[aluz]

Hi everyone, today is a joyous day for my flock, especially for my lovebirds.
The first egg hatched today, in fact it was overnight, because early this morning I checked and there was the little fellow all rid of the shell that was nowhere in sight (the female must have eaten it).
Here are the parents:

Nico, the male

Fotos 444 by aluz391, on Flickr

Sindel, the female

Fotos 441 by aluz391, on Flickr


Fotos 429 by aluz391, on Flickr

This one was taken a few days ago

Fotos 479 by aluz391, on Flickr

 

[aluz]

And now the tiny chick, when I first saw it, I couldn't help to shed a couple of tears of joy. It was the best surprise ever, hatched on the 22nd day!


Fotos 491 by aluz391, on Flickr


Fotos 497 by aluz391, on Flickr


Fotos 503 by aluz391, on Flickr


Fotos 504 by aluz391, on Flickr

I'm sorry for the low quality of these pictures, they were taken early in the morning and with my phone. I don't want to move the cage to a more sunny place because I'm afraid the move will disturb them.

 

[BirdCrazyJill]

Aww they are so adorable!!

 

[juniper]

That's great, congrats!! Your lovies are so pretty. What colors do you reckon the babies will be?

 

[aluz]

Thank you, it was pure luck when I put those two together!
They are a joy to have and I'm very proud of them. I never had such birds with so much of a clownish personality and the new addition certainly is a blessing.
I don't know how the chick will turn out regarding colours, I'm completely blind as far as mutations go. I just hope the little fellow will turn out with a red beak, like its father, so I would like it to be from the green series.
Maybe in the next few days the chick will have siblings!

 

[theasset]

Congratulations!

 

[pmiaria]

Oh I'm so glad to see the little one has arrived. Can't wait to see what colour it will turn out to be. Congratulations arty2:

 

[Shahzadi]

Congrats!!

 

[aluz]

Thanks everyone! I also can't wait to see its colours, I do like the mystery of not knowing how it will turn out, if it would take after its parents or another different colour. Now only time can tell!
I only hope they take good care of the tiny fellow, so far, I'm very impressed with Nico, he has been taking his father role very seriously and spends a lot of time inside the nest. I even think both parents feed the chick at this point.
One thing I find different from the budgies is that the baby bird doesn't chirp as often or as loud. I don't know if that's normal or not, though.

 

[aluz]

More good news, the second chick hatched today!
They both have yellowish/orange fuzzy baby feathers (don't know the exact name in English), you can see it in the pictures below. I think it means those birds are from the green series and will have red beaks.

It's funny how they hatch and are already covered by the thin layer of "underwear feathers".

By the way, what do you call this type of "underwear feathers"?

 

[pinksand]

Yay! Congrats on baby #2 I can't wait to see their progress in the coming weeks. They're going to be stunners! The parents are both gorgeous!

 

[aluz]

Thank you, I already find them pretty with the orange fuzz all around them!
The third chick arrived today right on schedule, the differences in size are quite visible.

The orangies

One more egg to go!

 

[pinksand]

Aw! Look at that little fuzz butt! So cute!!! Congrats on baby #3

 

[pmiaria]

Ohhhhhhh! They are all so cuteeeeeee! I like seeing the difference in their tiny bodies. Amazing what 1 day will do...

 

[aluz]

The 4th egg still hasn't hatched, it's delayed but not yet out of schedule.
I will give it to the end of this week before removing it from the nest.
The parents have been doing a good job, all three babies have full crops, they even let me watch them during feeding time. The oldest is getting a darker colour on the skin, in the next few days the first pin feathers will show.

Here are some photos of Nico eating his spinach to give to the whole family:

I will post pictures of the babies by the end of this week, when their colours get more visible. The two youngest are still pinkies, but growing fast.

 

[eduardo]

Wow, thank you so much for posting this wonderful story! Looking forward to seeing the chicks getting bigger!

 

[aluz]

You're very welcome!
As this is my first time ever breeding fischer's lovebirds, I just wanted to share with all of you my joy and also learn from it the way I have learnt from the budgies. Seeing the different stages they go through, the differences between them and the budgies in terms of rearing their young.
I find it all very beautiful and heart-warming. Maybe this thread could shed some light or even provide a bit of help for people that in the future want to breed lovebirds.

 

[pmiaria]

Can't wait to see photos of the chicks! I love the one where he has this look of : "Yes, can I help you?????"

My female has finally abandoned her eggs yesterday... I was I bit concerned since I wondered when she was going to stop incubating her infertile eggs. I thought that, because it was her first experience, she did not know when

Viewing your clutch is giving me the joy I missed out of with my lovebird's clutch!

 

[aluz]

I'm glad to know your lovebird has left the eggs behind and I hope she is back to her normal, loving self again.

Today I had a rare chance of being able to take out the oldest chick, since both parents were out of the nest busying themselves with some millet.
Here is the little turkey-tushed alien:

You can already see how the beak is turning red

The three in the nest:

 

[eduardo]

Aw, how cute