The nestbox is a special place lol. The birds are programmed by nature to defend it ferociously. Nature didn't give them any tips on what to do when young babies aren't in the nest.

Here are todays weights: chick #1 46, 9 day old; chick #2 41g at 7 days; chick #3 28g at 6 days and chick #4 15g at 3 days. Crops look good. They like to poop on me LOL.

Chicks are poop machines, they like to poop on everything lol.

Compared to the average weight of Shodu's babies, chick #1 and 4 are exactly average and chick #2 and 3 are a little bigger.

What influences their weight? Is it genetic or does it have to do with how often the parents feed them or the food that the parents are eating?

We have had another milestone today. Bitsy actually let both my son and I touch the chicks when she was in the nestbox as well as giving her a quick scritches. She has always been the least aggressive of the two.

I think it's all those things combined.

My parent birds go through phases with their nestbox security. In the beginning they're super defensive of the nest, but as the chicks get older they relax and it reaches a point where they don't care if I put my hand in the nest and touch the babies or pick them up or even move the parents themselves around. Then the next year they forget that nothing bad happens when I look in the nest, and the cycle repeats.

The chicks have started to fly and are beginning to nibble on some seed and birdie bread. This clutch is very sweet. They love to be held and snuggled. The supplemental feeding did not work for me. The youngest 2 were easy to feed but the older 2 were very resistant, so I stoped trying. The chick who I thought was not gaining weight as I thought he should has turned out to be a small bird. He and I have fallen in love and this is the one that I am going to keep.