2014
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This year Myles and Mayzie laid the third clutch of eggs. Once again they broke the first egg but then Mayzie went on to lay 4 more eggs for a total of 5 this year! Two of these hatched and both chicks turned out to be males.
The problem with the breakage of the first egg is related to how excited Myles is when it arrives. He is determined to care for the egg and then he and Mazie fight over it. Eventually he settles down and alows Mayzie to manage the nest. We don't have a solution to this problem short of taking the egg and using an incubator but we don't wish to do this. The up side is that Mayzie seems to eat the egg and then go on to replace it. So ultimately, it isn't really an issue.
Mayzie normally plucks her belly when it's time to nest and we have come to realize this is just a normal behavior for these birds. We initially thought she was lining the nest but I now think it allows her to sit more directly on the eggs. The feathers grow back when the chicks wean.
We are now accepting the fact that Myles will do an excellent job of caring for the babies if we leave the task to him. The key is to keep the nest box warm, between 85 and 95 degrees after the eggs hatch and ensure Myles has lots of food that is preferably soft. He will focus on frequent feedings and Mayzie will take some time off. We are lucky because Myles does not mind if we check on the nest or handle the chicks, although we avoid doing this until they are a bit older. Mostly we monitor the general condition of the chicks and their weight gain.
We noticed that one of the chicks was slow to develop. While one was already flying the other was not and it was clear that something was different. I was concerned and worked with the chick to teach him to fly and to spend lots of time with him. To my surprise he learned quickly and became an excellent flyer. And while his brother was very active and liked to chew on everthing, he was much more docile and enjoyed spending time with people.
In the end both chicks turned out to be wonderful birds with very different personalities. They both went to the same customer so that they could stay together and entertain each other.
