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Post by Laraine on Dec 21, 2012 13:24:34 GMT 10
I have my first Lorikeet baby hatched 2 days ago. There is a
second egg which I hope will hatch. I want to make sure that I am feeding the parents the right diet so they can feed it correctly.
They have wet mix (4 heaped teaspoons), dry mix available all the time and fruit, usually 1/2 an apple, sometimes celery as well. Is this all that is needed. I only have 1 pair.
Thanks.
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Post by avinet on Dec 21, 2012 21:08:07 GMT 10
That's great - hopefully the second egg will hatch by Saturday - usually 2 days in between but occasionally they only hatch 1 baby.
Diet is pretty simple - much as you are giving them but be sure to have fresh wet mix available all the time - and in the summer heat that might mean at least twice a day to avoid it going off. A bit more variety in fruit might also be good - try some orange or mandarin, grapes maybe, mango of course is great. Also a bit of leafy greens - the leaves of the celery is good, and a bit of corn also. I also like to give some sprouted seed mix - they can digest the sprouted seed, just not dry seed efficiently.
How are the Superb babies going? Sounds like you are having a reasonable breeding season. Are you planning to hand raise the Rainbow baby?
cheers,
Mike
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Post by Laraine on Dec 23, 2012 18:50:19 GMT 10
Thanks for your answer Mike. We can always rely on your expertise.
One of the Superb babies died yesterday, so I am hoping the other two survive. I hadn't thought about hand raising. The oldest Superb is sooo big. How old are they when you can identify which sex they are? Today I gave them corn and I always give the celery with the leaves intact. Now that I am having 2 weeks holiday I'll be able to devote more time to them.
Did you ever have any luck breeding your African Greys?
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Post by avinet on Dec 23, 2012 21:06:47 GMT 10
Sorry to hear one dies - hope the other two do well. Sexing young Superbs is only really possible once the first red and yellow feathers appear around the face and neck. That is generally around 9 to 12 months but is quite variable. I've seen them start to appear at 6 months and as late as 16 or 18 months, but mostly by 12 months. Young males from around 4 or 5 months tend to be more active and more vocal than hens, but it isn't easy to spot and if both are the same sex then of course that will not help. I would suggest getting them DNA sexed - that way you can sell them sex known which makes them more sellable. If you haven't put leg rings on them then when you take the blood sample just make them differently with a black marker pen - I use dots on the top of the head - 1-dot, 2-dot 3-dot etc, and use that as the name on the sexing request form. MY Greys have done nothing - the hen plays around in the nest box a lot, but no sign of any breeding behaviour, I think she regards it as just another big toy  cheers, Mike |
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