Monday, February 2nd, 2015 - These babies are really starting to grow. The youngest baby had a growth spurt over the weekend. On Saturday it was 29 grams and today it's at 39 grams. I am really encouraged by the increase in what the crop can hold. Just last Friday its capacity was at 2.3 cc and now I can feed 4 cc. The older baby had a good weight gain over the weekend also. Moving from 63 grams to 72 grams. This baby can take 6 cc at a feeding now. I will go to 4 hour feedings and sleeping through the night! There are 6 days difference in the two babies. The little one had such a slow start but looking at the weight gains for the last 6 days it has gained 20 grams. The older baby gained 18 grams for the same number of days when it was the little one's age. Both babies have their eyes wide open and are growing in some pin feathers. This makes me feel better and more confident the little one is healthy and will be fine. Originally I had the little one in a cool whip container by itself and the older one in another container. They were in the same brooder, just in different containers.I did this to keep the little one from getting squished and help strengthen its legs and neck. Now they're together in the same container huddling up to each other for warmth. They are too sweet!
Record keeping is so important. With all the babies I am sometimes feeding I get away from logging in my records. In looking back over the last 30 years, it would be interesting to see how many Senegals I have handfed and their weights at certain ages. All the different species I hand fed for that matter. I have some records here and there but certainly nothing comprehensive.
If you are starting to raise birds, develop a system. 3x5 notecards, computer programs, notebooks, anything that you can keep track of. You could learn a lot from your records. 30 years from now you can find that information interesting and educational to someone new that you are mentoring.
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