Checking on babies

[Lisa]

I am looking for guidance on for how to care for newly hatched Linnie’s. I will be setting up the parents this spring. The pair I have have only been used for breeding. They are about 3 yrs old. We have had them several months and have been working on building a relationship with them but they are still very scared. They run from their food bowls when we come near and huddle in the top corner when I clean their cage. Although they are much better than they were in the beginning I know they will not want me checking their nest box or intervening with the babies. I have read that they may harm the babies if anxious. So what should my approach be to make sure the babies are ok? What care do I need to give them? I did want to hand feed and spend time to get sweet tame babies.
When I bought these guys I was told they were great parents but I want to be involved.

 

[Eddie's Aviary]

Hi Lisa! If this is a "proven pair", your chances of taming the parents is very low. If you want them to raise a clutch, many people would like the babies. IF they are tame, it greatly increases the chances for a loving, pet home as well as greatly increases their desirability. It is possible Linnie parents will not be able to stop or notice a baby getting pushed to the corner of the box and perishing. It is possible they take great care of them. It is possible they take great care of them, then want to nest another round and start to pluck (ok, but needs to be watched if they pluck pins feathers and not just fuzz). To save young abandoned babies, plucked, or for the best result in taming.... hand feeding is required. The act of handfeeding is easy (I can do a video on it if anyone is interested) but the BIG thing you need to be successful is a BROODER. Before attaching a nestbox, be sure you have closed leg bands in hand (Club registered is best), a tested and working brooder, as well as handfeeding formula and pipettes.

Don't look in the nestbox unless the parents are out of the nest to prevent unnecessary stress. In order to feed a chick that is under a week old, you will need to have them in a high 90's degree Fahrenheit stable brooder and the ability to feed them every 60-90 minutes. Overnight you can stretch to a couple hours if the last feed is around midnight. So if you aren't able to do that, don't peek or else you will intervene, or want to and if you aren't set up, it is heartbreaking.

First step is to study the before you start section, then the genetics articles to make sure you have a proper mutation pair, then read the conditioning and feeding sections. Getting the pair to stop the cycle means you should read the article on how to discourage breeding.

Have questions? Ask away, this is often a meaningful discussion.

 

[LinnieGirl]

Agree with Eddie’s aviary above. And don’t hesitate to ask questions! I love that you’re doing your homework now before they start breeding so you’ll be ready!

 

[Eddie's Aviary]

A fantastic brooder really is key. We have the "Bird Brooder 9.0" but you can get smaller ones for less $$. @LinnieGirl has a Brinsea I think. There are options out there. I have used a handful of different ones, my favorite before these were the cooler brooders great for travel in the car from Tweety Bird Aviary, but sadly the owner died and they are no longer available last I checked. This is what we have - the 9.0 - https://www.egg-hatching.com/rcom-brooders-icu-units

 

[LinnieGirl]

A fantastic brooder really is key. We have the "Bird Brooder 9.0" but you can get smaller ones for less $$. @LinnieGirl has a Brinsea I think. There are options out there. I have used a handful of different ones, my favorite before these were the cooler brooders great for travel in the car from Tweety Bird Aviary, but sadly the owner died and they are no longer available last I checked. This is what we have - the 9.0 - https://www.egg-hatching.com/rcom-brooders-icu-units

Yes, I have 2 brinsea incubators. They are pricey but well worth the money. The larger one for the nursery and the smaller portable one for transport when I need it. I’ve been using them for the past 11 years with unfailing accuracy and reliability.

TLC-40 Advance Parrot Brooder/Intensive Care Unit/Recovery Incubator

The TLC-40 and TLC-50 parrot brooders fulfill all these functions very cost effectively and can also double as an Intensive Care Unit or Hospital Cage for sick, injured or orphaned birds and mammals.

www.brinsea.com

TLC-30 Advance Bird Brooder/Intensive Care Unit/Recovery Incubator

The Brinsea TLC are very cost effective bird and parrot brooders for raising baby parrots and can also double as an Intensive Care Unit or Hospital Cage for sick, injured or orphaned birds and mammals.

www.brinsea.com

You can occasionally find them at a good reduced price in their scratch and dent section. Still new, under warranty and usually just cosmetic flaws.
right now they have a TLC-40 listed

TLC-40 Eco Parrot Brooder/Intensive Care Unit/Recovery Incubator

The TLC-40 and TLC-50 parrot brooders fulfills all these functions very cost effectively and can also double as an Intensive Care Unit or Hospital Cage for sick, injured or orphaned birds and mammals.

www.brinsea.com

 

[Lisa]

What do you guys think about the Brinsea TCL-30 eco brooder? Seems it is a better price on amazon than to pay shipping on a scratch and dent from the company. Is it important to have the ability to control humidity? Thanks for all the above info!

 

[LinnieGirl]

What do you guys think about the Brinsea TCL-30 eco brooder? Seems it is a better price on amazon than to pay shipping on a scratch and dent from the company. Is it important to have the ability to control humidity? Thanks for all the above info!

I have one of those and I love it! Extremely accurate and reliable! Humidity is important yes, but you can provide that without their special rig for that.

 

[Eddie's Aviary]

Susan loves hers! I haven't tried them, but used to like Brinsea chick heat plates. I am an Rcom fan at this point in time, but costs an arm and a leg. I have tried to take things off my constant worry list as I am homeschooling now, so I paid for simplifying humidity and temp. I used the Tweety Bird mobile cooler brooders for years (I think Linda may have died and the company may have sadly closed) which the thermostat is a manual-adjust (which took a full day to get perfect), and humidity was manual. A bowl with water that is covered with wire (or similar) so older babies don't fall in it is sufficient unless you live in a place in the world that has much drier than standard air (like the artic lol).