Question about weaning cage

[Jill Page]

Hi all,

It has been awhile. Buddha is so cute. Now 4 weeks old and looking like a little lutino baby. His little tail is so adorable. Will put pictures on later, when my( ahem) 11-year-old can help...

Anyway, Mom and Dad were mating again and I am concerned that she is going to lay eggs way before Buddha is ready to leave the nest. I am wondering if I should leave him in there another good week (so he will be 5 wks) and then take him out and hand feed and introduce him to small food. My question is this, should i put him in the brooder? at what temperature? My brooder is a fish tank so obviously i cannot put a perch in there if he is to start learning to perch (I know that NOW is too early). I can put him on my desk while I work so that I can keep an eye on him.

I also really want to clean out this nest box before they start laying eggs again. Plus Buddha is HUGE and he will certainly sqash any new egg!

Any advice?

Thanks,

jill

[linda040899]

Jill,
As long as mom and dad are caring for Budhah and there are no problems, I would not change anything. If mom and dad are mating, she will most likely not lay her first egg for at least another 10 days and he will be close to 6 weeks at that point. He will also be coming out of the box. I've had many parents with older remaining siblings and the older ones usually don't hurt the new ones. Mom sees to that.

If it ain't broke, I would not look for ways to fix it! :)

[mjm8321]

Hi Jill,

Starting to handfeed at 4 weeks can be quite the task. They are beginning to get independent and Dad may be beginning to wean him to solid foods. I've had to begin at that age with a couple of chicks and it's a lot of work and patience as they don't want to eat out of the syringe or spoon. If you want to allow the hen to lay again, many hens will allow the previous clutches chicks to stay through laying/incubation and even hatching of the new clutch. Others however may pluck or attack the chick to get him/her out of the nest box. If you don't want more chicks right away, you can always remove mother from the cage with the nesting box and let her sit in a cage right next door. Dad can have supervised visits with her and will continue to feed and wean the chick. Is Buddha venturing out of the box yet?
I know my hens and what they'll allow, so I would probably take the box completely off, clean it or replace it with a new one and put it back.

[Jill Page]

Thanks,

Buddha is not coming out of the box at all. I think i need to help add more material to the box as it is probably too low for him to get to the hole of the box, but i have seen that he is fully standing and preening himself. The parents are spending a lot of time out of the box. He is quite timid and just shakes and trembles when my kids and I handle him although yesterday he snuggled up in a little towel in my hand while i was watching TV. Aaaw...

Ok, will take your sage advice as I have done in the past. Maybe the next clutch will have more chicks that live, since they all hatched, but Mom only fed Buddha....

The parents are quite lenient with whatever I do. I don't get attacked at all, but the female does scold me if I shoo her out or hold Buddha. It is very sweet. Fred is no longer flying panic-stricken into the box. He actually sits on his swing and looks at me. THe female however is extremely timid.

Jill

[graushill]

Hi Jill,

I'm glad Buddha is doing so well. A lutino baby, he must be so cute . And I agree about the tail, isn't it the most precious thing? As for him/her not getting out, it can be also a personality thing. One of my babies, Piccolo has been very adventursome and was trying to get out from the nest box already a little before he turned four weeks old, although his mom Pontus wouldn't let him in the beginning. I think it took at least another week until she finally relented and let him out. Elmo, my other baby, was much more timid, and didn't come out of the nest box on his own until he was well into his sixth week. As for the handfeeding, it's true about it not being easy once the baby is older. Elmo, whom I started to feed at about three-four weeks old didn't like it at all, and I'm sure if he hadn't been pretty hungry, he wouldn't have accepted it. As it was, it took about 15-20 minutes to feed him about 5 ccs formula, both due to my inexperience and his stubborness. And despite all the time I spent with him as a baby, what with feeding him, wiping him afterwards, and cuddling him to sleep, he's not really tame and is really scared of hands but will accept a dowel although just to come back into the cage. Piccolo, my other baby, is much tamer and I didn't handfeed him, just played with him and cuddled with him every day. My point is that apparently not even handfeeding can really ensure a tame baby :).

I hope things continue to go well with little Buddha and I look forward to seeing the pictures!

Gloria