New batch of babies

[BrianB]

My first batch of cockatiel chicks was a disaster this year. I had a bad batch of food, and lost all 3 to crop stasis. That pair has not laid again, and I'm not sure I will let them. I suspect they may be related as the chicks had other issues aside from the bad food.

Another pair I have has given me 3 babies that are making great progress. They gave us 2, white faced lutino and another white face. The all white chicks are beautiful, but always dirty. I'm hoping that will change once they wean and learn to bathe themselves. The youngest one looks more like the parents every day.

 

[EkkieLu]

They are adorable!!! Look very healthy too. Good job!

 

[Tiel Feathers]

They are so precious! I’m sorry The other babies didn’t make it. What are you planning to do with these babies?

 

[BrianB]

I had people interested in them. They have since lost cockatiels of their own to crop stasis. One in particular ended up with a small flock of conures that she doesn't know what to do with.

 

[rockoko]

Such cute babies!

 

[iamwhoiam]

They are very cute. I probably wouldn't be able to part with them.

 

[Zara]

Adorable! Aren´t they so cute!

So sorry to hear you lost a clutch of chicks.

Also, have a go at cleaning up the little ones. I know it´s a pain and takes ages, but with a warm damp cloth, gently hold the cloth against the dirty feathers, then use a clean cotton bud (qtip) to gently wipe away, and repeat. It will come off, it just takes what seems like forever. It´s easier to wipe the chicks up with a warm slightly damp cloth right after feeding.
Old food harbours bacteria, so the less dried food on the the better

Please post some more pics before they are away to their forever homes

 

[Icey]

They are so cute. Sorry to hear about the other ones you lost, but hopefully these little beauties will do well

 

[BrianB]

Some new pictures of the youngest cockatiel chick. The tail feathers are taking forever to break through the sheaths but they are coming. I've never seen a cockatiel with a back this dark before. The crest is white, but the face is a grey. I'm guessing this is a girl because the mother has the same color feathers on her face. Such strange genetics to get three chicks, two of them being white faced lutino and this one. If I hadn't pulled them myself I wouldn't believe the have the same parents.

The other ones are cleaning up nicely now that they are bathing themselves and eating on their own. Weaning was quick. One day they wanted less, the next day even less and the next they wanted none at all. Now they are munching away on pellets with the conures.

 

[EkkieLu]

They are growing up so fast! Good job!!!

 

[BrianB]

These guys are all grown up now. We lost one of the white ones. I fed them and watched them eating, and I walked by the cage later and it was gone. I have no idea what happened. The white faced just won't give up on the hand feeding. I've seen it eating millet and picking at the other food. It insists that it is starving when it's time for a feeding. The white faced lutino wants nothing to do with being hand fed, and doesn't really want anything to do with me either. I believe both of them are girls. They both have some light striping on their tail feathers.

 

[iamwhoiam]

They are all very beautiful. So sorry that one of the babies passed. I guess the white faced will just wean when he/she feels like it. One of my red-bellied babies was like that so I kept offering him formula until he finally decided to wean.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

so sorry you lost some babies. They all seem to be growing well. The white one is very pretty. The first photos of the two with open beaks... I can just hear them now... noisiest little critters when they want to be fed!

 

[BrianB]

The first two pictures are the same bird, front & back. I've never seen a cockatiel with this kind of coloring. At least not such a dark body with white primary flight feathers. Now is she would just wean already....

 

[Monica]

So sorry to hear about the loss of all the chicks! How heartbreaking! What mutations are the parents?

I love the whiteface mutations.... in particular, a "clear faced" whiteface pearl or whiteface male. Absolutely stunning! I'd probably have a hard time giving those babies up, too!

 

[BrianB]

The first picture a chick from a clutch that hatched in October 2018. This one I posted earlier trying to determine the sex. We determined that we have a girl. She recently molted and kept all the pearls. She's paired with a solid white male for next year.

The second one is the parents of the first picture, and the other two I posted in this thread.

 

[iamwhoiam]

So sorry to hear about the loss of all the chicks! How heartbreaking! What mutations are the parents?

I love the whiteface mutations.... in particular, a "clear faced" whiteface pearl or whiteface male. Absolutely stunning! I'd probably have a hard time giving those babies up, too!

Curious...what do you mean by a "clear faced" whiteface?

 

[Monica]

@BrianB So we know that both parents are whiteface pied, and male is split Ino. Male also carrying cinnamon and pearl. Hen on right, male on left? Curious since the bird on right appears incomplete pearl? All lovely!

@iamwhoiam There are different patterns of pearl like there are different patterns of pied. When I say "clearface", I mean a pearl that has a mostly clear face rather than one with speckles of grey. Some have grey-er faces where-as others have more yellow. You can see some patterns of pearls from Susanne Russo's post here.
Pearl cockatiel gender question | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[BrianB]

@BrianB So we know that both parents are whiteface pied, and male is split Ino. Male also carrying cinnamon and pearl. Hen on right, male on left? Curious since the bird on right appears incomplete pearl? All lovely!

I had to go back through some pictures, but you're right, the female is on the right. I just remembered that this male is not the father of the pearl chick in the first pic. I paired the female with another male as I didn't get the original father when I took my friends flock of cockatiels. This male is the father of the whiteface lutino and the one with the dark grey back and white face.

The solid white one is not that friendly. Once I get it out of the cage and let it fly around a bit, then it's more agreeable to being handled. The grey sibling seeks out my attention anytime I walk by the cage. Of course it hasn't weaned yet and thinks it's starving, so I'm probably just being used for food