HELP For My 4 Baby Cockatiels

[Nanny Nicky]

Number 5 is due to hatch tomorrow.........the smallest one that hatched yesterday seems to be under the pile of chicks most of the time or every time I take a quick look........would he be crying if he was not being fed?? How do I tell if they are eating or not??.........the parents( THEY EAT AN AWFUL LOT AND CONSTANTLY TOO IT SEEMS) are really good with them and I can hear them feeding and the babies responding but as soon as I try to look in they stop feeding and the male comes out of the nest box......I check on them several times a day and I keep the fresh food coming 3X a day for the parents........Can I touch them and move them to rescue the little one from under the pile??
I run a very busy pet sitting business AND I don`t have much knowledge or time to hand feed a baby chick but I am willing to learn and try real hard! The mother is sitting on them a lot of the time and the father comes in and out......they seem to be taking turns or working in shifts.....LOL!!!

 

[Thugluvgrl187]

Well first and foremost congrats on your new tiel babies. Normally I say to not pull chicks and let the parents feed them but if they are not being fed by the parents then you will have to take over. I would suggest trying to take a look to make sure they are all being fed and have a full crop. Also be careful because the smallest ones can be stepped on by the older ones accidentally. Will the parents let you check on them?

 

[Ashley]

I pull all my babies at 3 weeks to handfeed

 

[Nanny Nicky]

Thank you for responding so quickly!!! I am so very desperate..........The smallest one is no longer underneath the others, all 4 babies are forming a little circle, they are all head to head right now and the unhatched egg is in the middle!!! I can see the 3 bigger babies have food in their crop but the smallest one I can`t tell!! Can I touch or handle the smallest baby or move him slightely to check to see if his crop is full??? I have now let the parents go free in my aviary for exercise! Will the parents reject the babies if I touch them!! While i was looking in on the babies (without touching) the father jumped in the nest box from my shoulder and he went to each baby and it looked like he was gently preening them........Does that sound like he is trying to hurt his babies?????

 

[yvette]

I hope some experienced breeders help you! There are a lot of people here.....I hope they can give you some tips.

 

[dorn27]

You should see a pouch full of food, just smaller, on the smallest baby if it's being fed. It's very tiny on newborns, but in the same location.

Parent groom their babies, as long as they're not bleeding and being fed, odds are things are okay. That does not sound like agressive behavior.

 

[Nanny Nicky]

You people here on Avian Avenue are wonderful.....you reply so quickly with so much encouragement and positive words........THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! It is very much appreciated!!! These 2 birds are rescues that one of my pet sitting clients surrendered to me so I know nothing about them!! They possibly could be brother and sister as she bought them at the same time 3 years ago from a very bad local pet shop!!
OKAY!!! I would have to touch and literally move with my hand the smallest baby to be able to see his crop...........he is very small.........Should I use like a popsicle stick or wear gloves or anything else to move it.......I`m afraid the parents might reject it if I touch it..........Would the baby be crying out if it was hungry and starving??

 

[Danita]

bump

 

[vmorrison]

You should not need gloves or anything else so that you can check on the youngest baby. Birds don't have a good sense of smell so they should not reject the baby if you pick it up to check the crop. As you've been told, the crop of a very young one will not have a lot of food in it, but you should see something in the front just at the base of the throat.

I've hand fed baby Tiels from day 1 and it's not as easy as one might think. If the parents are feeding everyone, that's the way to go. Posting a few pictures of the babies might help so that we can see what you see.

 

[Renae]

Thank you for responding so quickly!!! I am so very desperate..........The smallest one is no longer underneath the others, all 4 babies are forming a little circle, they are all head to head right now and the unhatched egg is in the middle!!! I can see the 3 bigger babies have food in their crop but the smallest one I can`t tell!! Can I touch or handle the smallest baby or move him slightely to check to see if his crop is full??? I have now let the parents go free in my aviary for exercise! Will the parents reject the babies if I touch them!! While i was looking in on the babies (without touching) the father jumped in the nest box from my shoulder and he went to each baby and it looked like he was gently preening them........Does that sound like he is trying to hurt his babies?????

You can check the baby, the parents will not reject it, Cockatiels are pretty good. The dad was probably just checking that they're okay - some parents can be pretty protective of their babies!

A Cockatiel breeder srtiels (she's on this forum) posted this on another forum to do with the exact same questions you're asking:

Most of the first days of feedings will be a diluted food or fluids, which digest very quickly. This is done because the first 24 hours most of the nutrients the chick is getting is from the yolk absorbed and being digested. Around 3-4 days of age the crop should be holding more food.

Check in the box a couple times a day. After 24 hrs from hatch their should be a noticable budgle in the base of the crop. Prior to that they are only going to do a little fluids as needed.

Hope this helps!

 

[Nanny Nicky]

Hello Again!!!.......YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING!!!! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!..........I managed to look in and I had a very quick glimpse as it moved a little and YES!!! THANK GOD!!!! It has food in it`s little tiny crop!!! I did not even have to touch the baby!!......I was so relieved to see that!!!..........The unhatched egg has not hatched as yet, due today, it`s very dark..........the mother does not seem to sit on the babies and the egg as long as she used to, IS THAT NORMAL???.......I guess she figures that all the babies are keeping each other warm and the 3 biggest are too big to sit on now!! LOL! LOL!..........the biggest one at 11 days old is wobbly but walking around the box now and hissing and screeching at me when I look in, his eyes opened a bit at 9 days I believe! How often should I clean out the nesting box?? The Mom and Dad want to be let out of the cage for exercise I guess a lot more than they used to as they are very spoiled, I let them loose in my aviary 24/7 usually, but now with new babies I keep them locked up most of the time except I let them out a couple times a day!! The Dad is very aggressive and dive bombs and attacks my 4 other cockatiels when he is loose, so he is under constant supervision when he is out!! I will have to learn how to post pictures.......I am not very computer savvy!!

 

[Nanny Nicky]

Trying to Post pictures!! HELP!!

Pictures of my 4 babies parents!

 

[Nanny Nicky]

I`m trying to post pictures of my 4 babies!! I can`t seem to be able to do it!!

 

[dorn27]

If the parents are allowing it, I think you can start to handle the babies to help tame them, if they're hissing and mobile, then its time to get used to people and hands. A tame baby, if you're planning on finding homes, goes much better than a skidish one! Plus it makes better pets should you be planning to kept them

Birds do not usually reject their babies due to human scent. Especially birds who are used to people and being handled by their owners. Often if you find a wild baby bird it can be handled without any risk of abandonment (though most baby birds found are fledged and just 'laying low' waiting to be fed out in the brush).

 

[Nanny Nicky]

Hi Kristi!!! How often should I clean out the nest box??? I am definitely keeping one (probably the first born) as he seems to be the nicest and most active so far...........at this stage can I tell what color they will be because so far they are all still yellow fluff except for the oldest, he/she is starting to have black show up in him/her??? I was gone to Sudbury yesterday all day for an app`t and when I came home very late last night the Mom would not come off the babies and eggs......I wanted to check to see if egg number 5 was hatched yet.........all I saw was 4 little cockatiel heads sticking out from under her.........looked like 4 little snakes........LOL! LOL!

 

[dorn27]

I'm not sure about cleaning the nest box. I personally have never breed birds, I just know what I know from spending way to much time on the internet over the years.

I think, you'd want to do it every few days until they start pooping out the nest box door so they're not sitting in poop. Poop can rapidly grow mold and such in inclosed damp conditions.

I know people who hand raise and use brooders often clean daily.

 

[Bokkapooh]

the mother does not seem to sit on the babies and the egg as long as she used to, IS THAT NORMAL???

I would say you are making her nervous. You are checking on her and the babies much too often. Try to restrict yourself to peeping on the babies to only once a day. I only check up on the parents and babies in the morning (and sometimes at night) until I pull the babies.

I do not recommend cleaning the nest box until the babies are either pulled from the nest at (the younger being) 10 days - 2 weeks of age. Or wait until the parents fledge them themselves at 4-6weeks of age, and then clean it and do not put the nest box back with this pair. You said yourself, they may be a brother/sister pair, so they should not be bred.

 

[Nanny Nicky]

I was checking the babies so many times a day because I was scared one would die and I did not want a dead baby sitting there for that long with bacteria and all, the 5th egg never hatched and I really don`t believe it will now, it`s been about 3-4 days since the last one hatched.............it`s getting pretty yucky in the nest box.........poop all over the walls of the nestbox.............I want everyone to know that these 2 birds are rescues and I never planned on breeding them at all........I really don`t have any time or interest in breeding birds ...........I`m way too busy with my pet sitting business........I definitely will take the nest box down after these babies are fledged and seperate the pair............I was extremely surprised when the first baby hatched........I couldn`t believe they actually had a baby, I was in shock.........I went to check on my birds early one morning because of some unrecognized strange sound I could hear and there was a baby sitting there on the floor!!! I only got a friend to give me a nestbox after the first baby was hatched!
I think I am going to let the parents feed and wean their own babies as I am such a novice at this I am afraid of hurting them and doing them more harm than good............I am trying real hard and following all the ideas, advice and instructions given to me on here to take the best care possible of the wee ones! IT WULD REALLY BREAK MY HEART IF I LOST ONE NOW, AFTER ALL THIS!!!! I have not started to handle any of them yet, but I think I will soon as 2 of them have their eyes open and screech and scream at me already when I look in on them not so many times a day anymore!! LOL!!

 

[yvette]

Nicole.........Where are you located in Ontario???