Killdeer hatching.

[RandyRhoads]

My Killdeer eggs just hatched.


100_1831.mp4 video by randy666rhoads - Photobucket (http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d86/randy666rhoads/?action=view&current=100_1831.mp4)

[mistersprinkles]

So you understand baby birds need to be fed every half hour or so for several weeks with pre-warmed baby fird formula from a syringe and that they require emotional attention in a massive way or they'll die right? And you have these things available and know how to use them? And a comfortable controlled warm environment with no draft to raise the chicks?

[RandyRhoads]

All but the emotional attention. Never heard of them needing that. Didn't know they were social birds.

[TeaNinja]

if you do not read them sesame street books every day and kiss them goodnight THEY WILL DIE
lol

[Max713]

Killdeer are the most annoying birds in the entire freaking world!!!

Haha, sorry but those things obnoxious "call" drive me absolutely nuts. Especially while they yell at you all day long. While your out in a field working. Every day. One of the few animals I actually wish harm onto.

Congrats on the new baby though! Here's to hoping they don't make that god awful sound in captivity.

[RandyRhoads]

Lol they already do. I like it though I grew up with them all around my place. Hope they do ok there's supposed to be really hard to raise in captivity. One site said they couldn't be incubated or hatched outside of a lab but so far that wasn't true. A mother unfotunately made her nest in the middle of the freakin road.

[stephanbakir]

Grats man, now comes the hard part!

[mistersprinkles]

All birds need significant emotional attention when being raised. You also have to be careful to get the temperature and consistency of the baby bird formula exact or you can either damage their crop ('pre stomach') with too much heat or the cold food won't digest properly. They have a very strange digestive system.

One experiment found that when raising ducks and geese in captivity the mortality rate fell sharply when the exact same conditions were given but one group was given 'love' and attention and company constantly. They did much better.