How long should I give her?

[TikkaLu]

My pair's eggs are hatching! I was told by the previous owner of the hen (now with a new mate) that she does not feed babies and that they will be day one feeds. I would like to give her a chance to feed the babies. How long should I give her before I pull the babies if she does not appear to be feeding, babies have empty crops?

[ringneck]

Good question and it really depends on the ringeck. Depending on how many eggs there are—they’ll hatch one day apart. If you pull the first baby during the hatch then the mother will most likely abandon her nest. Ringnecks are very finicky and will not stick around while you remove each hatched baby—it’s a onetime pull or none at all type of a deal.

So, that means setup an incubator and set the temperature to 98-99 degrees F. in case you need to pull the babies. Be sure the humidity level is high to ensure the hatching process is smooth. Now, all you can do is wait and watch for the first baby. If the mother does not feed the baby within 12 hours—I would pull the baby away along w/ the unhatched eggs and place them into the incubator.

The baby will have a clear type fluid in its crop if she is feeding him. Be sure it’s there—if not..then she is not feeding them. Please checkout the article about hand feeding from day one for more information.

http://www.indianringneck.com/handfeed/

I hope this helps; however, I hope you don’t have to pull the babies out too soon as I know firsthand how much work it is . Please keep us updated and good luck !

Best Wishes ,

IMRAN

[TikkaLu]

2 of the 4 eggs have hatched so far and I regret to say that both had empty crops 6-8 hours after hatching (I didn't have the heart to wait 12 hours ). So far so good I have been feeding every 2 hours around the clock, both babies are draining well, and seem to be doing ok. I will continue to keep my fingers crossed though, as this is my first experience with day one babies, and I know they are extremely fragile. Thanks for the info and I had already referenced the article about feeding from day one, great resource.

[xx_sheena_xx]

good luck with them

[Jasmineandme]

Good luck with them