Uneventful weekend

The birds and the babies got to get out of their cage for much of the day on Saturday, and all of the morning on Sunday so they enjoyed it. They flew around, learning to land and fly (I think they got that down). They ate, they played on the floor with Mom and Dad for a little while. They would not play on the playground that I had for them on the floor. I'll have to figure out how to get them involved in that. All in all it was a good weekend.

I've got this eating thing down!

One of the babies showing us what babies do. He actually was eating from the purple cup, but decided that the plate of food was the proper angle to do so. 

Learning....

It's fun watching the babies learn.

Learn to walk.
Learn to eat.
Learn to fly.
Learn to climb.
Learn to be outside their cage.

The nest box is no longer, its time to start growing up.

All four one and one four all

This morning I saw the last baby poking his head out the nest box hole, and my wife called me later to say that he had in fact gotten out of the nest box and was at the bottom of the cage. More than likely I'll see him with the others near the top of the cage when I get home.

Now I can remove the nest box, and clean the cage up a little bit (possibly add a new toy or two also).

and Baby makes 3

Yesterday, the third baby came out of the nest box. When I got home I found him at the top of the cage perched along with the others, pleased as punch to be there. Well, when I let them all out on top of the cage I was able to pick all three babies up with my finger right from their perch and take them to the top of the cage. That is something that I've never been able to do with all of my other birds. They'll come out on their own, and I can pick them up but I've never been able to reach inside the cage and have them perch on my finger and then take them out of the cage. Two of the three started eating shortly after getting out of the cage, and the other one still is finding his way around.

I'm trying not to ignore Paris and Lucky during this time. They are watching everything and at times you can tell they are a bit jealous at the attention. They've enjoyed the extra treats though!

While they were out yesterday, I got to see an amazing site (at least to me). Both Victoria (dad) and Pierre (mom) each fed a baby on top of the cage at the same time. It has been interesting to note that they don't give them that much food at a time. They just do that over and over again until the babies are full.

Dinner time!

After a while, I put the babies up on top of the cage with their parents and layed out a smorgasboard for them to eat from. Seeds, pellets, millet, and bread. The babies slowly started to figure out what to do. This morning for the first time I saw one of them eating millet. Mom (on the far left) and Dad are still feeding them at least 60-70% of the time. 

Victoria keeps an eye on things

Victoria (pop), sitting on the chair, kept a close eye on the babies making sure that they didn't get into any trouble. He had them follow him around for a bit, taking them to this nice shaded corner. Whenever they would get startled, or fly around he would go as rapidly as possible, half flying and half walking (his wings are clipped), to wherever they are to both reassure them that it's ok, and to guide them back.  

Look Ma, no box!

Here are the first two babies that came out of the nesting box. After flying around (not very well :) they finally settled down for much of the day.  

Sneaking out of the Nest box

Yesterday one of the babies climbed out of the nest box into the cage. Today, he not only climbed out but started flying around our screened in patio. He's not been so adventurous since then, sticking to the cage or nest box. I was only one day off, and definitely within the week of when I expected them to start coming out of the nest box.

I took one of the babies to the vet today (I had the day off - finally!) and had his eyes checked. Seems he doesn used the lower eyelids and they are very droopy. We were able to see him close his eyes and use the eyelid so it may just be a growth thing. I wanted to check in with the vet because we have had problems with the eyes and sinuses in the past with the last group of babies. Seems it's not any kind of infection or virus so that's good news. I'm sure he'll grow out of it.

Feeding Time!

Here's Victoria coming out of the nest box after feeding the babies. Pierre is still inside feeding them. 

Group Photo

Here's a great group photo. They all got fed yesterday (at least a teaspoon full, if not more). They are getting used to the handling a bit more, but I need to keep handling them every day now. A couple of them are "walking" around a bit, so I know the next thing I'll know is them climbing out of the nest box.  

Strike a pose...

Feathers galore, and big boy have they grown! This is one of the middle babies, and he struck just a wonderful pose after his bath and feeding. 

More work (ugh)

This week has been a nasty one for me. I had to work a bit late on Thursday, and Friday I didn't leave work until after 8pm (another system upgrade). My coleagues like to work in the evening so they don't have to work on the weekends. Nice, but it doesn't fit my schedule.

I havn't had much time to do more than check on them, and clean the nest box every other day. They are getting so huge. Wait till I can take pictures! They are taking to the feeding the other day better, and I'm glad that I clean them. One day (Wednesday?) I found one of them had dried poop stuck to his foot and couldn't get the toes seperated which I promptly cleaned up. I also have been cleaning them around the eyes, nose and mouth which they thoroughly enjoy (maybe it's the luke warm water in this heat -- 90+ degrees at times).

Busy week

I havn't had much time to see the babies and keep up with them. I had some work commitments on Sunday evening that went through until 3am (about 9 hrs total), and then was back to work Monday am so I didn't have time do much more than peek in on them each day.

Tuesday I brought them out and fed them again, and they are getting so huge. It's very exciting to see them getting so big, but they do so much to quick for me. With work commitments there are days that I don't see much of them the whole day which can be dissapointing.

Got the munchies?

Victoria always has the munchies for potatoes. We try and limit his intake because they arn't that good for them. Yes, I know that the butter isn't great for them, but he just wouldn't take no for an answer. He's chewed off a corner of this potato and would go on to eat more.  

Group Picture

Here's a group shot, taken on June 1st. Note the differences in size between the smallest and the largest. This is due to the fact that the smallest one is almost 6 days younger than the oldest one. Yes, they do grow that much in a week! 

Baby Pictures

Here is a great shot of the smallest baby. Note the ear hole just below the eye. This is normally covered up with feathers so you never see it on adults. Some of the features of the babies show their growth spurts. Their feet seem to develop quite quickly sometimes out distancing the rest of their body. You can clearly see the wing, and also the crop and then the rest of the body as three distinct parts. 

Bigger and Stronger every day

Every day I can see them getting bigger. I've got a series of pictures to post to show you the size of them, and later on you'll see how much bigger they've gotten in just a couple of weeks. They tiny one of the bunch is still so small that I could put him on top of my cell phone and he wouldn't fall off.

I've tried feeding them with a dropper that I have, but none of them seemed especially interested, though one of them seemed to have a clue. I only was able to give them about a half a teaspoon, and one wouldn't even have that much. Fortunate for me, the parents are troopers and still feed the babies regularly. This is not always the case, so be careful about handling and feeding the babies as some parents will reject the babies. Consult some of the web sites like the National Cockatiel Society on breeding.