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HI everyone

Meg and Noah have babies!!!
Today heard the little peeping sounds I have been hanging out for

Got a question though
This time round, they have chucked pretty much everything out of the nestbox, I want to try to replace the shavings in the next few days but how soon should I start worrying about potential splayed legs???

I found that babies get splayed legs from
1) lack of vit A and other nutrients or genetic defect
2) not enough shavings in nestboxx that their little legs slip on the wood. Yes, add a good layer of shavings or "carefresh" ASAP

managed to get access to the box today as when I walked up with the bag of shavings both Noah and Meg thought it was worth leaving the box for to "investigate and defend"
Unfortunately I found 1 dead baby in the nest it looked tiny compared to the other two that are nice and wriggly and fuzzy looking.
This one must have just been ignored from the start by Noah and Meg I suppose
Could have well been the first born I suppose, he was kinda buried under the shavings (it's only a very thin layer though so I saw the baby straight away)
I couldn't bear to throw him into the garbage so have buried him in the garden
It did give me a chance to spread the shavings around a bit better though.
Noah was not impressed however and jumped on my back ah well, tough mate
There are 3 more eggs.
I did find it strange that either mum or dad had pooped in the nestbox this time though, they never did that last year, must have been busting
It was one of those huge poos so I had to take it out, since I had the chance I took all the egg shells out as well, so nice and clean in there now
Still sad about the bubba though
Hope the other three will be okay

a 3rd fuzzball today

so strange though, Noah just stays in the box the whole day, he sleeps outside at night but you never seem him out during the day.
I don't see him eat anything! How weird that he is doing that???
Meg is pretty much in the box constantly as well but because I have been worried about them not eating enough (and not feeding the chicks?? ) I shake the food container and she then comes out and pigs out.
It really is bizar, I don't remember them doing this last year at all.........it is a lot colder than it should be, wonder if that has anything to do with it?

still 3 today, two more eggs to go, should be tomorrow I guess
Babies seem to be doing well, they are definitely getting fed but still don't see Noah out, weird

Awww, I'm sorry about the baby that didn't make it. I hope all the rest turn out happy and healthy! Are you going to keep the babies? or find homes for them

all doing well, Noah and Meg eating like piggies now
I haven't checked today but I think we are only going to have 4 babies this time, there were 6 eggs, 1 bub died and the other one had up till yesterday not hatched so I think it's clear.
Selling the babies this time, kept two from last year who now both have girls.
One is only a young girl though so no breeding with her for a while yet but her and her partner Mango, my pearl pied, have definitely bonded and preen eachother and sit together all the time.
The other "pair" don't sit near eachother, don't preen and most of the time Saffron, my pied boy, will bite the girl Coco when she is near him
They have already mated but that must have had something to do with the full moon
Other than the mating there has been no interaction between them and it is not Coco's fault, poor love
She is a beautiful cinnamon whiteface pearl so I am actually thinking of trying to get her a cinnamon whiteface mate and sell Saffron.......
Will give it a bit longer though (at least til the next full moon )

I hope all goes well with the babies. It is exciting and yet nerve wracking

here they are

And I felt really lucky yesterday when I got to pick up a FREE aviary that was advertised (the person that rang first stuffed the guy around with pick up times etc so he called me asking if I was still interested)
It needed a few repairs and it is corroded and bit rusty down the bottom but has a safety door and it is quite large so I am chuffed
No holes anywhere, not even in the wire

This is the aviary, once the babies have fledged, Meg and Noah and offspring will go in that aviary as the one they are in now is a fair bit smaller and has no safety entrance which I really don't like (my other aviary, a double aviary, does have a safety entrance so I am so used to that, the other one we only got fairly recently and I really don't like it )

OMG I love those babies!
That avairy is wonderful. I would love to have something like that but our weather here in Boston is so extreme.AND unpredictable. The summer it can reach over 100F (38C) and in the winter it can go to -10F (-23C) Although folks with chickens and outdoor birds keep their pens facing SW. Shading them in the summer and insulating them in the winter. This morning the temp was a chilly 37F(3C) and tommorrow we are expected temps to reach 80F in the mid-afternoon. (27C)
I have a racing pigeon here and I am afraid to let it outdoors in fear he will freeze at night

we don't get your cold winters but our summers are quite a bit hotter though
Don't forget, these are Australian birds so they can handle the heat BUT on extreme days, I hose the aviary down and I have shadecloth to protect from the sun too

Eldest chick is two weeks old today, the youngest one 4 days younger.
I am sooo pleased to see the two youngest are sporting yellow crests Hopefully one of them will be a pearl pied again, like last year but at least I only have two greys, they are much harder to sell

I am sad to say Noah attacked the babies yesterday so much so that he actually drew blood
He was also chasing Meg around the aviary.
It was really upsetting and I have removed him and put him in a patio aviary near their aviary.
It was a warm day yesterday, the warmest day we have had so far this Spring so I am wondering if he wants to breed again
The babies are now between 13 and 17 days old.
He did not do this at all last year, he was the best daddy ever
I can not breed with him again as this time I was home but the next time the babies might not be so lucky
Luckily there are only 4 chicks there this time so Meg should be okay on her own.
I am thinking of giving Noah another chance tomorrow to see if it was just one off psycho behaviour but yeah, what if he DOES do it again..............when I'm not around