How Hane came to be with me
On one of our landscaping jobs our client owns a pair of green ringnecks that they occasionally let breed. The last clutch was of five and they all hatched and were healthy (good parents). They would let me see the babies and hold them and they asked me if I wanted them. All of them. I laughed and said no, but one would be fine (since I had read it's best to keep ringnecks in particular alone as pets) and my sister might like one, how much? And to my suprise they told me they always gave the babies away to friends. 0.0
Now ringnecks weren't on my list of birds I wanted to get ( which had taken me a year to whittle down to three: male vosmaeri eclectus, male military macaw, male greenwing macaw), so I'd call it an "impulse buy", lol. But being as they were barely getting pin feathers, I knew I had time to research and buy everything I needed.
I came home and asked my sister if she wanted one. For free. I had never before seen her face light up like that, lol. Ringnecks were one of the ones on her list (her list was MUCH longer, something like ten birds at the time) so she was giggly the rest of the day. Before you think we're being irresponsible she's eighteen and I'll be twenty in two weeks but we were excited! And we're very good at research and like it.
We decided to hand-feed the chicks when they reached four weeks as per information we found online, some from this site- be proud. I wouldn't have done it had I not had hands-on training from a breeder friend of mine (lovebirds, meyers parrots, african greys and senegals). I worked with her for about a year on and off until health reasons forced her to sell her stock and retire from that business.
We thought perhaps the parents could raise the chicks but the owners wanted the babies out, lol. I guess they grew tired of the constant noise and smell in their home. They cleaned out the nestbox regularly but what can I say, it does begin to smell around the cage area no matter what you do.
So we went somewhere between four and five weeks of the chicks age and picked out the ones we wanted. As typical sisters I ended up with the one my sister had in her hand at the beginning and she got the one I had picked up. Mutual switch, lol.
At first I stayed home to feed the chicks and my sister worked, since we had the liberty of taking turns at work (Dad's the boss ^_~ ). After two weeks of training I felt confident that Kira knew how to hand-feed properly, paying attention to ammount, temp, and times to feed. And I was tired of waking up so early- so I made her do the morning feedings. Hane ate like a pig from the begining. After two feedings he didn't care as long as it was food. Tsume however was more picky but I made him eat anyway (I'm so thankful for my training with meyers, and how to overcome their stubborness when they try to refuse food). At first my sister wouldn't make him eat enough, she was timid in her feeding. To her I was rough, lol. We made sure to spend time with the chicks and talk and sing and play with their beaks and feet. Little things slept most of the time at first anyway. ^_^
When they could stay warm on their own we separated them into different cages (I just happend to have two large 'tiel sized cages in my closet) and began introducing toys. We didn't want them becoming too attached to one another, considering theyll be in the same home.
We all survived and are here today.
Hane still eats more than Tsume but Tsume loves his veggies more than anything. We abundance weaned them, anything we could think of that was good for them was offered. And they'll eat pretty much anything you give them today. Tsume lived up to his name and grew real talons and a tight grip. Hane keeps his feathers in tip-top shape and Tsume... I guess he likes the "bed head" look. 
Here's some pics of the babes. I need to get some rescent ones though with their new cages, they're almost done with their first molt. And I think some of them had their color adjusted. ^_^;
This was our earliest pic. When we first got them they were almost done with their pin feathers, here they're pretty much done. Hane on the right, don't worry he's not falling.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/M ... mehane.png
Here's me hand-feeding Hane, the little pig.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/Melika/hane02.png
Here I was just showing how Tsume was willing to reach for food, since at the begining it was so difficult to feed him. Note how Hane hasn't moved from his spot in the previous pic? Such a glutton.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/M ... sume02.png
Hane on the left, Tsume on the right. Hane was always a few feathers behind. ^_^
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/M ... sume01.png
And just Hane, my little buta.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/Melika/Hane01.png
Now that you've read my incredibly long post, I just wanted to say "hi". ^_^
