushed him out of the nest box, and I found him on the bottom of the cage, cold and stiff. He was a little character! He ended up having a perfect heart on his back!! Don't you just love his expression!

The baby Amazon parrot is about double in size already. He looks really good! I don't know if the other eggs re going to hatch or not. Should know pretty soon. You know what they say about a "watched pot doesn't boil?" I am starting to think the same thing is true for the arrival of baby birds. I am checking the nest box 2-3 times a day. I have never had one not hatch for her thtat she has sat on. The only ones that haven't hatched were the ones they knocked out of the nest.
I am OK if there is only one, but I think it is nicer for the babies to have another to snuggle with... I still think they have a better chance with the parents than in an incubator, the incubator temperatures and humidity have to be just perfect. I remember trying to hatch baby cockatiels in an incubator and the eggs were fertile but the babies were not able to get out of the shells. I was heartbroken. In retrospect, I am not sure I could have managed feeding those tiny little mites from their hatch date! Baby amazons seem so small but they are enormous next to a newly hatched cockatiel.