Personal Projects for 2011

For the last couple of weeks, since December 2010, I have been setting goals for the year 2011. Well, you might say, this is nothing new, everybody does this. My goals, however, keep shifting in timeline.

I made a firm promise to myself that this year I would do the following and it is not negotiable:
1. Publish a novel or at least get one accepted by a publisher,
2. Produce enough vegetables to not only supply our own household – I am already doing that, but to sell and supply to needy families in the local community,
3. Get my African Grey parrots settled on the farm and have them start breeding again. All of this needs to be done while still working a full time job at DKP Investigations and helping on the farm. 

This doesn’t seem like much of a goal, but life has a strange way of getting in the way of realising your goals.

The two novels I have finished, need to be edited. I HATE EDITING and I keep finding more important things to do – like updating the blog! I am itching to start with a new novel, but have to finish editing the others first. Finding the time to read your own writing and being critical about it, is not that easy. One tends to read over the mistakes or start doubting your own abilities.

As for producing the vegetables, I have to wait to get the tunnel installed and at the moment, the men just don’t have the time to prepare the earth for the project. We are located on a hilly slope and the ground has to be levelled first. So now I wait…and wait… and wait. Hopefully this will get done before the end of the month, but at the rate we are progressing now, that timeline might also shift.

The African Grey Parrots were supposed to be relocated by the end of January, but again, construction on their housing haven’t even started yet. I love it when we have African Grey parrot chicks in the house as it means I am forced to work until their 2am feeding time and the house is quiet from 10pm onwards. Many of my novels were written during that time.

Well, I hope to have the novel edited before I go the Kruger National Park in the first week of March so that I can celebrate my anniversary with a clear conscience. I’ll keep you posted on how I get along with realising the goals. 

How Much to Feed African Grey Parrot Babies When Hand Rearing

The amount of formula to feed an African Grey Parrot chick and the times between feedings vary from bird to bird.As stated in a reply to a previous post, African Grey chicks are like children – each has their own needs and personality.

How Often Should you Feed the African Grey Parrot Chick?

 

The general rule of thumb is to feel the chick’s crop. If the crop is nearly empty, it is time to feed the baby.

What we usually do is to start feeding every three hours from the time we take them from the nest – usually at three or four weeks. We monitor the crop clearing carefully during that time to make sure the crop never completely empties. You should also take care not to leave too much food in the crop as this could lead to illnesses in the chick.

When you find that the crop is empty after two hours, you need to decrease the time between feeds and if the crop is still relatively firm after three hours, increase the time between feeds.

Here is an African Grey parrot chick with a nearly empty crop.

And here is the chick with a full crop.

Your bird therefore mostly dictates how often he/she should be fed.

How Much to Feed your African Grey Parrot Chick

When the chick is still very small, you need to feel the crop to make sure you don’t under or over feed the chick. When the crop is feeling stiff, not hard though,  the chick will have enough formula for the time being, Overfeeding can lead to the chick bringing up the excess formula and underfeeding will be detrimental to the bird as it would stem development of the bird. As the parrot babies get older, they will stop feeding when they’ve had enough.

They will also begin to show interest in other foods like shelled sunflower seed, fruit and a boiled mixture of other seeds. From about six to eight weeks we introduced these foods slowly before and after feeding the formula to get the birds accustomed to a variety of other food except formula and sunflower seeds.

African Grey Baby/Chick - 10 Days Old

This African Grey Chick is 10 days old and a complete sweetie. We removed him from the nest a little too early ( I think) but he is feeding well and gaining weight. Two days ago the African Grey Chick weighed 130 grams and today a whopping 160 grams. That is a 23% weight gain.

Being alone seems to be the only problem this little one has, but the soft toy we put in with him appears to help ease the loneliness a little. He is much quieter than the other two, but makes soft noises when he notices you or you stroke him.

He is still a bit "naked" and looking at the tiny shafts of feathers appearing, it seems like he will still be that way for a while. At he moment the down on his head gives him the appearance of a semi-punk (which to me adds to the cute level substantially.)

He likes to eat and because the crop didn't clear enough in two and a half hours, we moved the feeding times to every three hours. (After the short break with the other two, this again takes a little getting used to.)

The other two chicks have settled in well with their owners and the reports I get are that they are absolutely the most clever and most cute parrots ever hatched. Hmm, I thought so from the start, but it's great to get positive feedback from their owners. Needless to say, both are being spoiled rotten and are treated like children in the home.

I hope you will enjoy this journey with the growing African Grey chick as much as we do.

African Grey Babies Now 7 Weeks Old

The African Grey Parrot chicks are now 7 weeks old and full of feathers. Hand rearing the chicks has not been such a mission as we first thought and they are becoming more and more independent. They started to eat soft food over the weekend and now resides in a proper parrot cage with extra mesh at the bottom to prevent them from falling through.



The smaller one is a keen learner and already starts to react to instructions to climb onto your finger, but the feet are not yet co-operating and if she has one claw closed the other refuses. Her balance is much better than the bigger one which is a complete sweetie.



The younger one also is the most inquisitive and will investigate anything and everything you place inside the cage. She now decided she likes the soft food better than the porridge and it appears that she will be weaned long before her older sibling as she eats less porridge with every feed and more soft food and seeds.



I don't know how we are going to say goodbye to these two in two weeks time as they each has their own personality and are adorable, but I suppose that is part of breeding African Grey Parrots.

African Grey Chicks - Comparison at 3 and 6 weeks

A 10-week old Congo African Grey Chick

Our Congo African Grey chicks are now 6 weeks old and I thought it would be interesting to show a comparison between the African Grey babies at 3 weeks and at 6 weeks. The chicks showed an interest in soft foods today for the first time and after realizing the food is quite tasty, they ate and played with the food for nearly an hour.

The bare wings now have feathers and even the long feathers at the tips of the wings are developing quite fast.

The red tail feathers, which are unique to the Congo African Grey parrots, have also developed and three distinct rows of tail feathers are present. Note the lone red feather just above the tail and the tuft of down just below.

We weighed the chicks today and the smaller one weighs in at 550grams while the larger chick weighs a roaring 650 grams. They have more than doubled in size in three weeks.

During the past weekend we cared for a 10 week old African Grey parrot. "Gogga" the parrot baby is already weaned and only wanted to taste the baby formula because the little ones ate. At one stage we had a total of five parrots ranging from 6 weeks to 8 years old on the kitchen table and it made for interesting play time. Gogga enjoyed climbing all over hubby while the little one sought refuge from the miniature windstorm Gogga created.

 In the photo's of the African Grey parrots below you can clearly see the difference in the eyes of an adult and baby parrot. The adult African Grey parrot has a yellow ring around the black pupil while the baby's eyes are nearly totally black.

We have already found a home for the smaller baby African Grey parrot, but will only deliver after the chicks are completely weaned and able to fend for themselves.

African Grey Parrot Babies Develop Feathers

Our African Grey parrot chicks are nearly 5 weeks old now. They have grown by the hour and I think doubled in size during the last week. They are eating well and this week started to develop feathers.

Even the red tail feathers, unique to the Congo African Grey start to show.

The parrot chicks enjoy stretching their legs and simulating flight by flapping their wings - causing mayhem in the brooded as wood shavings fly all over the place. As mentioned in the previous post, they discovered their voices and now they tend to "talk" to the person feeding them (Especially if the porridge is not provided quickly enough.)

You will notice the eyes are fully open and trust me, they see quite well. The eyes will turn more yellow as the African Grey parrot matures and the black eyes are a dead giveaway for a young parrot.

African Grey Chicks - 28 Days Old

The African Grey Parrot babies are growing by the hour. Feeds are now 4 hours apart - yah! More sleep, but they are cute as buttons. Each one of the African Grey chicks has his own personality and feeding time turns into playtime for them.

The photo's show the oldest hatchling after a feed, stretching those legs that must support him for the rest of his life and exercising the wings (not that those small wings would ever support the likes of the round body).

Since three days ago, they are fluffy little creatures and both discovered they have voices. Night time feeds tends to get a bit noisy and I predict the one sleeping would soon be awaken by the antics of the baby parrots.

Dont' you also want one?

From Baby African Greys

Pictures of African Grey Parrot Chicks

Here is a few pictures I took today of the African Grey Parrot babies. They are now 24 days old and growing by the hour. Note the feathers starting on the wings. We added some soft toys for them to cuddle up against and they seem to enjoy the company.

 

 

African Grey Chicks are 22 Days Old

Feeding times are now every three hours and we're getting some more sleep. The African Grey chicks are growing by the centimeter every day. It is amazing to see the amount of small feathers they gain every day. Their heads pop up over the brim of the Tupper container and they can hardly wait for each feed.



Due to these little babies, we now had to cancel our holiday planned for December with the in-laws. Not that I am complaining, we can always take the tour next year, but the babies will not survive without some tender loving care.

African Grey Parrot Babies Sit Up

Some more photo's of the African Grey parrot babies taken yesterday the 4th of November 2009.

They are trying to sit upright, but still have trouble balancing. The chicks rock back and forth - hence the out of focus parts of the photos.

I hope you will find them as adorable as I do.

African Grey Chicks Are 17 Days Old

The African Grey parrot chicks are now 17 days old and have been in the brooder for the last 3 days. They require feeding every two and a half hours and it feels like I have a newborn baby in the house again.

From Baby African Greys

As you can see, they grew tremendously during the last ten days and they are now able to sit upright during feeds and move around in the plastic container we keep them in. On the small segment of video, you'll notice the color in the brooder to be funny. I had to use night vision on the camera as the infrared lights gives the picture a too reddish tint. The eyes of the African Grey chicks are sensitive and the harsh white light used to warm the brooders may damage them.

The eyes are just starting to open and they are definitely able to hear and distinguish between different sounds. Upon entering the breeding room, they will lie quietly until they hear the chair in front of the breeder scrape. During the past three days they have come to recognize the sound as being associated with feeding time.

Each baby consumes approximately 7.5ml of formula during every feed and they are cute as buttons when they sit bold upright after a feed to allow the food to digest. Even without feathers they both "groom" the little plumage (and there really isn't much to see) like their adult counterparts.

They start to make noises during and after feeding and even at this early stage there is no mistaking them for any other bird than a parrot.

How Do You Keep Faith in Yourself?

I came accross a blogpost today of Keith Smith with the apt title of "Keep your faith and your doubts will starve to death!"

The title alone made me want to read more as the amount of faith I have in my own abilities directly correlates to the amount of sleep I get per night. At least, that is what I realized after 3 nights of very little sleep.

As you know from the previous posts, I am participating in the challenge to write a 50 000 word novel in the month of November as well as writing 30 articles for Suite 101 in the same time. That alone is enough to cause sleep deprivation, but to top it all up, we have two African Grey Chicks in the brooder (2 weeks old) that demands feeding every two and a half hours. Sigh...I feel every bone of my 40-plus body. Bloodshot eyes staring back at you from a wrinkled, devoid of make-up face at 6 am when you went to bed at 2 am is not a pretty sight. No, don't try it, take my word for it.

The chicks are doing great, by the way, and I,m sure they grew a couple of centimeters since Sunday when we removed them from the nest. They are adorable and even at this early stage, each one has its own personality.

But I regress from the issue at hand. Keeping faith in yourself when doubts in your abilities surface, is a daunting task. Keith Smith offers a simple solution - faith in yourself = conquering your fears of inadequacy. He suggests just grinding your teeth and getting on with the job at hand until your fears disappear. Good advice?

What if you really aren't good enough to do what you set out to do? What if you really don't have it in you to write that book or finish a task you started? What if...

How will you know if you don't try and stick to it? I don't know, but I am sure going to give it my best shot.

How do you keep faith in yourself?

Baby African Grey Parrots

At last we were able to get a short segment of video of the African Grey Parrot chicks that hatched last week. The 2 babies are now 7 days old and it was quite a mission getting the footage. One person had to wait inside the bird cages, concealed by a piece of plastic sheeting from the rest of the cages while the other sat outside to watch the birds. Because we do not want to disturb the parents, we had to wait until both parents left the breeding boxes and went to the front of the cage.

And the wait had been long. We tried the whole week long with "locked up" times varying from 1-4 hours. Today it paid off and the attached video is the result. With no light inside the breeding boxes we had to use night vision to limit the disturbance to the chicks to the minimum so the picture is sort of black and white.

Hope you have a few "ah shame" moments like I did.