Aussie Finch Forum

Heres how to tell the diff between Gouldian chicks & Zeb chicks by their mouth markings.....lifted from Immelmann (1984).........

Persevere by popping 'em back in the nest but at the end of the day we don't have full control.........sadly, you will encounter losses, especially with first time parents............. its the natural order of things

Good luck

Thankyou Jay........I will try to get in touch with spanna.........as it was thrown back out and this time with another one..............I am devastated.........I also found the last remaining baby dead at the front of the nest..........NOW I'm trying to keep 2 babies alive.........

Thankyou Mick also.........the info was great.............they definately are gouldians as I sat and watched them this morning and it was the parents taking them out.........I thought maybe it was the zebs..........will these parents keep doing this? Was it me??????????? Was it because I touched the nest?????????

Out of all my eggs......I think about 10 all up..........I have 1 healthy gould chick and 1 zeb...........but..........I have had these tiny babies since 7am and they are still pink and look relatively ok........I have not been able to get the Paswells formula so I am using ground arrowroot biscuits and baby applesauce.......That is what mum used for budgies so heres hoping...........I can't do anything else............

Thanks again for everyones advise...........will let you know how it's all going............Deb

Its not unknown for birds to toss their own young, I expect its a bit of a shock, especially to first time parents finding that smooth white thing they have been keeping warm has suddenly turned into some kind of wriggly pink bug.
They do get the idea eventually.

Sadly.......it is now 3.58pm............the babies are dieing............so very sad...........I can't do anything else............and strange writing this I'm crying.............have fought all day to keep them going.........stopped everything else..........poor little buggas............was it me??????????? can't help wondering.......................did I fuss too much??????????................I am watching them take their last breaths..........and it's heart breaking............just thought maybe...........maybe I could do this.............I know they are just birds...........but I have lost so many family members lately that I thought this would help......throw myself in to my new babies...........give me an interest............sorry.............................

5.53pm...............one just died..............but one still fighting.............who knows...................................

It is sad and when you lose family members it seems to make you hypersensitive to other misfortunes in your life .

Try and think of it as mother natures way of keeping balance , perhaps these birds just weren't going to survive no matter what you did .

Anyhoo when you get yourself together take time to reflect , maybe you did fuss a bit too much /maybe you didn't , whatever you did or didn't do its nothing new or anything any of us have or have not done when starting out .

Chin up ..it does get better .

I'm s sorry about the one who died
but the other one still has a fighting chance

Well sad to say the little one died............it seemed to be doing really well.........then it just passed away about 11pm last night............sorry I know it was silly of me to cry...........I was just so excited to have these babies and now I only have 2.............but...........these 2 are healthy and happy and the little gould has feathers so that gives me hope that with any luck there will be more in time............just have to not be so sensitive about the losses...........thanks again Deb and Jay and Mick for your help.............cheers Deb

Sorry to hear about the young, hopefully these ones will make it.
This type of thing can happen and each time its just as devastating. Then you have the situation of "what should I do" its a case of dammed if you do and dammed if you dont.
All I can say is the successes far out weigh the failures.

I'm different than you as in I let nature take its coarse. If you are inclined like many other people and intervene find and buy some hand rearing mix and put it in a sealed container in the freezer, Then you will have it on hand when or if required in the future. Sorry for your loss.