Titbox

4 chicks definitely thriving and ‘Runty’ clearly not and getting left further behind every day. Often it isn’t asking for food, also spends a lot of time stuck under the others. I don’t see how it can last much longer now.

A few things to notice here:

The largest chick (on the left) is starting to get out of the nest cup. The smallest chicks are almost under it.

At least some of the chicks are now opening their eyes and when the largest chick spreads its wings you get a really clear view of how the feathers grow in an outer sheath making them look very separated. Eventually this will be shed as the feather develops fully.

The advantage of being able to get out of the cup becomes clear when the parent arrives.

Missed a day yesterday so this one is day 7, roughly a third of the way through to fledging. We can still see 5 mouths wanting feeding. Excellent head stand performed at the end of the clip.

Growing fast, first signs of feathers and wriggling well!

All fine so far.

Have a look in full screen mode (the button with arrows outwards at the top left).

Visits from the male are very common this year, in 2017 the female raised 5 out of 6 successfully almost on her own.

..and I think that’s 5 chicks now!

Live stream is now running on YouTube

Unfortunately you can’t embed a live stream on a little site like this so you’ll need to follow the link to view it.

Last egg was laid yesterday, she’s been sitting on them since. A clutch of 5 eggs is less than the usual 7-12 eggs but with any luck that will mean she has more chance of successfully raising them all.

Generally it’s 13-15 days until first hatching. The male has been visiting with food so if you’re lucky you’ll see him turn up.

I’m expecting the stream to drop from time to time. I’ll be doing some work on making it restart automatically.

See you on YouTube! Please leave comments in Live Chat.