Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 11/13/2006

Question
hi
when i said novice i meant its my first time at trying to breed but i have read up countless Internet and books ect. (and still am!)
What I would like to ask you is she laid 8 eggs ,3 have hatched (and doing well) should I leave the other 5 eggs as it will be too much for her if they all hatch or leave one i don't know what to do, the pair are really good parents though but I'm a nervous wreak! she still wont have anything in the nest which is fair enough (they just look so uncomfortable) .
I would really appreciate your thoughts and ideas
Many Thanks
Lisa
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
I am a novice when it comes to chicks. She has laid 8 eggs, the first hatched this morning in the nestbox, I'm at a loss what to do now!
Do i add sawdust { SHE THREW THE LAST LOT OUT) but theres nothing in there at all now, how do I help her?
PLEASE HELP
thanks
Lisa
-----Answer-----
Hi, Lisa.  Thanks for posting!

No sawdust!  The babies might inhale it and die.  This is why the parent threw the last batch out.  You don't need anything inside at the moment.  When the babies are all hatched and about 3-4 days old, add some pine shavings...only enough to cover the bottom in order to keep the babies dry/separate from their feces.  You'll need to change this pine shavings on a regular basis so the babies stay clean/dry.  

You don't need to do anything right now except allow the parents to care for their babies.  However, if you want the babies to be tame enough to handle, you'll need to completely remove the babies from the parents and handfeed them when they are 7-10 days old.  Visit my website for information on this and come back with any questions:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Bird owners should not allow their birds to mate/breed if the owners know nothing about how to care for/deal with babies and problems that could crop up as a result.

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Lisa.

Yes, leave the other 5 eggs until you see if they are going to hatch.  You should not be removing any eggs just because you think it might be too much for her.  Some of the 5 may not hatch, therefore, problem of too many babies taken care of without removing any eggs.  Even if 8 babies do hatch, you should be ready to help by handfeeding them (usually the youngest babies) once or twice per day.  Also with a large clutch, I remove the oldest babies completely from the nesting box when they are about 7-8 days old so the parents can devote more time to the youngest babies.  What happens is the older babies usually get fed first and sometimes the younger ones suffer because of this.  Therefore, it's best to remove either the older ones or the younger ones (although it helps the babies to leave them with their parents as long as possible, so removing the oldest chicks is usually better) and handfeed them so it's not so hard physically on the female adult.  

Relax, Lisa.  You don't need to be a nervous wreck about this, but I understand completely!  It's like being a new parent yourself.  The parents can usually handle this entire process themselves, but you can help them out if at all possible if all 8 babies hatch...even 6 babies is a full load for them!  Baby keets are easy to handfeed, even though they are so small.  They are easier to handfeed than most bigger birds because they are so anxious to feed when it's time and they wean earlier (at 6 weeks versus 8 weeks for most other birds).   

Chrys