Baby Number Three, AND...

Baby number three has appeared right on time.  I'm amazed every day at how perfect and tiny these chicks are!  I'm starting to be able to see some pin-feathers under the skin of baby number one who is about twice as big as the new fellow.  Since I've been checking the nest in the evening, its been too dark to take worthwhile photos, but Colorado Budgies has an excellent page with daily photos of a growing budgie so you can follow the progress. Their photos are FAR better than any I could take right now - close up and very detailed.

AND... one of my other pair has laid their first egg! The hen has been sleeping in her nest-box for 2-3 nights now and I've been expecting the egg at any time.  Apparently now's the time!  I'm pretty excited about it!  Something interesting I learned recently is that when a hen is getting ready to lay, the quality of her droppings change.  I'll have to think more about how to describe it, or even get a picture of it, but once you've seen it, it's something that sticks with you.

Baby Number Two!

Baby number two was born today, right on time!

I'm trying to come up with Christmas-themed names for this clutch.  I expect four chicks, so I'm thinking of at least six names.

Possible names are Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, Star, etc.

 Do you have any good ideas?  Let me know!

My first baby budgie!

Today my first baby budgie was hatched!  I really had no idea that it would be there today.  For some reason I expected the baby to be bigger in the shell when I candled it last, but maybe it was so big that I couldn't even tell it was a chick, and the chic I saw moving was actually the youngest of the four rather than the oldest like I thought!  I just have so much to learn it seems like I'll never get a handle on it.

I'm not sure what exactly I should be looking for as far as keeping an eye on the baby goes.  Fortunately the hen is an experienced mom so I'm not too worried, I'm sure she'll take care of everything and I'll just learn from her.  :)  I looked at the baby's crop while peeking in and it appeared to be full so I'm confident that it's being fed, at least for now.  The momma bird has gotten pretty used to me peeking in on her a couple of times each day and has even let me start petting her on her head, so I don't think that I'll be causing her any undue stress by continuing to do what I've been doing.

It's my understanding that I should expect a hatchling every other day until all of the eggs are hatched.  I know there are five eggs with one of them being infertile and since I'm not sure where in the series the infertile egg came in, I'll expect that all of the eggs should be hatched by New Year's Day.  Wouldn't it be kind-of fun to have the first baby budgie of 2012? LOL!

I'll keep posting pictures as I get them!