Georgia's Babies
Thank you so much Georgia for sharing this experience with us!
By Eleanor McCaffrey Copyright Notice: No portion of this text or photos
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This precious little angel's name is Burt. Here is Georgia's story about how she saved his life. "I stayed up all night waiting for 2 babies to be born. Finally one was out of the egg and the other looked like it was coming along pretty good. So I decided to take a little rest. Well, I fell asleep and when I went over to check on the progress, Baby Burt was still in the egg and not doing very well. The egg had dried and he couldn't get loose. I decided I better help him a little. I had to do this a time or two when raising pheasants and it usually didn't turn out well. I was a little hesitant at doing this, but he was in real trouble.

(Burt and Morris with some feathers.) I moistened the shell a little and started to remove some shell and pretty soon a little leg came kicking out and then another, and there he was. I put him back with mom and pop, but he was too weak to eat and they just ignored him. I found him in the corner, very cold. I put him on a heating pad, and got on the internet. I had hand fed my other 2 birds, but they were a little older. I started to feed him, every hour, and by the second day he was begging every time he heard me come in the kitchen. Yesterday I decided to try putting him back with mom and dad. He was strong enough to get in on the feeding and mom and dad obliged.

(Burt and Morris ready for new homes.) Newbie and Pete were very good parents.  I am glad they took Burt in because it's better for him (or her).I do miss feeding him. He liked to snuggle after eating, a little difficult to do but we managed.Newbie and Pete were both lost birds that I found outside. Mom was in the neighbor's yard with cats surrounding her. About a week later dad was in a tree across the street. No one claimed them so they decided to stay with us. They get along very well and Newbie is the sweetest little girl I have ever seen.My other 2 birds, Clem and Pico, are very, very sweet and spoiled rotten. 

*Note: Parent birds usually do not feed the babies until they are about 8 hours old. The babies have received nutrition from absorbing the yolk sac prior to hatching. If a baby has been pushed aside like Burt was, this is life threatening because the baby is getting cold and will die if not taken care of immediately. Many breeders have told me about babies being pushed to the side like Burt was. Most of the babies died but others like Burt were very lucky and survived.

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