We frequently talk about how best to start babies, so I thought I'd post a few pics and some explanation of what I do.
Here is where I soak the babies, as you can see the stacked tubs in the background of this pic. In the foreground, I've put in fresh paper towels, spritzed them, and I've sorted out the days food for each brooder box. I do this daily and rotate boxes. This ensures that the damp environment that I keep them in stays clean and free of unwanted bacterial or fungal growth. The damp paper towels offer good traction and cushion for their yolk sacs or open bellies.
On the menu today is grape leaf, rose leaf, rose petals, and some finely chop fresh grass. They also get their egg shells to nibble on for a few days. Here I've got the tops off of their boxes for a little sun and to take this pic:
I only like to have 5 or 6 to a box. It gets too crowded and messy with any more than that.
These babies all hatched in the last few days. They will stay in these boxes for about 7-10 days while they absorb any yolk sac and close up their umbilical scars. In the first day or two, they only nibble a little, but after that, they begin to chow down and I have to leave a surprisingly large amount of food in there for six tiny little hatchlings.
The boxes are kept in this large bird brooder during this part of the process. I don't like to keep the brooder boxes in the incubator because its always dark in there. In this bird brooder they can start to get used to the day/night cycles, and they can see what they are nibbling on.
It is during these first few day that a baby learns what to eat. If they don't learn what to eat and get a wide variety during this stage, they become the "picky" eaters that we hear so much about on our forum. Here is a partial sampling of the food my babies are fed in their first few days: Mulberry leaves, lavatera leaves and flowers, hibiscus leaves and flowers, mallow, sow thistle, thistle, milk thistle, prickly lettuce, bristle tongue, dandelion, broad and narrow leaf plantain weed, fresh grown alfalfa, clover, wild mustard, wild garlic, several grass species, spineless opuntia pads, Mazuri, spring mix, fresh grown arugula, fiddle neck leaves, hollyhock leaves and flowers, hens bit, hawks bit, Italian dandelion or chicory, radish tops, carrot tops, cilantro, celery tops, rose petals and leaves, grape leaves, and a whole bunch of other weeds that I don't know the names of. I feed them something different every day for weeks. Most days there are two or three things on the menu. Some days just one thing. The result of all this effort and my reward is when someone buys one of my babies and comments on how the baby will eat all the "right" foods and will eat anything. Contrast this to the typical breeder out there that drops in a handful of spring mix or romaine because its easier. A baby started that way has never even seen grass or weeds, much less eaten any!
Hope this helps. Conversation is welcome.
Here is where I soak the babies, as you can see the stacked tubs in the background of this pic. In the foreground, I've put in fresh paper towels, spritzed them, and I've sorted out the days food for each brooder box. I do this daily and rotate boxes. This ensures that the damp environment that I keep them in stays clean and free of unwanted bacterial or fungal growth. The damp paper towels offer good traction and cushion for their yolk sacs or open bellies.
On the menu today is grape leaf, rose leaf, rose petals, and some finely chop fresh grass. They also get their egg shells to nibble on for a few days. Here I've got the tops off of their boxes for a little sun and to take this pic:
I only like to have 5 or 6 to a box. It gets too crowded and messy with any more than that.
These babies all hatched in the last few days. They will stay in these boxes for about 7-10 days while they absorb any yolk sac and close up their umbilical scars. In the first day or two, they only nibble a little, but after that, they begin to chow down and I have to leave a surprisingly large amount of food in there for six tiny little hatchlings.
The boxes are kept in this large bird brooder during this part of the process. I don't like to keep the brooder boxes in the incubator because its always dark in there. In this bird brooder they can start to get used to the day/night cycles, and they can see what they are nibbling on.
It is during these first few day that a baby learns what to eat. If they don't learn what to eat and get a wide variety during this stage, they become the "picky" eaters that we hear so much about on our forum. Here is a partial sampling of the food my babies are fed in their first few days: Mulberry leaves, lavatera leaves and flowers, hibiscus leaves and flowers, mallow, sow thistle, thistle, milk thistle, prickly lettuce, bristle tongue, dandelion, broad and narrow leaf plantain weed, fresh grown alfalfa, clover, wild mustard, wild garlic, several grass species, spineless opuntia pads, Mazuri, spring mix, fresh grown arugula, fiddle neck leaves, hollyhock leaves and flowers, hens bit, hawks bit, Italian dandelion or chicory, radish tops, carrot tops, cilantro, celery tops, rose petals and leaves, grape leaves, and a whole bunch of other weeds that I don't know the names of. I feed them something different every day for weeks. Most days there are two or three things on the menu. Some days just one thing. The result of all this effort and my reward is when someone buys one of my babies and comments on how the baby will eat all the "right" foods and will eat anything. Contrast this to the typical breeder out there that drops in a handful of spring mix or romaine because its easier. A baby started that way has never even seen grass or weeds, much less eaten any!
Hope this helps. Conversation is welcome.