How to raise baby cockatiels? help?!?

[Yungelita]

Long story short my friend has a a baby cockatiel shes needs me to take off her hands that may or may not hatch. She has no time for it being she's still in school and I'm a graduate she needs me to take it because the pounds, bird havens, around us refuse it until it is grown just in case it has "diseases". I found a placce that will take it but they are way to far away for any of us to travel. I own two cockatiels, both males already and have had birds since childhood. I have done candling or light test with it and have seen that it is growing healthy so far in comparison to other candling pictures online. It is currently in an incubator.
I've done tons of research but I want to try to know everything I possibly can including hands on experiences I can learn from, which is what brought me to this amazing site.
I want all the best information on baby cockatiels.
How long to wait to feed them after they hatch?
What are things to avoid doing?
What are some mistakes that I might make no knowingly?
Things I shouldn't touch on the bird baby?
Thank You

 

[rocky'smom]

you are going to need to hand feed this little one. I have done this budgies but not tiels. you are also going to need to keep this baby warm once it's out of incubator, a heating pad; that stays on 24/7, thermometer, toweling or paper towels and plastic shoe box with some holes punch in the sides and top of the box, should do that. you'll need a lot of syringes or big eye droppers, feeding formula, another thermometer to test the formula and way to keep that formula warm. I know what I used a egg poacher and it worked well for me. remember that what every you use to feed this baby must be disposable. you can not clean them well enough to keep the germs out of them. the baby could get sick from those germs like yeast. put hand feeding in the search box here, that should give you a lot of ideas.
@Monica @srtiels these are members here that might be able to help you more.

 

[RedCarpetEclectus]

Can she not leave it with the parents until it is weaned? It is an extremely hard job to raise a baby bird successfully even with experience. Leave this one to the birds, or find a breeder who can do it for you.

 

[Yungelita]

Can she not leave it with the parents until it is weaned? It is an extremely hard job to raise a baby bird successfully even with experience. Leave this one to the birds, or find a breeder who can do it for you.

They threw the eggs out of the cage, They had 4 to begin with but three broke. She(my friend) tried putting them back in but they just kept throwing them out until only one was left. And no one will take him in because of "possible diseases". The breeder who was willing is to far out and neither of us can drive the 4 hours. I don't own a car, we live in small place so everything is walking distance. I feel shipping is probably not the best choice. So I'm kind of in a sticky situation. we are going to try to put fake eggs in there for her to learn to lay on. And when the baby hatches maybe see if we put it in there with her if she'll care for it. But if that fails I want to be as prepared as possible for the baby so I can atleast give it some kind of chance of life.

 

[JosienBB]

I don't think you should let the egg hatch if no one knows how to raise a baby... Let alone a brand new hatchling.

 

[Yungelita]

you are going to need to hand feed this little one. I have done this budgies but not tiels. you are also going to need to keep this baby warm once it's out of incubator, a heating pad; that stays on 24/7, thermometer, toweling or paper towels and plastic shoe box with some holes punch in the sides and top of the box, should do that. you'll need a lot of syringes or big eye droppers, feeding formula, another thermometer to test the formula and way to keep that formula warm. I know what I used a egg poacher and it worked well for me. remember that what every you use to feed this baby must be disposable. you can not clean them well enough to keep the germs out of them. the baby could get sick from those germs like yeast. put hand feeding in the search box here, that should give you a lot of ideas.
@Monica @srtiels these are members here that might be able to help you more.

Do you feed the babies right after they are out of the egg? Or how long should you wait. I read a something that said you need to wait a few hours.

 

[karen256]

I think you need to wait until the yolk is absorbed before you begin feeding which can be up to 12 hrs or so.
I can understand the problems with finding someone to care for the egg or baby. The rescue probably doesn't have the time or resources to care for a day 1 baby, and the breeders are probably concerned about disease because they would give the egg or baby to their birds to foster. Fostering the egg to another cockatiel who's on eggs is the best option for its survival, but it's understandable that a breeder would want to protect the health of their birds first.
The survival rate of day 1 babies to new handfeeders is unfortunately not that great. When all goes well, babies are not usually handfed before 2-3 weeks old and much less delicate. You'll have to be able to feed the baby every hour or two for 12+ hours a day (luckily they don't need to be fed at night). If you won't be able to manage this schedule for the first week or two, it may be kinder to just not let the egg hatch.

 

[JLcribber]

I don't think you should let the egg hatch if no one knows how to raise a baby... Let alone a brand new hatchling.

I'll second that. You guys are in way over your head. There's not going to be a happy ending to this.

 

[sunnysmom]

This is the best source I know of on cockatiel babies: Just Cockatiels! - HOME

 

[Yungelita]

Ok just making sure, he hatched yesterday night and i wanted to get my facts right. He's alive so far. Iv'e been searching online for more places near by who might take him in. I've been getting up every hour to check on him. Feeding him every 2 hours. Starting about 9 hours after he hatched. I only fill is crop to the point when its full but not so full to the point where it is hard (i heard that is not good). Hes doing goes so far i have a heating pad in with him with towls on top of it. im making sure the temperature stays around 92 degrees. His food is heated to about 102 degrees. That seemed high to me but that's what i was told to do. His survived 24 hours hopefully more to come.

 

[Yungelita]

I know a lot of you said don't let it hatch but by the time I read this advice (which was probably a better idea) we could already see him moving in the egg. Everything happened pretty quickly and knowing what i know now. But it hard just throwing it away when you see it moving in the egg. I don't know its hard to explain.

 

[Dissonata]

Hello there... I would be happy to help if you have any questions. I would suggest looking up hand-feeding videos on youtube at the very least and watching other people do it. If you can find a mentor, that would be invaluable -- either a good avian vet or an experienced breeder who knows their stuff. As somebody new to hand-feeding, make sure you do so very carefully and slowly. A spoon is much safer to feed with than a syringe for people new to hand-feeding, though a spoon is not really suitable for a new hatchling. I use a small 1cc syringe for hatchlings. Always pay attention to the baby's body language and feeding response. As long as you are feeding only when the baby is giving a feeding response, and not over-filling the mouth, you have a good chance of avoiding aspiration. Aspiration is one of the biggest causes of death in hand-fed babies. I've noticed you are measuring the temperature of the formula, that's very good. Formula temperature between 102-106 is perfect. I would also highly recommend using a gram scale to weigh the baby each morning when the crop is empty. Record the weight each day. This way, you will be able to keep tabs on whether the baby is gaining weight every day as it should be, or if it's losing weight, which would be one of the first signs of a problem. You can get a kitchen gram scale pretty much at any store for not very much money.

With new hatchlings, I've usually fed warmed Pedialyte for the first 24 hours, starting 12 hours after hatch if all is looking good. A lot depends on the condition of the baby after hatch. If the baby is not dehydrated, thin formula won't be much of a problem. For a dehydrated baby, formula can stop up their whole system. Generally low incubation humidity causes dehydration at hatch. But if your baby's crop is emptying between feedings so far, you're probably in good shape.

I sure hope you can pull this off. Although it's very risky to hand-feed without experience, especially with a new hatchling, it is not impossible. It isn't easy. If you can find anyone with experience to take the baby or at least mentor you, I would encourage you to do that. The Just Cockatiels website linked to above is a wonderful resource. Good luck.

 

[Yungelita]

Hello there... I would be happy to help if you have any questions. I would suggest looking up hand-feeding videos on youtube at the very least and watching other people do it. If you can find a mentor, that would be invaluable -- either a good avian vet or an experienced breeder who knows their stuff. As somebody new to hand-feeding, make sure you do so very carefully and slowly. A spoon is much safer to feed with than a syringe for people new to hand-feeding, though a spoon is not really suitable for a new hatchling. I use a small 1cc syringe for hatchlings. Always pay attention to the baby's body language and feeding response. As long as you are feeding only when the baby is giving a feeding response, and not over-filling the mouth, you have a good chance of avoiding aspiration. Aspiration is one of the biggest causes of death in hand-fed babies. I've noticed you are measuring the temperature of the formula, that's very good. Formula temperature between 102-106 is perfect. I would also highly recommend using a gram scale to weigh the baby each morning when the crop is empty. Record the weight each day. This way, you will be able to keep tabs on whether the baby is gaining weight every day as it should be, or if it's losing weight, which would be one of the first signs of a problem. You can get a kitchen gram scale pretty much at any store for not very much money.

With new hatchlings, I've usually fed warmed Pedialyte for the first 24 hours, starting 12 hours after hatch if all is looking good. A lot depends on the condition of the baby after hatch. If the baby is not dehydrated, thin formula won't be much of a problem. For a dehydrated baby, formula can stop up their whole system. Generally low incubation humidity causes dehydration at hatch. But if your baby's crop is emptying between feedings so far, you're probably in good shape.

I sure hope you can pull this off. Although it's very risky to hand-feed without experience, especially with a new hatchling, it is not impossible. It isn't easy. If you can find anyone with experience to take the baby or at least mentor you, I would encourage you to do that. The Just Cockatiels website linked to above is a wonderful resource. Good luck.

Thank you, Ive looked at videos before, my vet told me to buy a syringe or a feeding spoon with curved edges, I just got a syringe probably should have found a spoon too. I will start monitoring his weight. I've heard of aspiration online and through my vet I was really worried about that because at first he wasn't really wanting to take to the syringe and I didn't want to force it but after he realized what it was for hes been doing very well. I'm using a formula called "exact" when I looked online a lot of people requested it so i thought it might be best. I do have a backup formula in case he wouldn't eat exact I guess. I was just told to have a backup for emergencies. I started at 9 hours maybe a little early. I was trying to combine the two main times people gave me which was 12 hours and 8. It seems to be emptying its never as full as when i first feed him and i try to make sure its not half full for another feeding to make sure he eats all the old food. ( was told not to feed if he has old food in his crop still). And the pedialyte is great information Thank you so much.
Hes so little its hard to hold him sometimes im nervous Ill hurt him but I looked online for good positions to hold them for feeding.
What would you request for holding him when feeding??????
Thank You so much! I will ask you first if I have any more questions.
UPDATE: hes still alive eating well more responsive to syringe. been alive for about 40 hours

 

[Dissonata]

Hello there, I hope things are still going well. I tend to feed babies on a surface like a table, I sit down and make sure I'm at a comfortable level. I will sometimes feed them out of the bowl I keep them in in the brooder as well, it depends on what is most comfortable. I don't hold them in my hand when I feed. I have done so with a few species, such as lovebirds, but that's because from what I remember, lovebird babies eat on their backs, so I held the babies on their backs when I fed them. Normally, though, I use my left hand to support their heads very lightly, if they need it, not applying much pressure at all, and that's all. But you should do whatever is most comfortable for you. I hope it's okay if I post a link to a youtube video, I thought this was a pretty good example:

This baby is bigger than a 2 day-old baby that has been hand-fed from the start would be, which makes it a little easier to feed -- they grow faster when being fed by their parents -- but it's a good example of a good method for feeding. However, I would really recommend a smaller syringe, because you can easily dispense too much formula at once with a larger syringe, overfilling the baby's mouth. A small syringe means you don't have to be as careful with pushing the plunger and can dispense food at the right pace.

Kaytee Exact is used by a lot of people. I have used it before myself. I wouldn't say it is the best formula out there, but so many people have found success with it that it probably will be fine for you.

Pedialyte is always good to have on hand in case a baby is looking dehydrated. Especially if you live in a dry climate, you might consider a source of humidity in the brooder--a wet sponge or something. They do need a bit of humidity or they can more easily dehydrate.

Another thing is to definitely make sure his crop empties completely at least once every 24 hours. If you keep adding food to a crop that is still partly full, old crop contents will remain. One complete emptying once a day at least assures that the food won't get too old. Some people suggest to let them empty completely between feedings, but parent birds don't do this. As long as you are seeing significant emptying between feedings and allowing the crop to empty completely once a day (generally overnight), you are probably okay.

They also tend to become more responsive to the syringe as they get older and stronger. Cockatiel babies always seemed to have a good feeding response when I fed them. So hopefully once he gets a little stronger and a little bigger, you will find it a lot easier. Good luck and let me know how things are going.