I need help making a decision...

[AzaleaMist]

This is something I have considered doing with Petey and Nova if she decided to lay eggs. I am not sure if I will but I have thought about it a few times.


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[Laurul Feather Cat]

With such a responsible young man and with you willing to back your son up if he needs the help, I'd say it is a good idea. However, I would not want just one chick to hatch, I would urge you to make it two chicks. A cage with three birds in it is a fight waiting to happen next mating season. If two siblings were to hatch, they could live independently in another cage, separte of the parent birds and be company for one another. Three birds caged together is a bad number, and if you move the baby into his own cage, then he is lonely. Two chicks is a much better solution to the future caging questions.

One thing I found true with cockatiels is that the babies are very fragile until they are two weeks old. If a baby survives to two weeks, they are generally going to survive and mature. I had read this many times in breeding texts dedicated to cockatiels and I have found it to be quite true. Last January, my hen, Mindy, was visiting my BFF's cock, Noel, mainly because Noel was acting so hormonal and aggressive to my BFF. Having Mindy as a mate did help settled Noel, but to my surprise, a hen that had never in her 15 years of life laid an egg, promptly laid four eggs after mating with Noel. BFF faithfully refrigerated the eggs to kill the embryo of each, but she either messed up somehow or the Goddess had other plans, because in early May BFF found this in the cage:

(I know picture is not a new hatched baby, but this is the earliest picture of MJ I have)

My BFF had always wanted a lutino hen baby cockatiel and the Goddess sent her one. I allowed BFF to start picking up MJ (stands for My Joy) when she turned eight days old; until then, they are just too fragile to handle. BFF handled the chick every day, starting with two minutes on day 8 and increasing by two minutes every day. MJ grew up to be a very, very loving completely parent fed baby and now looks like this:



You could not ask for a more bonded bird with a human. I often wish MJ had had a sibling as her parents want nothing to do with her and I think she would like having a flock buddy who could fly with her.

If you decide to do this experiment, good luck, and I hope it goes very well for you and your son.

 

[juliashmulia]

I had a pair of white doves when I was Corbin's age, and eventually they mated and laid eggs. I had no idea what I was doing and shudder to think of all I did wrong (my parents didn't help me as the birds were entirely my responsibility), but I ended up putting an old bird's nest I found abandoned outside in the cage (I know, I know). I put their eggs in it and they all hatched. Only one lived, and together with mama and daddy bird we raised it. I did like you said Corbin will do and interacted with the baby as much as they would let me. They were very tolerant of me and the baby grew up to be a hand-tame pet. I used no heat source, no supplements, nothing. Just let nature take its course, and all worked out in the end. So I guess what I'm saying is that if I could do it, do everything wrong, and have it work out so beautifully, then your son will definitely be able to with all the knowledge he has, plus help from you. I think it's awesome that he wants to do this. He sounds like a great kid.

 

[juliashmulia]

I should add that helping raise that baby and caring for a little family of birds was one of the coolest experiences of my childhood, and I'll never forget it. It taught me so much about love, patience, responsibility, and of course, nature. Pretty neat.

 

[Momto3boys]

She's still laying her eggs right now, shes up to 3 but she should have another some time today. Ouff, Im still on the fence.
I need to make a decision......and yes it makes sense to have 2 chicks instead of 1. Thats another thing to think about it. It will be double the work for him before he goes to school in the morning. He empties, washes and refills all their bowls before he leaves for school in the morning and then when he comes home, he cleans their cage.

He really is a great kid. But he is 10. I also dont want his whole life revolved around birds and then miss out on other fun stuff.
You wouldnt think something like this would be such a hard decision!

 

[AzaleaMist]

Honestly, two cockatiel cages verses one is not that much more work. (Now if you said Quaker... ) My eleven year old owns some of our birds and she could easily do dishes of two Tiel cages in the morning. I often have her do more or if she can't do her tasks I will happily do it and she helps he in the afternoon .


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[Artagiel]

I have 4 tiels myself and haven't found the addition of the latest 2 to make much more work than just having the first two. The noise is doubled and the food goes a bit faster but other than that I haven't had a problem. Granted the cage I have is a big double decker so although I do pull two trays the wash and wipe down after is more like one big cage rather than two separate. Of course kids are different, they always have changes coming up as they grow, but if he is invested in these guys it wouldn't be too much of an addition imho.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Most of the actual work will be while the babies are being fed by the parent. The parent birds eat huge quantities of food and give it to the chick who produces huge quantities of poop. It is not recommended to disturb the chicks or the parents for the first seven days; then, if you feel you must, you can change nest box substrate and begin handling the birds daily for short periods of time. But in reality, unless you are intending to hand feed the babies, the parents do all the work and you and he will only have to provide the fresh food three times a day during the brooding process.

I don't think providing care for two cages rather than one would be that much more work for your son. But you need to decide if you think this is a good idea.