Day 1 to Weaning: Development of a Sun Conure.

[xafsmom]

Day 1: Hatching.



You can watch an earlier hatch here: http://www.youtube.com/xafsmom#p/u/17/aUKvol9VV2I

Notice the last picture at the end, you can see the baby's belly. The yellowish tinge would be some of the yolk sac still unabsorbed. This means that the baby still has some work to do before it's fed. Since this baby was born about 3am, it didn't get fed until noon, when checked, it had absorbed the yolk entirely.

The first feeding was liquid. Mostly warmed lactated ringer solution with a bit of electrolytes. It won't get any solid foods until tomorrow, and no extra enzymes will be given until tomorrow. The baby has enough nutrition in its body for the first couple of days to not necessitate feeding, but it does need hydration and to expand its crop some.

Next post, tomorrow.

I'll post each day for the first week, then each week thereafter. Please make a separate thread for commenting, that way you guys can see each progression without wading through comments and questions. I'll dub this wee one "BB" for now.


Btw: The proceeds from the sale of this baby will be donated to TGF.

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Day 2:

Here's the baby sitting up, pre-feeding.



Here's a feeding shot. At this age, they will bend themselves all the way back, so the funny angle of his head is natural, and he's doing it. I feed them by gently dripping the food at the cleft on the side of the beak, and they open for it and gulp the drops down from the inside of the mouth. I never 'shoot' it in. You can see how translucent the skin is, and the food traveling down to the crop. It only takes a few drops to fill the crop at this point, as the crop is so tiny. This necessitates very frequent feeding as the crop isn't stretched enough to hold enough to nourish for long.




And here's a full baby bird! ...for the moment. You can see how tiny this fellow is by comparing him to a quarter. This is why most people wait to feed them, as it's a lot like playing the game Operation! Very tiny mouths, very difficult to feed. Imagine a smaller bird, like a GCC!



Next post in 3 days (day 5)!

[xafsmom]

Day 6:

Now the baby is going through the gangly stage. The cute perkiness is replaced with this big head he can't hardly lift. The growth spurt is really setting now and while the first few days, he didn't look so different, now he's going to grow almost before our eyes!



The pink fuzz on his back is non-toxic marker, so I can identify him now that he's going into his clutch bin. Between days 1 and 5, I keep the babies separate so I can watch how they poop and make sure they're healthy and doing well. Then, they get put in with their clutch mates. They're happier for it.

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9 days old!

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DNA results are in...

Our baby is a GIRL!

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Two weeks old today!

She's a chunky little girl! You can see the eye slits starting to define, and her ears are now unplugged.



The little baby with her is 1 week old. You can get an idea of how much she's actually grown in 1 week.

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18 days old!

Hello Little Bird!

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28 days old! ...essentially

1 Month Old

Lookit mah pretty face now! No more dinosaur! I'm a birdie!







This is the age (well, a week more usually) where most breeders who sell unweaned babies will offer the chicks out. The babies are adorable and these unscrupulous breeders know the owners can't resist their sweet faces, adorable chitter noises and cuddley bodies.

This age is also one of the most difficult feeding stages of a Sun Conure. It's actually easier - safety wise - to feed day 1 babies than this stage. The reason is, this is the stage they try and fake you out. They lick and nibble at the syringe, then slam into it full bore. You find most esophagal damage at this stage -and that means 99% chance of death if punctured, and 50% death if not.

This is also the stage where they're just plain finicky. They don't -want- to eat the food half the time. In their little minds, they know the weaning food is what they want and should eat, but they're just teetering from baby to weanling and are very fickle.

This is the most formative developmental stage emotionally as well. THIS is the time that means the most. When mouthing becomes nipping and has to be gently discouraged, when fears rise up out of the blue and need to be soothed and worked out, when the baby is exhibing the most duress. Essentially, the shy stage. Mess this stage up, and the baby grows up to be anxious and screamy.

[xafsmom]

5 weeks old

Now we get into the 'ugly' stage. They look like they've been tumbled through a washing machine and dryer and are losing their stuffing!

It's all about eating and feather growing now. Lot of flapping, a lot of finding things to play with and be scared of. It's a fun stage!