I have not seen any movement from the last egg from the clutch of 4, so there may ultimately just be clutch of 3. All 5 babies from the clutch of 5 are all doing well. I've managed to close band 6 babies so far. They are growing super fast. I think the sprouted seeds, various soft foods, veggies, and mealworms definitely help. I don't make soft food from boiled eggs since I simply do not have time to remove the leftovers in a timely fashion to prevent spoilage. I use different soft foods on different days for variety and try to mix it into the seeds or sprouted to help the picky eaters get some of it. 
Close band #12 - oldest of clutch of 3. Just starting to get feathers.
Close band #13 - 2nd baby of clutch of 3. Looking ready to take off flight already.
Youngest of the clutch of 3 babies. You can see how much smaller it is compared with it's older siblings, but it's crop is well stuffed with food, so it is well taken care of.
Group shot of the clutch of 5. Once again, you can clearly who is the youngest.
Closed band #9 - oldest of the clutch of 5. It's eyes are open already, and getting plenty of feathers - even colors on the tails. These guys are still quite sweet. From experience in the past, once they start getting more feathers and eyes open more and see better, they start getting more cautious. I am trying to handle them daily, so hopefully keep them as tame as possible.
Close band #10 - 2nd baby of clutch of 5. It wants a nap.
Close band #11 - 3rd baby of clutch of 5. Eyes just starting to open with feathers starting to come in, but has lost egg tooth already.
Close band #14 - 4th baby of clutch of 5. I did a close up to show you the egg tooth - see the tiny point at the tip of the top beak.
This is the youngest of the clutch of 5. Quite a bit smaller than it's siblings but holding its own with a big crop of food, so it's parents are certainly not neglecting it. See the belly button.
Mao and Lucky, my boys enjoying the afternoon sun.
Sweet Pea with blue bonnets. She does not like posing very much.
The splendid babies are growing at super fast speed. The 3rd baby in the clutch of 4 is hatched and hopefully the last egg will hatch out soon. It's only been 7-8 days since the 1st baby from the clutch of 5 hatched, but I have already been able to close band the oldest 2 babies today. The 1st baby is about 4-5 times the size of the youngest baby, who still appears to be well-fed so far. The oldest babies are starting to get the starts of pin feathers over their white fuzz - I think they are almost doubling their size each 1-2 days. The parents are both busy making sure their babies are well-fed. Mealworms and veggies as well as sprouted seeds and millet spray are on high demand.
Looked in on the clutch of 5 this morning when mama bird came out for mealworms. The 4 hatchlings were in their usual huddle with the last egg all by itself near the entrance. It felt a bit cold to touch, so fearing the worst, I candled the egg to see if the chick had died. Fortunately, there was still movement with a few more cracks in the shell than yesterday. After almost a whole day trying to get out of the shell and apparently being cast aside, I decided to help the chick out of the shell by gently enlarging the already existing cracks. The chick looks well formed and started wiggling around immediately. I placed it still in half of the shell into the chick huddle. Hopefully, it too will be fed like the other 4. Since there are so many hatched chicks in this clutch, will need to monitor the younger ones carefully to make sure they are being adequately fed. If not, then will likely need supplemental feeds or pulling for handfeeding. As for the clutch of 4, 2 hatched so far with 2 more eggs to go. Not seeing too much movements in the eggs though, but hopefully they are still ok and will hatch as well.
A 4th baby joins the 3 already hatch from the clutch of 5 splendid grasskeets, and 1 baby from the clutch of 4 has finally hatched. Everyone seems well fed so far which hopefully will continue.
Unfortunately, my female yellow turquoisine appears to be sick. At first I thought she may be egg bound, but perhaps not. No watery stool to suggest diarrhea, so I have been giving her Amoxicillin for possible respiratory infection since she was making some rattling noises. Her energy level seems a bit better but is eating absolutely nothing, so I am crop feeding meds, fluids, and starting tonight some very runny baby formula. Hopefully I'll be able to get an appointment with an avian vet tomorrow :(
These are my 2 baby gouldian finches being fostered with societies. They are doing very well so far. Should be yellow headed normals - not sure about breast color.
Here are some older juveniles from last fall/winter who are going through their first molt.
The 3rd baby of the clutch of 5 just hatched this evening. It was still a bit wet when I looked in. It's 2 older siblings by one day has food in their crops, so mom and dad have been doing a good job. Two more eggs to go for this nest. The clutch of 4 from the other pair are looking good. A couple of the eggs look close to hatching as well. Can't wait!
Happy to report that it's five fertile eggs with one pair of scarlet chested parakeets and FOUR, not just three, fertile eggs with the other pair. The 4th egg was laid and brooded later than the 1st three, so I will have to monitor to make sure if and when it hatches, the baby is well fed. Another pair of gouldians is apparently laying their 3rd clutch while still feeding their one baby from the 2nd clutch without me realizing. I am doing some supplemental hand feeding with their lone fledgling since while she is still getting fed, I'm not sure she is getting enough feeding.
Spring is finally here in north Texas. The tulips and hyacinth were beautiful, and now the azeleas, peonies, lilac, and bearded irises are flowering. The gouldian babies are starting to color out. Most of the breeding is coming to an end, but one pair of goudians who had a good first clutch, unfortunately lost the second clutch, started their third clutch before I realized what was happening. They are sitting on 3 fertile eggs currently. Since they didn't really raise their second clutch and the pair still looks quite good, I'm letting them go ahead with this third clutch. The scarlet chests are working on their second clutch of babies, their first clutch was started in Nov. 2009. So far one pair with 5 fertile eggs and the other pair with 3 fertile eggs. The hens are sitting very tightly - I really have a hard time catching them out of the nest so haven't gotten to look at the eggs except a few days ago. The image above is of the 2 fathers when they were younger. My scarlets loves mealworms and their veggies. Although I haven't heard of them needing live food, they started eating the worms that I was providing for my cordon blues and parrot finches. I guess the additional protein helps with their breeding. Now I just need my turquosines grasskeets to start "earning their keep"! :D
