Hi! New breeder here... with a problem :-(

[Marina Engan]

Hi everybody.
My name is Marina and I am breeding cockatiels. Lutinos and albinos.
At the moment I have 3 chicks, 4,6 and 8 days old. I had to pull them because the parents fed them with whole, hard corns and they almost died. The smallest one was thrown out of the nest.
I succeeded to get out all of the corns, and was adviced to give them youghurt. But they couldn't empty the crops. So this morning I had to empty the crops manually. I have flushed with vinegar solution and have given them a little apple puré. But it seems like the food is getting cold to fast in the syringe while I am feeding them.
How do I keep the temperature while I am feeding? I live in Gran Canaria and during the winter the house is quite cold so everything cools down to fast. The chicks are kept warm though...
From when I take the syringe out of the bowl of warm water until I am finished feeding one baby, the food is cold.
I hope one of you have a solution for me.
Thanks a lot!

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum! I don't have any breeding experience but here is a good resource until others come along who can answer: Hand-Feeding and Weaning - Just Cockatiels!

@melissasparrots ? @karen256 ?

 

[Marina Engan]

Thank you! Both for the welcome and the advise. I appreciate it a lot

 

[WendyN]

I'm not a breeder but just wanted to say hello.

 

[Marina Engan]

Hi Wendy!
Thank you! It is nice to feel so welcome

 

[iamwhoiam]

The best thing to keep the food warm is to leave the syringes in a bowl of hot/warm water until you are ready to feed and it sounds as if you are already doing that. If it gets too cold you can always put it back in the water. You could also prepare two syringes for each bird and if the food in one gets cold too quickly then switch to the other one.
Welcome to AA and good luck with the babies.

 

[Marina Engan]

Thank you! I just fed my babies(and the two months old girl stole some). I had the syringes in a coffecup with hot water and covered it with tinfoil. I also covered the syringe while I was feeding and it worked perfectly! :-D

 

[iamwhoiam]

The foil is a good idea. Forgot to mention that. That is what I used to do. I would wrap the syringes in aluminum foil to keep them warm.

 

[Marina Engan]

It works perfectly! I'm so satisfied And so are my babies
And I am so glad that I found this forum.
THANKS!

 

[Macawnutz]

Coffee cups hold heat better. Glad it worked out.

Welcome to AA!

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Glad you were able to find a way to keep it warm!

 

[camelotshadow]

Just worried if the syringe is getting cold so fast that the birds too could be getting cold. They need to be warm to digest food.
They are still very young & the parents don;t seem to be very good. I guess you could not offer the parents whole corn but even whole millet or other seed is not good. What about offering a mash or soft food to parents & let them try to feed the babies at some times? Then they could be co parented.

Just an idea & maybe when they are a bit older but glad you know how to flush a crop. Goodness I hope that worked out.

 

[Marina Engan]

Coffee cups hold heat better. Glad it worked out.

Welcome to AA!

So are we

What a beautiful flock you have! Wonderful! <3

 

[Marina Engan]

Glad you were able to find a way to keep it warm!

Thank you!
All thanks to the birdlovers in here

 

[Marina Engan]

Just worried if the syringe is getting cold so fast that the birds too could be getting cold. They need to be warm to digest food.
They are still very young & the parents don;t seem to be very good. I guess you could not offer the parents whole corn but even whole millet or other seed is not good. What about offering a mash or soft food to parents & let them try to feed the babies at some times? Then they could be co parented.

Just an idea & maybe when they are a bit older but glad you know how to flush a crop. Goodness I hope that worked out.

That is a great idea!
The babies needs the parents so to co-parent could work.
I flushed for the first time today, so I was quite shaky... I learn something new every day with my little ones

 

[parrotluv]

How did you learn to flush the crop? How is it done?

 

[Marina Engan]

How did you learn to flush the crop? How is it done?

Hi!
I got the information here: Crop and Digestive Problems - Just Cockatiels!
It is a really good site with lots of useful information.

First I emptied the crops manually by holding the chicks up-side-down and gently massaging the crop until the contains of the crop came out. I then let them rest for a while before I gave them a vinegar-solution and emptied again... until the crop was completely empty. I had to do this two times more during the day.
Last night after emptying I gave them a good feed and decided not to feed them during the night.
When I got up this morning the crops were empty and clean and I had three lively babies crying for food. They all have had good stool deposit so their digestive-system is working again. And I am a very happy breeder today With happy chicks
All the help and advice I got from Just Cockatiels and my new-found friends here saved the lives of my beloved babies and I am so thankful!

Thank you all! I hope I will be able to return the favor some day.

Sunny regards from my cockatiel-family here at Gran Canaria

 

[parrotluv]

Would love to see pictures of your little guy. Although I don't breed cockatiels, I do breed other species and your link contains very helpful info for any avian breeder.

 

[Marina Engan]

Would love to see pictures of your little guy. Although I don't breed cockatiels, I do breed other species and your link contains very helpful info for any avian breeder.

It's great to hear that you too find the site helpful
I don't know how to post pictures here... I'll try to find out how

 

[Marina Engan]

Would love to see pictures of your little guy. Although I don't breed cockatiels, I do breed other species and your link contains very helpful info for any avian breeder.

Anastacia 2 months and Victoria 8 days old. Both are albinos and Anastacia is the most cosy cockatiel I have ever met