• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

To remove tiny baby or not to remove

TessaG

Meeting neighbors
Joined
10/24/21
Messages
38
Hey guys! So my 14-month old lovebird laid 4 eggs for the first time, candled them, all infertile. Second clutch, every one of the five eggs fertile! Sad news, one hatched and I didn't catch it, was the last to hatch, and I found the wee thing dead tonight. Mom and Dad are doing an excellent job. Problem is, of the remaining 4, one is TINY, probably the second-last to hatch - still has down. I see some food in its crop, but it keeps ending up at the bottom of the pile. Wondered what your thoughts were - leave it be and hope for the best, or buy an incubator (if so what kind? any way to improvise a small incubator for one)? I don't want to check the nest every day and disturb them. I've never had two tinies like these in a clutch of big boys.
 

April

Joyriding the Neighborhood
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
3/21/10
Messages
23,894

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
Newly hatched love birds are very delicate and almost impossible to hand feed due to their size. While I've had decent luck hand-feeding newly hatched macaws, I've had horrible luck with anything smaller and I won't attempt to do it again. Mom and dad are still inexperienced and many times a first clutch or two are complete failures. You could have infertile eggs, fertile eggs that aren't incubated, and chicks that hatch but aren't fed properly, or you could have a huge success rate. As hard as it can be, sometimes the best choice is to let nature take its course. Maybe adding some more bedding to the nest will help give the smallest a little more of a solid surface to stand on and not get trampled by the other chicks.
 

Ripshod

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/6/18
Messages
7,529
Location
UK
Real Name
Linden

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
Newly hatched love birds are very delicate and almost impossible to hand feed due to their size.
I´ll say. I fed one of mine from 5 days, and it is a very different technique.

@TessaG How old are these chicks please?
My advice would be to remove the two larger chicks to the brooder for handrearing and leave the two tiny ones for the parents HOWEVER, check that 4th bird, she could get abandoned or not fed properly so monitor closely.

If it helps for context, I co-parented that 5 day old I mentioned above, she was in the nest with the clutch but I fed her as the parents did not. Though she did not fall under her siblings in the clutch so no risk of being crushed.
Perhaps a photo of the interior of the nest could help us give you some tips¿?
 

TessaG

Meeting neighbors
Joined
10/24/21
Messages
38
Thanks so much guys! I left them all with Mom and Dad to feed with regular checks until they were 3.5 weeks old (l'il Peanut the tiniest, was about 2.5 weeks old). L'il Peanut had developed splayed legs from being at the bottom of the pile, but I corrected using the 'shot glass technique'. It's still behind its almost-fully feathered sibs, but that's to be expected. Someone was suggesting adding new nesting material, thank you, I had been doing that and Mom was very good at dispersing it. No feeding issues, thank God, and the white (Creamino?) is trying to fly short distances!
 

Attachments

Top