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Easter weekend lovebird chicks

Kristina24

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Hey guyyyyyys!

So I didn't have the heart to remove the eggs of my lovebirds (due to previous attempts to raise the lovebird chicks) and I was surprised to see that the parents started taking care of the chicks. It was a clutch of 6 and only 3 hatched/survived. Their names are Matthew/Maddie (3/27/21), Mark/Marci (3/29/21) and John/Jonnie (4/2/21) and they're doing really well. I'm happy the parents are finally caring for their chicks. Yes, I do check up on them to ensure they're being fed and giving the parents fresh water and food daily. Matthew and Mark's pins are coming in too! (In case you haven't caught on, I named them after the 4 Gospels since it was Easter weekend but Luke didn't make it.)

I do want to change the bedding in the nest, but I'm just not quite sure how to do it without harming the chances of the mom to stop feeding the chicks. Any advice?

First pic: Matthew is 2 days and Mark was just born
B8F47E0B-89CE-4D7D-893A-2F28FC0D055C.jpeg

Second pic: Matthew is 5 days, Mark 3 days, and John was just born
E423FDA0-FA4E-4B31-9233-D6E7B3223067.jpeg

Third pic: currently!!! Matthew (top left) is 17 days, John (middle) is 12 days, and Mark (top right) is 15 days.
IMG_4551.JPG
 

Zara

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I do want to change the bedding in the nest, but I'm just not quite sure how to do it without harming the chances of the mom to stop feeding the chicks. Any advice?
Just be gently lifting the chicks. You might find it handy to have a bowl lined with kitchen roll to put them in.
Scrape the box yout the best you can, then fill it with a few inches of aspen shavings.
Leave some shreddable paper down in the cage for mum and dad to shred and add to their nest.
 

Kristina24

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So the two older chicks are a little over 3 weeks and they're starting to get curious with life outside of the nest. One even ventured out of the nest. Any advice on what I should do next during this transition? I know I've read in a previous thread to line the bottom of the cage with anti-pilling fleece. I also have another cage set up already for when the chicks become more independent.
 

Sunni Tiel

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They're adorable! Well, as cute as naked baby aliens can look lol. :heart2:
 

Gigibirds

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Oh my goodness! Congratulations! My lovies' babies left the nestbox for the first time on easter weekend! But your babies' mom (I'm guessing it's the hen with the babies) is gorgeous! I love her colour!
 

Kristina24

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Oh my goodness! Congratulations! My lovies' babies left the nestbox for the first time on easter weekend! But your babies' mom (I'm guessing it's the hen with the babies) is gorgeous! I love her colour!
Thank you! Yes, that's the babies' mom. The dad's color is more grey, white, blue and a bit of green.

How were your babies when they started leaving the nest?
 

Gigibirds

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The babies were great! They were roughly 6 weeks old when they first popped out! (I thought that was pretty young, and I was considering all sorts of options for stuff catch them/soften their falls because I was certain that they were not going to be able to catch themselves.....I was wrong, and they were flying, having a great time, and they landed on the walls sometimes, but could basically always land on a perch!) They were really amazing - I had always only hand-raised the babies and it was AMAZING to see how easy it was to let the parents do it! Even though the main mom (they were raised by 2 hens bc we lost the dad) was hand-raised, she was a natural!

*Their actual mom did do something pretty funny though - she put sticks in the entrance so the babies couldn't come out!! She also thought it was too early for them to come out, but after a couple days they snuck out anyways :roflmao:
 

Kristina24

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The babies were great! They were roughly 6 weeks old when they first popped out! (I thought that was pretty young, and I was considering all sorts of options for stuff catch them/soften their falls because I was certain that they were not going to be able to catch themselves.....I was wrong, and they were flying, having a great time, and they landed on the walls sometimes, but could basically always land on a perch!) They were really amazing - I had always only hand-raised the babies and it was AMAZING to see how easy it was to let the parents do it! Even though the main mom (they were raised by 2 hens bc we lost the dad) was hand-raised, she was a natural!

*Their actual mom did do something pretty funny though - she put sticks in the entrance so the babies couldn't come out!! She also thought it was too early for them to come out, but after a couple days they snuck out anyways :roflmao:
Wow! Yeah the two oldest chicks are 23 and 25 days so I was surprised to see one of them out of the nest! So I just added the fleece to the bottom to soften their fall.

The earlier clutches the parents had had to be hand-fed since the parents neglected them. But this is their first actual chicks that they started taking care!
 

Gigibirds

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Aww wow! It's so amazing to see how easy it is to have baby birds when you don't need to do a SINGLE THING!! It's an absolute luxury! :roflmao: It was a good idea to put down that fleece :)
 

Kristina24

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Aww wow! It's so amazing to see how easy it is to have baby birds when you don't need to do a SINGLE THING!! It's an absolute luxury! :roflmao: It was a good idea to put down that fleece :)
Yes! It was nice and a relief to see the parents feeding the chicks! Waking up 2-4 hours to feed was hard. But I do have to keep a close eye on the youngest one because it looks like the two oldest are bullying him.
 

Zara

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Zara

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Who is plucking those chicks? The parents? They need to be removed from the one plucking them. Both the bird in the middle and the one on the right have been plucked, I can´t see the one on the left well on this photo.
 

Gigibirds

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That is really not good! If the youngest is getting hurt then I would recommend that you remove him IMMEDIATELY. I know that it is a pain to hand-feed them when they are young, but for his safety I think that this is what you should do. Ginger had a scab on her wing when I got her. She was younger than your bird, but she still never grew feathers there. It permanently damaged her wing, and she couldn't ever fly properly. :( Any scabs/scratches this young could have a life-long effect. I know that you might not want to, but I would really REALLY recommend taking him out....you don't want him to stay hurt!
 

Kristina24

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Who is plucking those chicks? The parents? They need to be removed from the one plucking them. Both the bird in the middle and the one on the right have been plucked, I can´t see the one on the left well on this photo.
The other two don't seem to have any injuries. It's just the youngest one.
 

Kristina24

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That is really not good! If the youngest is getting hurt then I would recommend that you remove him IMMEDIATELY. I know that it is a pain to hand-feed them when they are young, but for his safety I think that this is what you should do. Ginger had a scab on her wing when I got her. She was younger than your bird, but she still never grew feathers there. It permanently damaged her wing, and she couldn't ever fly properly. :( Any scabs/scratches this young could have a life-long effect. I know that you might not want to, but I would really REALLY recommend taking him out....you don't want him to stay hurt!
Ahhh thank you for your advice!!! My only issue is that I'll be out of town next weekend and my dad will be the only one watching the birds. Not too sure how he'd be with hand feeding the younger one. If anything, I'll have to find a friend/other family member to feed the youngest.
 

Zara

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The other two don't seem to have any injuries. It's just the youngest one.
The dark marks on him?
I took another look and the youngest might not be plucked, it seems he´s just far smaller/less developed. But those marks on him are concerning. Even that eye does not look good. I would go as far to say, that if he´s not removed this may end up with him being killed.

The two older birds have been plucked and it´s highly likely that the parent did it, that means that you need to take the chicks from the parents and rear them in a brooder. I´m sure it´s very painful for the chicks to have their feathers plucked from all over their bodies, and on top of that it leaves them vulnerable to infections.

This is why our agendas need to be cleared for that whole weaning process, because we never know when we will need to step in, and we owe it to them to be able to do so.

My only issue is that I'll be out of town next weekend and my dad will be the only one watching the birds. Not too sure how he'd be with hand feeding the younger one. If anything, I'll have to find a friend/other family member to feed the youngest.
Teach someone how to spoon feed. Be sure to show them a few times, as well as how to prep the food correctly, checking temp of the food before feeding, and also reading the hygrometer and thermometer of the brooder throughout the day. It may be a good idea to give them this forum address so if they need help and can´t get in touch with you, they can reach out here for help.

Here is your picture, I looked closer and could clearly see the bird on the left is plucked. I have circled the plucked areas for you, it is unlikely that they plucked each other, or that the youngest did it,
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