I have had to assist smaller kits to survive in the first 10 days many times, by taking the doe and rolling her upside down on her back in my lap, cupping her head in my left elbow and holding her two front legs with my left hand, very firmly. I advise long sleeve leather gloves and a heavy coat at the very least as the does hate this at first. She will probably try to bite you and she will definitely scratch like blazes. When she settles (be firm with her but do not hurt her) have a helper hand you the skinny kit. Put it near her nose and talk to her in hushed tones telling her what you are doing and why. She will sniff it and it will squiggle so keep a good hold. The sound of your gentle voice will help to comfort the doe. Place the kit on her belly and cup your gloved hand over its body and do not relax. This is for four reasons. At first the doe will probably struggle at first as the kit is placed on her belly. Have your helper ready to take the kit if you are losing the grip on the doe. Re-adjust and try again. It may take three or four tries until the doe settles. The second reason to keep your hand cupped over the kit is to stop it falling off the does tummy. In the excitement of finally getting a free go at the milk, the kit will snuffle through the fur like a bulldozer looking for gold. It will latch onto a nipple and start to palpate mum with pounding little feet, then let go suddenly, change direction like popping popcorn and launch off looking for another nipple. This will go on for about ten minutes. Its urgency will slow gradually as its belly fills and when you hold it up you will see it is full as a tick and now has a milk hangover. The third reason for the cupped hand, is at any stage the doe can lash out with her back feet which are not held. This is not usual after the initial scuffle at the start but your gloved hand can rescue the kit and protect it from a clawing. Finally by cupping the kit you are keeping its body at least a bit warm. Try to do all of the above, once a day. Make a comparative check on all kits bellies once a day after day 2. You might find just one extra feed is enough to jump start the slightly weaker kit. Waiting till day 4 or 5 gives the king kits, too much of a head start and the weaker one or two, never gain enough strength to hold their own. My does are so used to this now, they tend to go to sleep during the process. I also wear an oodie which is super comfortable for them and provides great protection for me. If I dont have a helper, I slip the kit or kits into the oodie pocket to await their turn. Be aware they will probably wee after feeding, so you will be washing your oodie daily for a few days. I know this may draw some criticism from the survival of the fittest crowd, but when you are breeding for meat, weaned kits at 6 weeks are infinitely better than dead ones in the first two weeks to prove a point.

Hi TH, The way most of us do this is to feel the pot's weight. If it's got a little heft, you're fine. If it feels light as a feather, it likely needs water. You can set the little pots in warmish (at least room temperature) water and let them soak up as much as they need-but no longer than 15 minutes or so. If they don't seem to soak any up, check under the bottoms of the little cups and ensure the hole is completely pierced through. Once you've watered them once, you'll feel the difference in the weight. There's no set schedule for watering-that comes with time and understanding of your own environment and potting mix. After a couple weeks, you'll have a better feel for how often they'll need watering! And, FYI, I have read that re-potting them often (even as often as every two weeks) when they're babies will speed up growth. I have found that to be true, but haven't conducted any true experiments per se! You can keep them in the same pot size-just adding fresh soil seems to really spark their growth. Welcome to the world of streps! Best, Judy

Today = 18 days since 1st 3 baby bluebirds hatched in my frontyard birdhouse and 17 days since the other 2 baby bluebirds hatched. We had a rainstorm late yesterday, so I thought the babies would not come out until this morning. Fortunately, it was a "normal" rainstorm without all the high winds we've had in the last couple of months. I got up very early this morning and I think there is only 1 left in the box. I hear his lonely little sad chirping and have seen the dad bluebird 5 times since 7:00 a.m. come to this one. They could have come more times, but this is all I have seen. The next to last time the dad bluebird just popped his head in the box and did not feed the baby, or I didn't see anything in his mouth to feed as he went in, but the baby quieted down for a while. The last time, he did feed the baby and checked in on him 3 times, and "bonked" his reflection in my window 3 times. He doesn't see me as the room is dark and he sees only the reflection of what is outside. I saw 1 in the backyard kid's playhouse and this one was soaking wet. It could have been that he just got wet from the heavy dew we have here today. The babies seem to love the little shed and kid's playhouse we have because they are also made of the cedar that their house is made of. My husband said that they probably think they are in a giant birdhouse - lol. I hear at least 1 in the tall trees in the woods in back of our house making the same little sounds asking to be fed. I so much wanted to see them fledge this time, but I guess I missed it again. The only thing I can hope is that I can sit where I am in the bedroom window where I have a direct view of the birdhouse opening and hope that this last one fledges today or tomorrow. I'm really not sure he'll be ready to leave until tomorrow, so I've got a long wait in store, especially since I have to be getting ready for my son's wedding.

You know what, Cathy, I am wrong. It does open from the top so that's not what the problem was; it was the mesh right below the opening. Do you think I can remove that? Or should I put the screws right through the wire? He is out there singing loudly this morning and I know what's coming. I caught a few early in the season with my repeating trap but some animal kept knocking it over in the night so I stopped using it. I may have to set it up again. As I said in a post earlier in the season my new next door neighbor had a sparrow nest on either end of his roof, so figure 10 baby sparrows each nesting. I may be in trouble here.