Petal, Bruce & The Baldy Baby

This year has not been as successful as the last few years in the baby department but I put that mainly down to losing Jimmy my male who was bonded really well with Petal and was a fab dad.  I blame myself as it was in some really hot weather and I hadn't opened the Bird House early enough as i was feeling ill and when I got out there I discovered Jimmy laying dead on the floor of the cage with no drinking water left; my stomach turned with guilt.  Petal pined and didn't like being on her own so I found her another manbird hoping she would accept him.  Bruce has now bonded with her and they have had 2 clutches of eggs of which only one chick hatched. 

At about a week old. has fluff and eyes are just opening.
I have just fitted leg ring

At about 3 weeks old looking rather plucked

The first two weeks were fine but then I noticed the baby was far less fluffy than it had been and by 4 weeks had no fluff on its back at all.  Petal had been plucking at it to encourage it to leave the nest.  I have previously moved chicks at about this age to a  smaller nest box with an open front to allow the dad to continue feeding while mum lays another clutch.

however.... this happened just as the weather changed and I was worried that the loan, bald baby would get cold on its own with no one to snuggle up to, so I brought it into the house in a budgie box on a hot water bottle and started hand feeding it. I had never hand fed a baby Kakariki before so read up and got all the stuff I needed and set about feeding.  I will go into more feeding detail at another time.  


Its quite hard telling which sex a baby is when you have no other chicks to compair it to but I decided it was a boy so he was named Oscar.  I had thought about harness training before but none of my other birds have been tame enough to even consider training, but I thought I would get a harness and try to get the baby used to it slowly.  I spent time after every feed stroking and snuggling him and getting him used to being close to the harness and to me holding his wings up and other movements needed to fit the harness.  The first time I put the harness on him he was fine but had not yet flown.  but within a few days was flying and I was able to take him outside on the harness.

Oscar - with feathers

Bribery works well - Oscar really likes pomegranate seeds

Oscar sitting on the perch rich made for him from a couple of sticks

Oscars back is feathering up nicely and not looking like a tesco value chicken anymore..yay

Having a preen

Bored now.....