Hand-raising Details for 3 Pekin Robins

Offspring of Grandma and Junior (handraised in 2001). Two hatched July 26th. Two hatched July 27th. One disappeared during the day, so I pulled the remaining three from their nest at 8:00 PM July 27th.
This is a journal of the procedures, and observations made during this handraising experience. This is my second year of attempting to journal what happened while handraising my Pekins that for one reason or another couldn't be parent-raised. My first choice is for the parents to raise their chicks, but when I see a situation that may result in losing a clutch, I pull, rather than lose the babies. I don't force feed any of these and am watching for the yold sack to be absorbed before feeding.

July 26th, 2002 Day 1
These eggs hatched early. The days were hot here, over 100 degrees, so I am thinking that caused early hatching. I left them and gave extra insects. The parents told me of the hatching as I went outside to check on them and they were both chatting at me though the wire at the door. Urgent behavior from usually calm Pekins.

July 27th, 2002 Day 2 Critical period. Egg sack ???
I reluctantly left home at 7:30 AM to head to a family reunion in Modesto. I left a tub full of crickets/waxworms/mealworms for the parents to feed. They were dropping lots of the insects around the aviary for some odd reason. There were 3 babies and one egg in the nest. When I return at 8:00 PM there were 3 babies, and one egg shell near the nest. WHERE DID THE BABY GO? I pulled all three that were left not wanting to lose another nest of babies. These parents had raised one hen so far this year, good parents, but I don't want to risk the loss of any more this season. These are the last for the season.
Pulled at 8:00 PM. Put in brooder at 98.3 degrees and gave them drops of Pedialite. That is all. I could see a little yolk sack on their tummies so no food for them.


July 28th, 2002 Day 3 I am feeding very lightly, observed little yolk sack, if any, hard to tell. Food is one monkey chow biscuit and 1 teaspoon of Gerber Tropical Fruit mix, stage 2 in a jar. I chose this for the blend of fruit to promote digestive enzymes. Fruit was recommended by Jerry Jennings formula for raising his Toucans. Once a day I mix a little drop of Nystatin as a yeast preventative as per Jerry's advise also.
6:00 AM
One pooped, one ate a little bit of food. Gave Pedialite.
7:00 AM
3 ate, other 2 pooped. I noticed all the droppings had a strange odor. I checked the Pedialite and noticed the same odor coming from the Pedialite. I discontinued it for this reason.
8:45 3 ate, 3 BIG poops! No odor!
10:00 AM
3 ate, 1 pooped.
10:40 AM
3 fed, 1 pooped.
10:50 AM
Guardian Angel from Birds2grow watered formula was dripped to the birds for hydration. Trying to see if the yellow egg sack is gone.
11:20 AM
3 fed, 1 pooped
12:00 PM
Tummies feel hard. I will not feed for a while as I have seen this lead to impacted tummy and death.
1:25PM
Water and food
1:50 PM 2fed, 2 big poops. One not begging.
2:15PM
3 fed, 1 pooped
2:25PM
Watered,and added to the water a tiny amount of enzymes. BE Careful!
3:00 PM
3 fed, 2 pooped
Trying new feeding formula......teaspoon eggwhites, Gerber fruit, enzymes, monkey chow.
3:40 PM
3fed, no poops
4:15 PM
3 fed, no poops
4:35 PM
2 fed, no poops
4:50 PM
3 fed, 1 poop
Gave one drop of Nystatin to all
5:30 PM
3 fed, 1 poop
6:00 PM
3 fed, 1 poop
6:45 2 fed 2 poopedd
7:44 PM
3 fed, strong gaping, no poops
8:20PM
3 fed, 3 pooped, BIG
9:00 PM
3 ate 2 pooped, strong looking
9:30 PM
2 fed, no poops
10:00 PM
2 fed, no poops
10:30 PM
3 fed, 3 poops


July 29th Day 4 weights....7, 5, 5 grams

6:40 AM
1 fed, 1 pooped
6:50 AM
2 fed, 1 pooped
7:70 AM
3 fed, 2 pooped
8:30 AM
2 fed, 1 pooped
8:45 AM
2 fed, no poop
8:50 AM
1 fed, no poop
10:00AM
3 fed, 2 pooped
10:20 AM
1 fed, no poop
10:50 AM
fed 2, no poop
12:10 PM
2 fed, 2 pooped
12:30 PM
Bellies look TOO full. I will stop feeding and only water. No strong begging going on so I will wait and see if they need to wait on food.
1:00 PM
Nystatin drop for each. 1 pooped
1:30 PM
2 strong gapes, fed 2, 1 pooped. Worried about one of the small ones.
2:00 PM
Fed 2 strong gapers. Water for the weak one.
2:30 PM
3 fed, 2 pooped. Weak one gaped, fed a little.
3:00 PM
Huge poop....
3:40 PM
3 fed, supplimented water for all. 1 pooped. Feeding only monkey chow to weak one.
4:45PM
3 fed, runny poops, too much water.....switching all to monkey chow only.
5:15 PM
3 fed, 2 pooped. Weak one gaped!
5:35PM
3 fed, 3 pooped nice sacks but water comes around it like too much water...oops....
6:35 PM
2 fed, 2 pooped
6:50 PM
??
7:15PM
2 fed, no poop
7:40 PM
3 fed, 2 pooped, weak one doing better!
9:15 PM
2 fed, no poop, weak one ate!

I am trying to be more aggressive with the feeding having been careful at the start letting the baby's yolk sack absorb and enzymes/flora develop.

July 30th Day 5 weights, 8, 6, 5.
6:45 AM
feeding monkeychow, Guardian Angel, Gerber Tropical fruit.
3 fed, 3 pooped...YAH!
7:30 AM
3 fed
8:10 AM
1 fed
8:50AM
1 fed, they rest not much activity.
9:06 AM
3 fed, 3 pooped, strong gaping
9:40 AM
3 FED, stronge gape
10:00 AM
3 fed, 2 pooped
10:45 3 fed, no poop
11:45 AM
water/guardian angel
12:00 PM
2 fed, 1 pooped
12:20 PM
3 fed, 1 pooped
1:00 PM
3 fed, 2 pooped
1:00 PM
3 fed, 2 pooped
2:08 PM
1 fed
2:40 PM
2 fed, no poops
3:00 PM
2 fed, no poops. Weak one looking weak again.

too busy to journal more today....

July 31st Day 6 Weights, 9, 8, 7 grams
6:35 AM
3 gaped strongly, 2 well formed poops. Good sack forms, color slightly green. Good sign.
7:00 AM
3 fed, 1 pooped. Strong.
8:17 AM
3 fed, no poops.
9:20 AM
3 fed lots, strong gaping. 2 big poops
9:40 3 fed, 1 pooped.

All eating well today! Strong movements, alert, etc.

Food mix changed a bit..,
Monkey chow, Gerber fruit, Medicine Chest Pro Chick biotics, liquid Calcium, Prime, Guardian Angel. The mix is mostly monkey chow.....very light on anything else.

Another day of eating well, poops are good, fed till 10:30 PM

August 1st Day 7 weights 11, 8, 8
I am keeping them in a brooder at 96 degrees, some times a little higher. Humidity 49% and varies to 50%.

6:00 AM
3 fed, 3 huge poops.
Temp. 96 degrees, but the second thermometer says 94 degrees....hum. 49% humidity.
Ran around a lot this morning with errands, so not much journaling.

1:00PM
2 are not wanting to be fed. 1 seems to be constipated. Not doing well due to late night feeding?
Had to use canula tip to suck out from the vent. Worked well, baby pooped A LOT. Now he is well, and recovering with normal droppings. Hum...this is soo difficult!

3:00PM Fed water to constipated one. Fed other 2, these pooped well.

Fed more along here with no journaling....

4:00 PM
Switched formula to only soaked monkey chow for a while. 2 seem to have diarreah, with the biggest bird being ok. I think something in the last feeding formula is a problem?
4:50 PM
3 strong gapes! 2 good poops.
5:10 PM
Only the big one, Moose, ate. No poops.
5:30 PM
3 good gapes, 1 pooped. The short pinfeathered one has diarreah. Gave him one drop of Peptobismol.
6:00 PM
2 fed, 2 poops. Not the diarreah one.
6:25PM
Moose was strongly gaping. Pooped. The others had weak gapes. No poop.
6:50 PM
Moose strong again. Fed all three. No poops.
7:10 PM
Moose fed, pooped only.
8:00 PM
Moose looks great!
Other 2 are going downhill. Not wanting to gape after this much time!
Gave Amoxicillan, from Birds2grow. Hoping this will help! I have seen them failing like this before, and usually a little antibacterial helps! EEkk!!
8:30 PM
3 gaped, 3 fed. Diarreah still, with one bird. Gave more Peptobismol and on food for a while, just water.
9:23P
Stronge Moose fed, no poops. Weak one did nothing. Gave ringers dripped on beak.
10:30 PM
Weak and Middle ones drank ringers! Heartily. Hope they are well in the morning!

August 2, 02 Day 8
Weights 14, 10, 10 grams
6:00 AM
3 gaped strong! 3 fed, 3 pooped! Gave ringers also.
6:45AM
3 strong gapers! no poops
7:13AM
3 strong gapes, no poops
7:30AM
3 strong gapes, one poop. Gave ringers also.


8:10 AM
3 strong gapes, 2 poops.

Feed mix
2 soaked monkey chow biscuits mixed with 2 teaspoons Gerber Tropical Fruit. Water is mixed with Guardian Angel and calcium.

8:40 AM
3 ate well, one poop.
9:00 AM
3 fed, 2 pooped
9:40AM
3 fed, 3 poops
10:07AM
3 fed, no poops.
10:50 AM
3 fed, 1 poop

missed...
2:10 PM
3 fed, 2 poops
Weak one has blood feather on the wing problem
2:41 still light bleeding. His wing looks swollen also?
3 fed, 3 poops
Feeding seems to be going well. All eating and pooping well. Stable. Now wing problem....ah...
Purchased Quick Stop for blood feather. I cleaned up the dried blood and put a little drop of quick shop on what looked like the bleeding spot. It immediately stopped bleeding.
The biggest baby, Moose, has wing pinfeathers everywhere. They are a couple of millimeters long. The medium one has shorter pins while the littlest has beginning pins that are having a hard time growing it seems...???? odd The wings seem swollen.
6:00PM
Bleeding stopped. All fed well.
New feeding formula. I found a baby food mix with yogurt in it. I am adding one teaspoon of it to feeding formula.
6:28 PM
3 fed well, 2 good poops.
All the poops are well formed sacks, lightly green and white. Healthy looking!
6:40PM
3 fed well.

7:25 PM
Follow-up meds for weak and medium one. All ate, pooped well.

August 3, 02 Day 9
6:15 AM
3 Strong gapes, fed, 3 big poops! Weights, 14, 11, 11 for the little wing problem one! He hasn't lost weight from this!
Going to Robert D.'s to trade Pekin, Jr. my best handraised breeder for a Shama hen. Selling my Alpha hen also! Sad....
While on the road the wing started bleeding again. We stopped at a pet store to get more Quick Stop. We cleaned up the wing and found a little ?? burn mark?? missing skin? I think where I put the Quick Stop the night before. It seems to have burned the skin a bit. I used cold water and a Qtip to clean it up and not finding a blood sorce, didn't use any meds. It seems to have stopped bleeding. The poor baby looks sooo white next to the others with their red/pink skin color. Sad...All of this one's pinfeathers seem to be frizzled at the ends. Not forming correctly? Wings tissue still looks swollen.
Hum....
The rest of the day was good for the babies. They were all strong gapers and good poopers with the formula I am using.

August 4, 02 Day 10
All look great. Little one still pale colored. But all are strong gapers and poopers! Feathers are growing and they are getting fuzzy!
Weights, 15, 12, 13


August 5, 02 Day 11
Doing well. Color of little one is better! Wings are not growing, but swolleness is gone. Moose is wanting out of the nest. Sitting on edge.
Weights, 15, 13, 14 Hum...not much weight gain.

August 6, 02 Day 12
Moose fledged. He hopped around the brooder looking for a perch! Strong legs! He started calling for help and I could only hold him to calm him down. Stressed looking for parents... he finally quieted down. I banded them today.
Moose, 525, 527 middle, 526 Angel, wing problem bird.
I moved them to a cage setup with little branches, leaves for cover and all to make them feel safe there. They perched for a while, then all went down to snuggle in the nest at the bottom of the cage. Nest is a little cup with a terrycloth wash towel lining the bottom for grip. If I fold it one or two times, or not at all, I can vary the depth for their feet to stay under them. They can grip the towel too, so it works well.
All of these babies have nice strong straight legs. The colors are looking odd on the wings though. More like a mockingbird. They have a white stripe on them. Moose has the longest feathers, while the little one, Angel, has no growth. I am finding little fallen out pinfeathers everywhere. They seem to be Angel's, but the other 2 birds are missing some wing pinfeathers too. Moose only a few, middle bird a few more, while no pins for Angel....Odd...
They all continue to eat/poop well. Strong and all. I give Guardian Angel mixed with water often. They now beg for water too.

August 7, 02 Day 13
Weights, 15, 14, 13. I wish I had a tenth of a gram scale! They are still in their little cage in the nest basket snuggled. They hop out and futter about, but return to the nest.

August 8, 02 Day 14
Weights, 15, 14, 14. Hum....not much weight gain.


August 9, 02 Day 15
Weights, 16, 14, 14. Good to see some gain. Need a tenth scale! All are on a perch. Spent their first night out of the nest! Yah....beaks are turning orange. Two have wing feathers growing in. Angel has short pin-like feathers but no wings yet! She looks funny...All have the white strip. I took jpgs to try to show the color.
This is the same type of formula I have used before and monkey chow contains Vit. A so I don't know where these get this color. All can get up on perch and snuggle up there. Even with the little wings, they have strong legs! Beaks are getting organger.

August 10, 02 Day 16
Weights, 17, 15, 15 which is better. All eating well, pooping. Hopping around the cage. Still going into the nest at times. Spent the night perched again. There are more new pinfeathers showing up! Good.

August 11, 02 Day 17
Weights, 17, 15, 15 Maybe they gained tenths?
Feeding well. I am now mixing soaked Pretty Bird pellets in the formula, and feeding cricket bellies as much as possible. I am hoping to get some color to the flight feathers.

August 12, 02 Day 18
Same weights. I am feeding all the same...they seem to be eating less often. Need to feed more crickets!
New pinfeathers are on the wings. Wonder the color....
Beaks are turning more orange and they don't go in the nest any longer. I have them in a bigger cage while in the house. They don't really need it.

Skipped a LOT
Within 4 weeks they started eating on their own. They are now molting to adult feathers as of September 15th and are outside with other Pekins in their own flight for now. They developed into 2 males and one female(moose!) Yah on the female.
Their flight feathers are molting to have the correct coloring. Wonder if they needed more vit. A... I will edit more here when I have time...