help please

mattyboardman · Post by **mattyboardman** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:57 am

well i have to adult ringnecks one called apple ( the male )
and the female called pear this is because they are green and they love apple and pears etc.

well they have hatched 4 baby IRN(s) but 3 are older then 1

3 are around 4 weeks old got feathers
1 is featherless i think around 3 weeks old but also one eye is open and one isnt open.

the person i got the birds from said in the breeding box use cotton wool and composs so i did what he said but this morning i noticed the cotton wool going into the birds eyes there is nothing that can harm the babies on the cotton wool im just a little worried what do you think i should do?

also the 3 week old one the young one when i opened the breading box to check on them the little one was standing up high then it raised its wings and started making a LOUD noise like it was going to attack me.
i have been told this is there natural instinks as if they was in the wild they would class me as a predator and they was protecting its self ?
is this true or false?

sorry for all the question i have only had the indian ringneck for 8 weeks and they had babies i have no exsperiance with these birds in tryin to work out how the breed etc.

i didnt think the baby one was getting fed but on the internet i read about the crop on the babies and all the time the little ones crop is full so i think it is gettin alot of food i make sure they have food in the morning and night.

thankyou for taking the time to read my story.

julie · Post by **julie** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:08 am

Are you feeding them or the parents ?

mattyboardman · Post by **mattyboardman** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:51 am

parents are feeding them i have never had these birds before never mind feed them my self i dont know where to start..

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:41 pm

Parent birds feed their babies until the crops seem to be busting on the seams. That's just normal. If the crops are full, then they are being fed. At 3-4 weeks of age, it only takes 4 hours for the crop to empty. Make sure you give lots of soft and calcium rich foods such as green leaves and fruits. Swiss chard, collard greens, dandelion leaves, and garden salad mixes make for healthy chicks. Are the parents on seed or pellets?

At 3-4 weeks, the parent-raised chicks will indeed start to show fear of humans and will squawk and scramble when you intrude into the privacy of their nest.

I use pine or aspen wood shavings as nesting material and I have never had a problem with the substrate irritating the eyes of the chicks. Maybe the compost has small particles that could get into the eyes of the chicks. If I were you, I would put a layer of wood shavings on top of what you already have. This is so that you don't disturb them too much. Also, at 4 weeks, the feces accumulation would already be substantial. It's time to replace or add new substrate (nesting material) anyway.

mattyboardman · Post by **mattyboardman** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:41 pm

i changed it all today i got told from the person i got them from when they get feathers this is the right time to change them... because my fiancee is pregnent and her smell sense is higher then mine and it set off her morning sickness the smell lol so was ok for me but not for her so i asked the person i got them from and he said it would be ok to do this but watch out with the mother i tried to watch out but she still bit me and wow it hurt.

i feed them seeds / nuts and also veggies and fruits so they have a mixture but they go for the nuts and seeds more then the fruit and veg but are still eating it a little.

i have put in woodchip in the nesting box with them now and all 4 birds have full crops this was around 2 hours after i changed the box so i didnt stress them i dont think other then the mother biting my knuckle nearly off lol so i think everything is ok with them they all seam healthy chicks i will take some pictures in a few days for you to see the difference is size.