Hand rearing gouldians

[fishdance]

A friend of mine is currently hand rearing 2 gouldian babies. They are only about a week old and although they seem to be feeding and doing well, she is worried they are getting slightly dehydrated as the internet and literature says a reddish skin look is an indication of this. These seem to be more red than pink. Temperatures maintained at 30-32 degrees as most literature recommends for young hairless babies. Being fed every 3 hours at the moment during the day. I have attached some photos with and without flash. Hoping someone with some expertise can provide re-assurance or warnings. She has started adding some human baby electrolyte product and made the food mix more watery just in case.

Also for chicks a week old, their feathers seem to be slow to emerge and they are not growing as fast as she was expecting. She is using Avione hand rearing mix. We are thinking perhaps more food should be given? Its hard to know how much to expand their crops. She is letting the crop totally empty once per day (overnight). We might try adding some ground millet (soaked) in case they need more nutrition? Again, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Winston

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff43 ... b72083.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff43 ... 3b0677.jpg

[Diane]

Dont know about expertise, but this is a link to the young I raised last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdqiklQsWGM
I dont see that the babies are too red but I can understand the worry, I worried about about the dehydration too so I kept the food (Passwells) quite watery. In one of the videos you can see the crop is quite extended on one baby.

[fishdance]

Both Gouldians are doing well. Small pin feathers on the wings are emerging now. We are feeding much more per feed than previous as it was hard to know how far to extend their crops.
Also have started weighing with a digital scale to monitor growth rates (by weight) and have switched to Passwells Rearing Formula which is much thicker and seems to remain in crops longer.
Temperatures at 30-32 degrees celcius and humidity around 80%.

Many thanks Di. Your video was helpful.

Winston

[Diane]

Glad to hear they are doing well.
I keep the Passwells box in the freezer, extends the shelf life.

[spanna]

How are the little goulds doing? Like bluebutterfly, have had success hand rearing finches in the past.

[maureen_g]

I think you are all very brave hand rearing such tiny babies. I have gouldians sitting at the moment (my first time) and I have bengalese mannikins just in case!! The mannikins are delightful birds as well. Good luck with your efforts!

[mickenglish]

What should they be fed? Also how does one get the ford into them-eye dropper or small wood spatula? I ask because I have a baby Gouldian that has injured its leg and has difficulty perching. Today is its third day out of the nest, it can fly OK but the landings are rough. I think it is doing a bit poorly and I would put it in a hospital cage and feed it if I didn't think I might make things worse.
Any advice?

[Tiaris]

If the parents are feeding it, I would leave it there.

[mickenglish]

I haven't seen them feeding it but it is still alive so I'm assuming that they are.

[finchbreeder]

Possably bump up the greens available to make it easy for the parents to keep feeding the young for longer. Good luck with the little one.
LML