- Here are some photos of an incubator hatched baby. We
had to pull the egg from the nest because the male was destroying too many
eggs. It is my first successful assisted hatch of a greenwing macaw chick.
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- The baby started trying to break the shell open Friday
morning (Feb 13) but by Friday evening things had not progressed. So, I
made the decision to intervene to save the baby and help it hatch successfully.
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- It was a 36 hour process from external pip to hatch out.
Every 2 hours I would chip away a little more of the shell and inner membrane,
taking great care to stop where I saw red veins and only proceeding when
the red veins had receded and disappeared. It was a beautiful experience
to watch life happen. Thought you would enjoy seeing what I saw...
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- Here I had opened up the egg so the chick could
get plenty of air. You can see the egg tooth on the little beak and the
wing curled up under the lower beak.
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- I had chipped more of the shell away at this
point, and you can see the leg curled around the head and the 2 dark spots
where the eyes will develop. The chick is lying on
its side so only one wing is free.
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- Here more of the baby is freed from the egg but
the umbilicus is still attached. One leg is now free to push against the
shell when the time comes.
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- This is how I chipped away at the shell, bit
by bit.
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- Here the chick is already starting to kick with
the freed up leg.
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- Chick on the half shell.
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- Final moments of hatching...here the chick has
pushed itself out of the shell but must still break the umbilicus before
it is finally free. You can see it in the lower abdominal
area of the chick.
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- Here is a clearer picture of the umbilicus with
the chick kicking away.
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- Almost free....
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- Chick has hatched and is 5 minutes old here.
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- First feeding of pedialyte 1/2 hour after hatching...
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- Six Days Later....
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- Hi Jeff - The Greenwing chick is 6 days old today, 2-20-10,
and has doubled its weight since hatching...thriving and doing well.
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- From Rita
- AvianAdventuresAviary.com
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- Hope you are well...
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- Best wishes,
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- Rita
- rita@avianadventuresaviary.com
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- Baby Greenwing Macaw At 14 Days
Update 2-27-10
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- Hi Jeff - The baby has grown...from 23 grams at hatching
to 164 grams at 14 days. Some of your readers who emailed me have asked
for a progress report. He/she is a strong little eater, already very vocal
and interactive. The eyes will open in the next week as well as the ear
canal openings. Dark little dots on the body are where more down feathers
will emerge through the skin. Right now he/she uses its wings like little
arms to brace and balance itself. Since it has no feathering at all yet,
it cannot self-regulate body temperature, so I'm keeping the brooder temperature
at a comfy 93 degrees. Enjoy!
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- Hi Jeff - (UPDATE 3-6-10)
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- Here is an update on the baby's growth and progress.
He is developing his down feathers and the lower beak is starting to change
color.
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- Baby is very snuggly and orients to hands and voice turning
in the direction of the voice/hand. He is on 4 feedings a day and gains
anywhere from 25-45 grams a day right now. His rate of growth is amazing
right now. Still needs to be kept warm at 93 degrees for at least another
week or two.
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- Enjoy...
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- Rita
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