The Gift That Keeps On Giving...

Sorry to disappoint, this is not an amazingly inspirational post, as the title may imply…

Last year Loren and I got my parents a pair of lovebirds. Click here for last year's post. [Above: Lucy (blue) and Ricky (green)]. The family’s last pair laid eggs that never hatched, and sadly the female died from an egg that got stuck. So, like a teenager having unprotected sex who thinks, “it can’t happen to me,” my dad once again put a nesting box on the cage and we were all shocked when eggs started hatching around Thanksgiving! Three of five eggs hatched and the first and third hatchers survived. [Left: a little over a week old.] We’re told these are actually really impressive stats. Throughout the incubation process my parents joked that my brothers and I were each getting a chick for Christmas; my oldest brother said he’d take his hard boiled!


Even after the hatching began, my parents were skeptical the chicks would survive. [Right: about two and a half weeks.] They’ve always been amazing parents to me, but these poor birds are getting the short end of the planning stick! Now they have two healthy lovebird chicks and no idea what to do with them, as none of the human children want a bird!

So, if you or anyone you know wants one, let me know… or if not, just enjoy the photos; click to enlarge.










[Above: at a little over a month old, the oldest chick has began contemplating taking his first step out of the nesting box. I took these two days ago, so I'm sure by now it's out and about!]