Stunted baby cockatiel?

[abeille]

Update:
The baby, bittorrent, is 10 days old today. She is at 17 grams.
She looks much the same, although I've noticed her eyes are now slitted and the feathers at her wing tips look like they're starting to form. Her crop has been full (and soft) for the past few days and I've not had to assist feed.

Other baby, Nybble, is a pin cushion. Shes 15 days and weighs 66 grams. She looks like she'll have a mostly white body and yellow crest. Looks like there might be some yellow growing in by her legs. The yellow on her face, so far, seems less vibrant than the crest feathers, so I'll be interested in seeing her feathered!

Parents are starting to noticeably spend more time away from the nest. I noticed the start of this behavior a couple days ago when both parents would leave for short whiles (5-10 minutes). Now, they're doing it more frequently and for longer periods. (up to 30 minutes at a time)
The babies cuddle together; when I check on them they don't seem chilled. (No shivering and warm to the touch.)

As the babies seem a few days developmentally behind the "Watch me grow" chart, as far as feathers coming in, should I be worried about this behavior?

 

[abeille]

Update:
The baby is now 14 days old and weighs 42 grams. Lots of hissing, rocking, and striking from the nest; another female?
The bigger baby is now 19 days old and is at 107 grams. Lots of hissing, rocking, and striking.

Both adorable.

 

[rikkitikki]

Thanks for the updates, I find this really interesting

 

[Kathie]

I am just reading this post. Very interesting. Looking forward to seeing new pictures.

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]

 

[abeille]

Okay,
So the little one weighed 51 grams as of yesterday, at 15 days old.
The bigger baby weighed 111 grams as of yesterday, at 20 days old.

Yesterday... Mom and Dad threw Nybble (big baby) out of the nest. I picked her up and put her back in. They threw her out again. I picked her up again, and put her back inside. They were feeding her... but just didn't want her in the nest.
I checked to make sure she was still in the nest before I went to bed. Halfway through the night, I got up and checked on her again. Still in the nest.
I checked on her before I went to work... and she was still in the nest. However, there was also an egg in the nest. Mom laid another one sometime in the night.

I'm not sure, at this point, what to do. I don't want them trying for another clutch right away. Actually, I'd be happy without another clutch at all but thats unrealistic.

I bought a small "flightcage" (maybe for a cricket-sized bird!) I think its actually for parakeets but its the only long and short cage they had. (What are these cage designers thinking? Birds are not helicopters!) What I would like to do is convince my two birds to use this cage instead of the blanket in the middle of my living room as a nest, just in case the baby is tossed out again and tries to wander off. Is this a good idea and, if so, how would I go about doing this?

As the birds are in the middle of my living room, I can't exactly make it quiet at "bedtime." Thats why they have a dedicated sleep-cage in our bedroom. Normally I can semi-control their egg laying behavior by ensuring that they get their uninterrupted sleep, and when I can't, I use fake eggs and that (usually) controls it.* Is there a way I can reintroduce the bedtime again to them, with young babies, to control the egg laying? (Like moving the whole nest-box upstairs?)

*She lost the fake eggs this past clutch and laid real ones to replace them. These babies were a complete surprise as I just assumed they were plastic eggs. I've since found them (the fakes) in the folds of the blanket they had decided to use as their nesting spot.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Looks like you may need to chill some eggs to get them to stop.

 

[abeille]

Update:
Mom laid another egg. I pulled it. My vet has recommended just pulling them until the babies are weaned then control the behavior like I did in the past.

The little baby, (who my husband has decided to name Byte), is 72 grams. (18 days old) Shes been gaining weight like crazy but shes still extremely small. Here she is with Mom.

The bigger baby, Nybble, is 112 grams. (23 days old) Shes definitely interested in wandering about. I caught Nybble playing with the food! The new cage setup is working out well. Shes also does a lot of flapping and stretching her wings. Its quite adorable, as the flight feathers are still pretty pinned closer to the wing and there isn't much actually there to "fly" with.

Parents are overenthusiastic about preening and have plucked Nybble's head bald in back. They try it with the little baby but the little baby walks away. (Nybble doesn't, really) They also do it to each other- although they're not bald. I'm not exactly sure what to do about this new development. They're very affectionate and otherwise doing well- they feed the babies and they still take turns cuddling with them throughout the day.

 

[Kathie]

They are very cute!

Question for the experts.... wouldn't pulling the egg cause her to keep laying more eggs?

 

[abeille]

They are very cute!

Question for the experts.... wouldn't pulling the egg cause her to keep laying more eggs?

Thats what I thought but my vet felt that she might neglect the babies if I didn't pull the eggs.

 

[Kathie]

Gosh, I guess that's possible, too. I wonder if she will keep laying eggs though. Can you eventually separate her from the male once the babies are weaned?

 

[Anne & Gang]

if they are plucking any of the babies, you need to pull them and hand feed..also that mother hen needs a break....hope you are providing plenty of calcium etc for her.

 

[abeille]

Gosh, I guess that's possible, too. I wonder if she will keep laying eggs though. Can you eventually separate her from the male once the babies are weaned?

I think that would cause significantly more stress for them. Plus, she was a chronic egg layer even without the male, before she came to me. Normally I can control their egg laying behavior by a combination of bedtime and fake eggs (depending on the season).

if they are plucking any of the babies, you need to pull them and hand feed..also that mother hen needs a break....hope you are providing plenty of calcium etc for her.

Yes, she gets plenty of calcium. The egg laying is something that I've really been working on controlling. I don't want to try drugs (or surgery) until I've exhausted all other options first. So far, the fake eggs seem to work- she'll lay one egg, I'll swap it out with six fake ones, and she'll (and "dad") happily care for them for about a month. With a 12 hour day, she'll take long breaks in between laying.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

When Gracie laid eggs when she still had chicks in the nestbox, I would pull them and chill them, then slip them back in later. It did keep her from laying more eggs. But I also noticed as the chicks became more independent and starting spending more time out of the nestbox, the father, Chip, started taking more care of them while Gracie stayed on the chilled eggs. So hen and cock kindof tag team one another when it comes to the babies with the hen doing most of the nesting work and the cock taking care of the newly independent chicks. Dad even encourages the chicks to learn to fly and accompanies them on their maiden flights, all the while yelling encouragement.

Do make sure you watch the plucking of the chicks by the parents. The parents can switch from plucking to mutilation very easily. You may have to separate them from the parents if they begin really hurting them. I had one cock that was actually abusive to his chicks.

 

[abeille]

When Gracie laid eggs when she still had chicks in the nestbox, I would pull them and chill them, then slip them back in later. It did keep her from laying more eggs. But I also noticed as the chicks became more independent and starting spending more time out of the nestbox, the father, Chip, started taking more care of them while Gracie stayed on the chilled eggs. So hen and cock kindof tag team one another when it comes to the babies with the hen doing most of the nesting work and the cock taking care of the newly independent chicks. Dad even encourages the chicks to learn to fly and accompanies them on their maiden flights, all the while yelling encouragement.

Do make sure you watch the plucking of the chicks by the parents. The parents can switch from plucking to mutilation very easily. You may have to separate them from the parents if they begin really hurting them. I had one cock that was actually abusive to his chicks.

That makes me feel much better, knowing you went through something similar. I put her fake eggs in the nest- I'm just going to have to watch the babies to make sure they're eating and assist feed if necessary. I can't have her laying continuously.

The plucking problem was much better today- I started to remove the offending party whenever they started to get aggressive with their grooming, but prior to biting pinfeathers, and set them down on the ground. They pretty quickly caught on. I'll keep a close watch on them to make sure it doesn't start back up though.