Raptor40
Meeting neighbors
Hello everyone!
I have two cockatiels, both of which I had bought as aviary birds from a pet store. The female laid eggs a few weeks ago and when i checked up on them this morning, I noticed a tiny chick beneath the male. I've never raised cockatiel chicks before, so I'm just looking for a bit of advice from some people who have.
Also, as the two cockatiels were aviary birds, they are not particularly tame. The female is very hissy, even though we have tried to tame her in the past and the male is slightly less afraid, but seems to fly around like crazy every time I open the aviary door. I also find it very difficult to get a proper look at the eggs or chicks as the male is constantly sitting on top of them (a good thing in the long run) and hisses or jumps up at me every time I open the nesting box.
I would like to try and tame the chicks, as I have a lot of patients and think it would be a good thing to experiment with, but I also don't want to just take them off the parents, as I know they would be the best ones to raise their chicks. I have heard a lot of people tend to handle chicks each day to try and get them used to it, but I know I would get bitten if i stuck my hand in and I'm not sure if it would be a very good idea to stress the parents out by trying to move them out of the way.
The chick, however, is very still. Should I open take it out to make sure it's still alive, or leave it for the parents to care for?
Does anybody else have any experience with this? I would've liked to have asked earlier, i just genuinely didn't expect the eggs to hatch as the current male is quite young (I thought) and the previous male, who was at breeding age (but unfortunately flew away on a windy day before we were able to properly bolt down the aviary) had been gone for about three weeks before the eggs were laid.
Thank you!
PS. I have attached pictures of the aviary, the female (yellow) and the male (grey) and chick inside the nesting box. Will have to put something over that screw though to make sure nobody loses an eye.
I have two cockatiels, both of which I had bought as aviary birds from a pet store. The female laid eggs a few weeks ago and when i checked up on them this morning, I noticed a tiny chick beneath the male. I've never raised cockatiel chicks before, so I'm just looking for a bit of advice from some people who have.
Also, as the two cockatiels were aviary birds, they are not particularly tame. The female is very hissy, even though we have tried to tame her in the past and the male is slightly less afraid, but seems to fly around like crazy every time I open the aviary door. I also find it very difficult to get a proper look at the eggs or chicks as the male is constantly sitting on top of them (a good thing in the long run) and hisses or jumps up at me every time I open the nesting box.
I would like to try and tame the chicks, as I have a lot of patients and think it would be a good thing to experiment with, but I also don't want to just take them off the parents, as I know they would be the best ones to raise their chicks. I have heard a lot of people tend to handle chicks each day to try and get them used to it, but I know I would get bitten if i stuck my hand in and I'm not sure if it would be a very good idea to stress the parents out by trying to move them out of the way.
The chick, however, is very still. Should I open take it out to make sure it's still alive, or leave it for the parents to care for?
Does anybody else have any experience with this? I would've liked to have asked earlier, i just genuinely didn't expect the eggs to hatch as the current male is quite young (I thought) and the previous male, who was at breeding age (but unfortunately flew away on a windy day before we were able to properly bolt down the aviary) had been gone for about three weeks before the eggs were laid.
Thank you!
PS. I have attached pictures of the aviary, the female (yellow) and the male (grey) and chick inside the nesting box. Will have to put something over that screw though to make sure nobody loses an eye.
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