Week 2

The growth rate of the very young Congo is astronomical.  Their size has more than doubled from the day of hatch.  Their bodies are covered with fuzzy down.  The chicks can now open their eyes.  They can hold their bodies upright for increasing lengths of time.  They are beginning to move around the nest just a little.  They still spend the majority of their day snoozing and eating. 

Congos make excellent, doting parents.  Both parent birds feed the chicks as well as each other in the nest.  The parent birds are constantly attentive.  The hen leaves the nest for just minutes at a time.  The chicks are  rarely left alone by both parents at a time.  When one parent bird is out, the other will be in the nest taking care of the chicks.  During the first few weeks, the chicks experience nearly constant tactile stimulation from siblings and/or parent birds.  The infant chicks cuddle together and rest their heads on each other's back.  Both parents gently preen, cover, brood and nuzzle their babies in what could be described as a very attentive way.  

The best place for the very young Congo is in the nest of the bird parents.  Human hands simply cannot duplicate the nearly constant stimulation that the young chick requires.  I have seen a correlation between length of time spent in the nest and increased ability of a Congo chick to problem solve and handle stress effectively.  The chick that has had the benefit of extended nest time with his parents will develop in to a more secure and stable adult.   These are the birds that are easier to work with.   A bird that is easier to work with will make a better pet.

Co-parenting continues in the second week.  Now the chicks are covered with down, eyes are open and they can sit up on their own for short periods of time.  Subsequently, they can stay warm out of the nest for longer training periods.   The newly aquired sense of sight, increased physical control over body posture and increasing physical strength enhances learning ability.  The babies learn through our program of gradually increasing sensory stimulation. 

We still keep lights low and try and control the level of household activity and noise when the chicks are out of the nest and upstairs.  The goal is to make every human interaction a positive, trust building one.  This approach sets the stage for successful bonding with humans.

At this stage of co-parenting, the training goal is to introduce our chicks to the tactile stimulation of our hands.  The babies become familiar and comfortable with the sensations of humans gently holding and lifting them.  They learn how it feels as they are carried in our hands when we walk with them.  They hear our gentle voices and the household sounds that will become commonplace in the life of a companion parrot.  They are just beginning to see the human world of "light." 

This week we began patterning to hand feeding.  The chicks are offered warm, moist, soft hand weaning pellets from our hands.  They eagerly gobble down the food from our hands.  In this excersize, the transition is bridged from taking feedings from their parents to hand feeding from myself and my family.  It is the very important first step in developing a pet that is trusting and will relying on humans for nutritional needs.

Between 2 and 3 weeks of age we will band the chicks with closed, stainless steel bands.  The band is placed on the right leg.  Information we have printed on the band includes breeder identification (my initials), bird identification (this is the "number" we use to refer to the birds before we have their names and is assigned according to hatch order), year of hatch and state in which bird hatched (MI).

Our March 2007 hatch babies have all been banded as of this week.

Below, our March 2007 hatch chicks, chick 1 on the left, chick 2 in the middle, chick 3 on the right.

At this age, chick 1 is vocal and engaging, chick 2 is active and alert, chick 3 is content and easy going.  All are charming and cuddly. 

Aren't they the most beautiful clutch you have seen?