Urgent Help with hand feeding baby cockatiel

[Diene]

I already made a post on another forum but I really need some help here.

My cockatiels made a secret nest inside a bookshelf and by the time I noticed one of the eggs already had movement inside so I let that one hatch. Well they didn’t want to feed the baby after 12 hours and ignored it so I started to hand feed it. I’m new to this but I been researching a lot to help this baby. I made it a brooder and he was doing great until about day 5 I noticed he looks much skinnier than the babies I see on the guides. And he was supposed to be fed every 2 hours but his crop doesn’t empty that fast it takes him 4 hours to empty. In some articles I read it says 4 hours is fine but others say the crop must be empty before each feeding. I made sure the formula is hot enough and the brooder too and the formula is mixed as it says in the container. What am I doing wrong? Should I be worried? It’s day 7 and he still looks sorta skinny. I will post pictures soon when I feed him. Please help I’m worried he might be sick.

Edit: Here are some pics before and after feeding. The crop is about 1/3 full after 2 and a half hours it should be fully empty by now right?
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[fluffypoptarts]

@Zara

 

[Zara]

Helllo Diana

And he was supposed to be fed every 2 hours but his crop doesn’t empty that fast it takes him 4 hours to empty. In some articles I read it says 4 hours is fine but others say the crop must be empty before each feeding.

The crop does not need to empty completely between feeds every single time, just once - most breeders do this one overnight, so when you feed the chick in the morning, the crop should be completely empty before you start.

It is hard to tell on a photo, but as the head and feet look big, I would be leaning to think he is stunted.
@finchly

 

[finchly]

I agree, he is stunted. It’s nothing you did, honey. And that may be why they wouldn’t feed him.
In fact you’ve done a great job!
And there’s nothing cuter than a baby tiel!

 

[Diene]

He is really stunted? I made sure to give water at first and on cockatiel cottage it says he is within the weight range of 12 to 45 grams at 1 to 2 weeks old. He just looks really skinny to me compared to the pictures there. He’s at 12.2 grams. I hope he is not stunted if he is is there anything I can do to help him catch up? Cheked and his skin doesn’t seem dry or red...