Zoo welcomes baby flamingoes

Caldwell Zoo's flamingo population has grown by seven, as a crop of babies were born this winter. Due to the cold weather, the chicks had to be removed from the flock and hand-fed. After the chicks adapted to this feeding process, they were able to be taken outside for daily walks, which became a favorite part of the bird keepers' day.

Caldwell Zoo is proud to announce the addition of seven baby Chilean flamingos, bringing their total to 59 flamingos.

The chicks started hatching Oct. 31 with the last one hatching on Dec. 6. Generally the flamingos lay eggs and raise their young during the summer, but due to lack of rainfall, the breeding process was delayed until October.

Due to the cold snap right after Thanksgiving, the chicks had to be pulled and handraised by the bird staff. The chicks were too small to be run into the barn with the remaining flock, and too large for the parents to protect them from the icy cold weather.

The staff had to wait 12 days and then chose to return two of the older chicks to their parents, keeping the younger ones to hand raise.

After the long separation, the staff was pleased to see the two chicks immediately return to their parents. Within one hour, the parents began to feed their chicks with "crop milk", a secretion they produce from their upper digestive track by dripping it into the chick's bill.

The chicks that were too young to be returned to their parents were moved to the brooder house for staff to hand feed every two hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. To imitate the "crop milk" process, the bird staff fed the chicks a high protein, liquid egg diet.