Phoenix and Daphne

[tammy1969]

I've been keeping a journal almost everyday so this may be a little long. I will try not to take too long next time to post, but I had to have so many post before I could even make a journal.

Daphne went in and out of her nesting box for at least a month before she laid her first egg and she chewed her box so badly on the inside that the nails were exposed, it looked like I had put shavings in the box.

January 25, 2009, Sunday, between 8 and 9pm: Daphne laid her first egg.

January 26, Monday: The egg was cracked, wasn't sure how. I tried to repair it.

Jan. 27: The egg was missing, I saw some yolk and assumed that Daphne ate it. After panicking and submitting posts, I noticed that she did not eat it, she just threw it out of the nest. It was busted so it blended in with the chicken egg I boiled and mashed for her.

Jan. 30: Daphne laid her second egg at about 8:40ish. not sure exactly, just thought the times were interesting since they are close and the days were more than two days apart.

Feb. 1: Sunday, not sure if she laid the egg this day or on Feb. 2, I didn't check because I had a lot of company and didn't want to disturb her anymore than I had to. (SUPERBOWL)

Feb. 2, Monday: I checked the box today and she had laid her 3rd egg. I noticed the nails sticking out and bent them in so that they would not harm her eggs. I think that may have been what cracked her first egg.

So far she is sitting on two eggs and we are expecting another one tomorrow. They have been really good egg parents, maybe I will take pictures. :)

Here are pictures of Daphne:budge: and Phoenix:budgie:.

Daphne

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060246.jpg

Phoenix

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060247.jpg

[Jen144]

They are a beautiful pair. I know how exciting it is once they start laying eggs and all..Congratulations.
I wish you luck, I hope all goes according to plan and nothing goes wrong with the parents or eggs. Looking forward to updates as they come. :)

[Zeena]

wow!! i have one thing to say that will sum this up:

Gorgeous parents = stunning babies :D

Can't wait too see what will happen!
Keep us posted! and this is defintely one of the journals i'm gonna follow :)

[SusanBudgies]

Oh, what a wonderful start to your breeding journal! I'm so glad you made one and summarized past events so nicely. :thumbsup:

Your Phoenix and Daphne are gorgeous birds, and I can hardly wait to see their babies! :D

[tammy1969]

Thank you everyone!!!:D

Feb. 3: Daphne laid another egg.

If all goes well the first egg should hatch on February 17th, the next one on Feb. 19th and third on Feb. 21st.

Side note: When we watch American Idol the birds let us know who they think sounds good and who doesn't. Daphne even poked her head out for a moment to see what was going on. It was so cute! I wish I had video of it.

They are quite a joy to have around. :)

[tammy1969]

One other thing I forgot, she laid her egg at about 8:00pm

[aka.pody]

Daphne and Phoenix are beautiful. I hope all goes well from here on. :fingerx:
I think they'll be good parents. It's going to be a long wait until the 17th.

[tammy1969]

Thursday: :wave1: another egg.

I candled the eggs today and two of them are fertile!!! :D Exciting!! :D

The other two are too young, so I will have to wait.

[SusanBudgies]

I candled the eggs today and two of them are fertile!!! :D Exciting!! :DOh, yes, that is exciting! :party2: Did you see the hearts beating? At incubation Day 4, I could see veins, a tiny blob and a beating heart! :D

[tammy1969]

No, I didn't. I was trying to be fast, she doesn't stay out of the nesting box long and I didn't want to upset her. Maybe, next time I look I will see something. That would be so cool!! :D

[tammy1969]

Here are the four eggs so far, sorry picture is blurred, she came back in before I could take another one.

We are expecting her to lay another one tonight because she is still chewing on her nesting box. I hope if she lays one tonight that it is her last one, I don't want her to get too tired out.


http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060265.jpg

[tammy1969]

Daphne laid her fifth egg, I'm really happy, but I hope she is done. I don't want her to get too exhausted, especially when she has to start feeding them.

(this is really her sixth egg that she has laid, the first one broke) :(

She came out just now and I was going to take a picture, but she went in there too fast. Maybe later. It's not like any of us haven't seen eggs before, but it is still neat to see them from eggs to fledglings. :)

[SusanBudgies]

It's wonderful that you are respecting Daphne's space. :thumbsup: We look forward to seeing more pics (taken on the rare occasion Daphne leaves her nestbox ;) ).

[Cassidy]

wow i am going to keep checking back sooooo excited to see what they look like

[tammy1969]

Another egg picture, this one has 5 eggs in it! LOL!!!
Nothing new other than that, just sitting and waiting. :sleeping:

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060266.jpg

[tammy1969]

Daphne left the box for a minute and I was able to candle the eggs again. I candle them without picking them up, I just shine the flashlight on them. I thought about picking them up but I am butterfingers. :)

Anyway, there are three so far that are fertile. The other two are too young, one is 3 days old and one is one day old.

You can tell I'm bored right now, my husband has been gone for a week now working in southern California, I have my kids here with me, but they are teenagers, 17 and 14. You know how they are ;), no offense to any looking on that are of those ages. They are just doing their own thing. They will be more interested in this stuff when the babies hatch.

(exactly, my daughters looking over my shoulder saying: "whatever!", she says she and her friends are more exciting than me. and I say "whatever" to her! :D, she's the 17 yr old. It's a good thing I love them)

[tammy1969]

I'm so happy, I don't think Daphne is going to lay anymore eggs,she hasn't been chewing today. Maybe now she will get some rest.

[tammy1969]

I can't believe it!!!!!! I went to check on Daphne's clutch, I was going to candle them, and she now has 6 eggs. I thought she was done! That is 7 that she has laid now.

When I checked on the 9th of this month, when she should have had another one, there was nothing.

I figured, well, she is done. So I didn't check anymore for new eggs, I just checked to make sure that she was doing ok.

I don't really know if she laid today or last night. Poor girl! Well, I'm not going to worry about it unless she continues to lay past 8. I figure 8 is still ok for her, but I sure don't want her to have that many, not for her first clutch.

[enicol6]

Boy is she going to be a busy bee if all those hatch! Congratualations :)

[SusanBudgies]

Well, I was crossing my fingers :fingerx: right along with you that Daphne would stop at 5. (My Nibbles laid two clutches of 5 and my Noelle laid three clutches of 5.) But I guess Daphne had to prove she has a mind of her own (bless her heart). :D

By the way, great journal; keep up the good work! :thumbsup:

[Rebeccaveggie]

Good luck! :D

[tammy1969]

Thank you everyone! :):)

Well, Daphne has been chewing again today. Ugh!!! :eek:

This is her first clutch, I hope she is a good mom. I'm getting prepared. first one due, Tuesday the 17th.

Just five more days. I'm excited, but nervous. If they take care of their babies like they take care of their eggs, it will be fine. Phoenix is taking excellent care of Daphne.

He goes in the box and sits with her and feeds her. Pokes his head in there making sure everything is ok. Squawks when someone does anything he doesn't like or if they don't sing right or talk right in his opinion ( He does that even when they are not breeding) . and then he sticks his head in the box to see if she is ok. Or he will squawk for someone to sit with him and talk to him. He also squawks for me to open the blinds for him. It's so weird how you can tell what he wants. He is so bossy. :D

I just moved Cutie and Bird's cage into my daughters room away from Daphne and Phoenix to see if that works. Hopefully, she will stop laying.

[Mikey666]

Hoping you can candle all the eggs before they start to hatch and maybe she will stop laying now and start to sit on all the eggs until they all hatch.Keep us updated on the nestbox and when they will hatch.Good luck

[tammy1969]

So far Daphne still has 6 eggs, hopefully that is all.

Today, I am so excited, there are at least 5 fertile eggs and in the 5th egg, I saw a little heart beat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D

She has gotten used to me checking on her eggs and it's seems to be no big deal for her anymore. So that is good. :)

I am so excited for Tuesday, but I know it could be a later day.

I thought I had the dates of when each chick was due, but I checked on all the post and didn't see them so here they are:

1st Laid 1/30- due to hatch: February 17th, 2009 (Tuesday) :D :baby: Hatched February 18, 2009

2nd:Laid 2/1- due to hatch: February 19th (Thursday) DIS

3rd: Laid 2/3- due to hatch: February 21st (Saturday) :baby: Hatched February 21, 2009

4th: Laid 2/5- due to hatch: February 23rd (Monday) :baby: Hatched February 23, 2009

5th: Laid 2/7- February 25th (Wednesday) :baby: Hatched February 25, 2009

6th: Laid February 11, 2009 infertile

[SusanBudgies]

I have three 3-month-old babies and six 1-month-old babies, so it's not hard for me to live this experience vicariously right along with you. :D

Did you know the chick will start chirping inside the egg, shortly before it hatches? This means it has pierced the egg's inner membrane and accessed the air sac at the round end of the egg. The chick will continue chirping intermittently as it spins around inside the egg, cracking it open with its egg tooth. So if you hear chirping, but see an intact egg, you're not crazy! :D

Please keep this excellent journal going! :thumbsup:

[tammy1969]

:baby: :party10: FIRST BABY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :party2::party2:

[enicol6]

AWESOME!!! Congratualations on your new hatchie :)

[Rebeccaveggie]

Congratulations!!!!!:D

[tammy1969]

Thanks Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

And thanks for your helpful hint Susan!!!! And congrats on your babies!!

When Daphne comes out, I have the camera ready, so I'm going to try to snap a quick shot. I hope it doesn't blur.

[tammy1969]

Mom and Dad are doing great!! I was worried at first, because this is their first clutch. I am so excited.

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060278.jpg

In these pictures, if you look closely, you can see that mom and dad are doing a great job feeding baby!!!:)
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060277.jpg

[Rebeccaveggie]

Aww, the new little one is so adorable! Congrats again!

[tammy1969]

Thanks!! :D

[Chicklet]

congrats :D it must be so awesome to have little baby budgies :)

[tammy1969]

:wave1:

Phoenix has been feeding Daphne and the baby. I was worried about Daphne being tired, but Daphne has been great, pretty energetic. Poor Phoenix looks tired, though.

I wasn't expecting him to feed the baby, but I noticed that every time baby would cry, Phoenix would quickly go to the box and then go to the food, eat and then go back to the box and feed the baby. (I wasn't sure he was feeding the baby, but I suspected it)

Yesterday, after baby was born, was the first time I noticed it and it scared me, I thought he was eating it. But I watched for a minute, and tried not to panic and noticed that he wasn't hurting the baby. I still wasn't sure exactly what he was doing. It looked like he was just curious at what this thing was that was making noise.

He looked so confused and he was going in and out of the nest nervously, so I wasn't sure what to make of it. It was very difficult to stay calm and wait.

I was glad that more babies wouldn't hatch anytime soon, because it gave me a chance to see what he would do with this one and Know what I would need to do when the others hatch.

I saw him feeding the baby today, it was so cute!!!

He is such a great dad and husband, I'm so proud of him! :jumping:

[enicol6]

Glad to hear it is going well. It does look a bit agressive sometimes when they feed them. Esp. when they are little and can't sit up and "beg". Your new little pink blob is so so cute. I get one next week :) Congratualations again and I can't wait to see more and what they end up looking like :)

[tammy1969]

The sixth egg doesn't appear to be fertile. we still have 4 more eggs, I hope they make it.

[SusanBudgies]

I wasn't expecting him to feed the baby, but I noticed that every time baby would cry, Phoenix would quickly go to the box and then go to the food, eat and then go back to the box and feed the baby. (I wasn't sure he was feeding the baby, but I suspected it)My Mr. Blue did the exact same thing; he seemed almost desperate to feed that tiny baby!

Great pictures, by the way; my heart melts everytime I see those naked pink bodies. And it looks like mama is feeding it crop milk, as she should. (Dad will feed it seed even though it's too young; but go ahead and let him.)

Congratulations! :party2:

[tammy1969]

Thanks for the info Susan very helpful. :) I was wondering.

And here is a new picture of the baby, day 2!! So adorable, I could stare at it forever!!!!!

The infertile egg is on the right above the last egg from the left. There is another egg that is above the 4 eggs pictured.


http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060281-1-1.jpg

I'm not sure, I'm no expert, but it looks as though the egg in the middle is good but the eggs on each side of that one are DIS. I'm disappointed that I missed getting a picture of the egg not pictured, so that I could get an opinion on that one as well.

Does any one have any advice on that?

[SusanBudgies]

While the color of the eggshell can indicate DIS, it's more accurate to determine DIS by candling. With that said, don't be in a hurry to open what you think is a DIS egg; for one thing, infertile/addled/DIS eggs help to prevent mom from squishing the babies, and I have read horror stories of budgie owners opening supposedly DIS eggs that held live chicks!

[tammy1969]

Thanks so much for your help Susan!!!!

That would be so terrible to open a shell with a live baby, how devastating!
Well, that gives me hope that maybe they are o.k.

If not, I'm sure our other eggs are o.k. and we still have the baby!!! :D

It's so funny how something that tiny can just melt your heart. Just instant love!

I can't wait for the others to hatch!

[tammy1969]

:baby: A second baby hatched this morning. :D

This is the due date of the 3rd egg, so I don't know if this is the third or second egg that was laid. I guess we will find out.

There are 3 more that could hatch, the sixth one is infertile.

Here is the new baby with 3 day old sibling.

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060283-2.jpg

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060283-1.jpg

[tammy1969]

:baby: Another Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Baby 3!!!!! will have picture soon!:D:D:

[Guthwulf]

You should put some nesting material in at this point. Baby poop will start to get on the other eggs and may prevent them hatching if the bacteria affects the chick inside. Poop is also a big problem factor for hatched chicks as it cakes on their feet and all sorts.

There are all sorts of readily available material that can assist you. Dried peat moss, rolled oats / oatbran, un-scented bird safe pine shavings, kitty litter.

Its really important at this stage of things to have that litter. Congrats and all the best :)

[tammy1969]

Just cleaned the nesting box and put Carefresh bedding for them. I think Daphne likes it. They look cozier and cleaner. Anyway, each member of the fam held a baby while I cleaned the box as fast as I could.


This is baby #3 just hatched today
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060288.jpg


This is baby #2 two days old.
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060285.jpg


Baby #1 five days old.
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060290.jpg
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060291.jpg

[tammy1969]

You should put some nesting material in at this point. Baby poop will start to get on the other eggs and may prevent them hatching if the bacteria affects the chick inside. Poop is also a big problem factor for hatched chicks as it cakes on their feet and all sorts.

There are all sorts of readily available material that can assist you. Dried peat moss, rolled oats / oatbran, un-scented bird safe pine shavings, kitty litter.

Its really important at this stage of things to have that litter. Congrats and all the best :)


Thank you!!!!!!:D

[Guthwulf]

I love this part of the "my budgies are having babies" journey. Awww i never get tired of the excitement at knowing they are hatching, seeing their pink little freshly hatched selves, and then watching them grow and waiting to see what colour they turn out.

LOVE IT!!! I would say i envy you, but i just had the first baby of a new pair hatch today!! Woohoo!

[enicol6]

They look great!!! Thank you for sharing pics. I love to see the babies :)

[tammy1969]

I love this part of the "my budgies are having babies" journey. Awww i never get tired of the excitement at knowing they are hatching, seeing their pink little freshly hatched selves, and then watching them grow and waiting to see what colour they turn out.

LOVE IT!!! I would say i envy you, but i just had the first baby of a new pair hatch today!! Woohoo!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy for you!!!! It's so exciting.

I can't wait to see what color they are going to be. Everything about it is amazing! :)

And thanks, Erika! :)

[tammy1969]

More pictures! 1st baby is 6days, 2nd-3days and 3rd is 1 day

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060296-1.jpg

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060297-1.jpg

[Chicklet]

awwe congrats...kinda makes me wanna get into breeding..but i dont think i ever will, toooo scared that i'll mess up :XD:

[tammy1969]

:baby: A fourth baby has hatched!!!! :D One egg left, due to hatch Friday. February 27, 2009

Will post pictures soon!!!!

[tammy1969]

New pictures

This first picture is of baby #1 looking up at camera.
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060308.jpg

New baby w/siblings
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060312.jpg

new baby
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060307.jpg

[enicol6]

How cute and funny they are. Great pics. Mine is 4 days old and the next is set to hatch today or Sat and then again Sat or Mon. It will be funny to see the size difference.

[Patricia Lippai]

Congrats on your new babies.My pair also had babies on the 18th of Feb and the 20th of Feb.My female laid 5 eggs but only two hatched.This is their first hatching and all is doing well.Good Luck to you and yours.

Patricia

[tammy1969]

Thanks and Congratulations!!!!:D

That's cool they were born at same time!

[tammy1969]

First baby is 15 days old.

Second baby is 12 days old.

Third baby is 10 days old.

Fourth baby is 8 days old.

No more babies hatched the last egg was dis.

Here are some pictures of baby 1 and 2, will have more pictures soon, I'm charging the batteries on camera.

Baby 1
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060603.jpg

Baby 2
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060604.jpg

Baby 2
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060606.jpg

Baby 1
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060610-1.jpg

Baby 1
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060612.jpg

[KatRay09]

What little darlings!They are so precious,I love reading the breeding journals.I have 1 pair who are completing laying their clutch now (5 eggs so far).I am a first time budgie breeder so reading your journal & seeing your pics is helping me a lot in what to expect & what can happen.Congradulations on your new arrivals,I will be checking back to see how they are going!:)

[mistresslcharms]

the babies are so cute. congratulations. i think it is so cute when they start to get their feathers in. when my dad bred birds, that was our favorite part, trying to guess what they would look like.

[oneaguababy]

Congrast on thr babies !

[tammy1969]

Thanks ya'll, and this is also my first time breeding. It sort of just fell in my lap, I am so grateful!!!!! My friends could no longer care for the parents, so they gave them to me along with the cage. They thought they were both males. Nice surprise!!

I already had a male parakeet and shortly after we got this pair, we bought another parakeet. He was a baby, so cute. Well, Bird, he took to Cutie right away and started feeding him. He was being a good daddy. I'm so glad we had Bird, because I think that Cutie was still really young when we got him and Bird took great care of him.

We are going to keep all four babies, so now we are going to have 8.

Well, here are some more pictures.

The babies are now 19 days, 16 days, 14 days and 12 days. These pictures are a day or 2 old.

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060639.jpg

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060638.jpg

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060618.jpg

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060626-1.jpg

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060623.jpg

I love the way the 3rd baby is looking over the 1st baby.
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060624.jpg

[Chicklet]

oh my gosh!!!!!!! they are soo adorable :loveeyes: i want some :p

[tammy1969]

Baby 1&2: 19 & 16 days old

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060656.jpg

Baby 1 the blue one and baby 2 the yellow got onto the ladder by itself, it was actually on the second rung right before I took this picture.
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060673-1.jpg

Baby 2
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060662.jpg


This is baby #3 its name is Peanut
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060680-1.jpg

This picture was taken a few days ago, I forgot to post this one, it's one of my favorites.
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/tammy1969/P1060649.jpg

[Zeena]

awww they look so cute :) love the 2nd picture, the baby looks like he doesn't want to be photographed :)

[Chicklet]

hows the happy family doing? :)

[tammy1969]

They are doing great!!! I can't wait until they are weaned! :)

Sorry no pictures right now, my friend borrowed my camera, so I will have to wait. :(

Hopefully, I will get it back soon. They have really grown and each of them have such different personalities.

They love being held. When you put your hand in with them, baby #2 grabs on to your hand with his/her beak so that when your hand goes, he/she goes with you. It is so cute, but I'm not sure if that is a good habit I should allow.

And if it is not, I don't know how I would break him of it. Sometimes he/she grabs really hard, but I know that it is not from anger or trying to hurt you. Hopefully, it will learn like big bro/sis that it can just jump on my hand and not have to grab w/beak. Anyway, its precious that it wants to be with you! :D