Baby Cockatiel weaning?

[FlockOTiels]

hello! I'm new here and my two cockatiels had a clutch of five eggs(my females third clutch), they are both around 2 and a half years old. I got my female from a breeder when she was about a year and a half, my male was given to me for free. 3 out of 5 eggs hatched, baby 1 died out of weakness and the parents picking, baby 2 is about a month and 1 week old, and baby 3 died out of parents picking it. my male(first time father) has been doing all the picking, yet all the feeding. my baby(its name is bear) is just about 5 weeks old, it hatched on dec. 19. it grew normally(from what I saw on yt videos) and it has full feathers, and its tail is the size of my pointing finger. it preens itself and it can fly very well(excusing all the times it has missed the perch) but king(my male) keeps feeding it then plucks its head feathers and feathers on its ears. I've tried feeding it EXAT baby formula and even chopping up the things king would normally feed it(fruit, veggies, chicken, seeds ect.) but it won't take it. it weighs just about 3 ounces about 45 - 1 hour after king(male) feeding it, its eats millet and picked at seeds and food we give it. its to the point where we don't let the baby alone with king because king will pick at it a lot, it almost doesn't have feathers on its left ear. my dad and I did some reading and we guessed that king is trying to make it completely leave the nest so they can start another clutch(which they have 4 eggs in the nest box). I'm worried about Coco(female) because I didn't even know she was going to lay more eggs, the baby was about 3 weeks old when she laid the first egg, I couldn't take king out, or coco, or the nest box because of the baby. I don't want to rush it with the weaning process but I don't want it to be bald or a plucker when it grows up. I am keeping the baby in my room btw, the parents are in the kitchen/dinning room(in the middle of the house). thank you in advance, sorry for the long text, xoxo

 

[FlockOTiels]

 

[sunnysmom]

@Laurul Feather Cat ?

 

[iamwhoiam]

How about adding some organic baby applesauce to the Exact formula? That's what I did when I was handfeeding my baby birds (not 'tiels).
Also make sure that the formula is warm enough but not too hot. I tested it against the inside of my wrist just like people do with formula for babies.

 

[FlockOTiels]

I've tried mixing it with stuff the parents feed it but it won't eat at all for me @iamwhoiam

 

[iamwhoiam]

Have you tried to pretend to eat it? Sounds silly but might work. I actually had problems feeding one of my red-bellies but he had a sibling and when I fed that sibling first he got angry and was then willing to handfeed without any problems whatsoever. What is the temperature of the formula?
I would still give the applesauce a try. Are you using a syringe or a spoon to handfeed? Have you placed a small amount on your finger and to see if he will take it that way just to get used to it or even gently putting a tiny bit into his mouth. You are chopping things up but not pureeing them and what mom and dad are feeding him would not necessarily be comparable to chopped pieces of food.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Bear sounds like he has self weaned due to physical abuse from his father. This is very common; the cock (father) bird wants his hen receptive to mating, not brooding eggs and feeding chicks: so he plucks and picks at the babies, even deliberately kills them, to get the hen back into mating mode. I would NEVER allow this cock to breed again or be around chicks, ever.

Bear just needs to continue with his self weaning. Provide large amounts of easy to eat canary seed (the basic white round seed in cockatiel mix) as well as millet. Slowly start to grate raw veggies and include the grated veggies with the seeds he is eating so he has to taste the veggies while eating the seeds. This will help him wean onto healthy veggies. You can put out pureed veggies, like applesauce, banana, berries, pears, etc., to get him used to the taste of fruit and later once he tastes the real fruit he wil recognize them as food. Pay constant attention to the mount of food he is eating, weigh him at least twice a week and handle him at least daily to keep him tame.

Your bear should be a wonderful pet.

 

[barry collins]

Replied to your taming post first sorry......
You need to handfeed now and take baby away or dad will get worse.
Same happened to my babies with plucking and also one of my babies would not eat from me at all...... keep trying mine went 5 days not eating at all and lost a quarter of its weight until it finally took formula..
I was convinced it would die but eventually started eating and then after saw me as it's source of food and is the fattest of all my birds.
I tried letting the parents see the babies at feeding time but they just gave up one day even though the baby screamed at them for food it was very distressing to see..
Keep trying the formula about 10ml three times a day earlymorning then afternoon then late and you may become new mommy bird..
Definately still needs formula at 5 weeks and the dad could give up feeding anytime!

 

[Monica]

Please weigh in grams, not ounce. 3 ounces could be 85 grams (an acceptable weight for a baby) while 3.9 ounces could be 110 grams. For a small bird, that 25 gram difference could be a *HUGE* change in weight!

If possible, keep Bear separate from his/her parents and keep an eye on weight. Weigh first thing in the morning, after the first poop but before Bear has had a chance to eat. Five weeks is rather too young to be fully weaned, but if Bear can maintain his/her weight, that would be better than allowing the father to continue to abuse the chick. Worse case, allow King to continue feeding Bear, but then separate them once the feeding is over.


I would also recommend to discourage the pair from laying any future clutches if the male is going to be abusing the chicks.