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From Egg To Chick
Eclectus
usually
lay
two
eggs,
sometimes
one
and
rarely
three.
The
eggs
weigh
anything
between
20
-
30g
and
are
pure
white
in
colour.
The
female
is
the
sole
incubator
and
will
incubate
the
eggs
for
28
days.
The
chicks
hatch
and
are
totally
naked
and
blind.
The
babies
are
fed
on
a
constant
basis
and
if
we
are
hand
rearing
they
are
fed
every
2-3
hours
from
around
9am
till
midnight
on
a
commercial
formula.
Whilst
in
the
nest
the
mother
keeps
the
chicks
warm
and
if
being
hand
reared
we
keep
them
in
heat
controlled
machines
called
brooders.
Development
is
quite
fast
and
within
2
weeks
a
black
down
starts
to
cover
their
whole
bodies.
Also
at
this
time
their
eyes
start
to
open
and
this
also
coincides
with
ringing
the
chick
on
its
leg
with
a
steel
band
as
an
id
method.
Once
this
band
is
on
and
the
foot
has
grown
for
another
week
or
two,
it
can
never
be
removed
unless
cut.
Males
tend
to
have
a
greyish
down
whilst
the
female
is
much
darker.
At
this
stage
feeds
are
taking
place
every
4
hours
and
the
formula
being
fed
to
them
is
quite
thick.
Around
the
4
weeks
mark
pin
pricks
of
colour
start
to
emerge
usually
around
the
ears,
head
and
wing
tips
and
it
usually
at
this
stage
we
can
tell
for
sure
the
gender
of
the
bird.
From
this
moment
on
the
babies
feathers
continue
to
grow,
feeds
decrease
in
frequency
but
the
babies
receive
more
at
each
feed.
By
around
8
weeks
of
age
the
babies
are
fully
feathered.
From
here
on
the
babies
start
to
loose
their
baby
weight,
they
start
to
flap
their
wings,
they
try
to
eat
soft
foods
like
pea’s,
fruit,
sweetcorn
and
they
often
start
to
refuse
food.
By
around
12
weeks
the
babies
are
on
one
feed
a
day
usually
at
night.
This
feed
is
eventually
stopped
and
the
baby
has
access
to
different
fruits,
veg,
pulses
and
seeds
and
the
babies
are
monitored
for
a
few
weeks
to
ensure
they
are
not
loosing
weight
and
are
eating
enough.
This
pattern
is
generally
the
same
if
the
parents
are
raising
them
but
the
weight
gains
by
chicks
is
far
greater.
Also
with
the
parents
the
baby
eventually
leaves
the
nest
and
usually
is
fed
by
dad
until
it
can
eat
on
its
own
accord
in
which
case
it
stops
asking
dad
for
food.
Usually
at
this stage mum lays again and the chick is removed to avoid complications especially if the chick is female.
There
is
a
number
of
methods
I
utilise
in
producing
chicks
and
these
are
all
dependant
on
a
number
of
factors
including
weather,
the
mothers
ability
to
incubate
eggs
and
the
parents
ability
to
feed
the
chicks.
If
its
winter,
I
have
found
most
of
my
pairs
leave
the
eggs
to
feed,
have
a
stretch
etc.
but
if
it’s
severe
cold
then
the
eggs
can
become
chilled,
on
average
I
will
loose
the
majority
of
eggs
laid
between
November
and
March
each
year
and
so
it
makes
sense
to
use
an
incubator
within
the
house
to
incubate,
hatch
and
in
effect
save
these
babies.
Some
females
are
fantastic,
they
will
incubate
their
eggs
for
the
28
days,
other
hens
will
not.
Once
hatched
some
parents
will
feed
their
chicks,
some
will
not
and
the
chicks
end
up
fading
away
and
eventually
dying.
The
methods
I
use
include
incubating
the
eggs
myself
and
then
hand
rearing
the
chicks
myself
from
day
1.
Where
mums
are
good
incubators
I
will
allow
them
to
incubate
the
eggs
and
then
I
will
remove
the
chicks.
If
mums
are
poor
incubators
then
I
may
substitute
their
eggs
with
plastic
eggs
and
hatch
the
eggs
myself
and
then
place
the
babies
back
with
them
as
soon
as
they
have
hatched.
Lastly
if
the
timing
of
eggs
and
chicks
for
a
few
pairs
coincides
then
I
may
swap
eggs
from
one
pair
to
another
or
even
the
chicks.
In
some
cases
the
mum
is
allowed
to
raise
the
chicks
for
the
majority
of
rearing
before
they
are removed for hand rearing.