Pictures Peach faced Love bird family

[JenBirds]

they grew up .. I still have them ..

 

[Zara]

Did you manage to tame the chicks?
My hen is wild(and vicious, she arrived on my doorstep). She bonded with my Jaime and they had chicks. I took the chicks at 25 days to handfeed (although dad did come over and help a little) and bought a new cage for the parents with a divider. I learned how to handfeed when I bought my first lovebird Sydney, the breeder taught me. So, I split the parents but would put the babies in with the dad every day for a snuggle so they could all interact (even the hen) and they were all out of the cages at the same playtimes. but the babies were tame, like dad. I still have both chicks.
The cage is key. It has been so much easier with it and less stress. Because when the hen gets upset or angry she attacks Jaime, so when I took the chicks, I put the divider in with perches close so they could sit together but Jaime also had protection from her and also it makes it easier for me to clean the cage when she has chicks, and check up on the chicks etc.
I don´t know if any of that is helpful to you.
Don´t leave the wild birds in the cage, get them out. My hen is still untame, but she enjoys siting on my shoulder and flying with my other birds.

 

[JenBirds]

thanks for your advice .. Right now I have them in the cage. if they fly out they don't go back in so easy! I am making plans to get them their own room, (space like an aviary). I know you can clip them, but I still haven't done so. Two are clipped. I did this at a pet store and I don't think she did it right, but the feathers grow out. They can still fly quite a bit when clipped. I have a net which makes it so much easier to catch them. I have to get the nerve up to clip them and get a blood sample to determine the sex. These two things I am squeamish about to be honest. The five I have are not tame. I have 4 in the brooder box. In the past, we've let them out, and very difficult to get back. With the net it's easier. I know that to get them to become tame, they must be hand-fed and handled frequently by us. The new babies will have that. When I had my first clutch, I didn't know that. 10 days to 2 weeks I was told is a good time to start. That's what I was told. They said if you wait, too long, then they don't like taking from the syringe and the formula etc. I bought a mate for Alex (still hoping he's a boy) but they get along pretty well, so was told that is a good sign. Two females will not get along.

 

[JenBirds]

You're welcome. I'm confused, are you saying that your birds are breeding again? What became of the other babies you were asking about originally?

The second clutch didn't make it .. due to wrong information on the internet. Also the Pet store owner said some things which weren't true. I was very sad and cried but not giving up. I now know how to make a brooder and have the supplies ready.

 

[Zara]

I know that to get them to become tame, they must be hand-fed and handled frequently by us. The new babies will have that. When I had my first clutch, I didn't know that. 10 days to 2 weeks I was told is a good time to start. That's what I was told. They said if you wait, too long, then they don't like taking from the syringe and the formula etc. I bought a mate for Alex (still hoping he's a boy) but they get along pretty well, so was told that is a good sign. Two females will not get along.

Sorry but I find a lot of this to be false info.
You CAN tame a bird that was not hand raised, even a wild bird but it will take time and patience to build trust. I´m still working with my wild hen (who i found) a year later but I do NOT use a net to catch her. I open her cage daily. Use a net to catch her and you will never have her trust and your bird will never be tame.

I personally don´t agree with wing clipping unless there is an urgency to. Maybe you should get it done at the vet instead of the pet shop.

3 weeks is a good time to start hand feeding unless there is problems, eg, parents not feeding a chick.
Please don´t take those chicks at 10 days unless you have to. If there are problems and they are not being fed, then you will have to take them but they will need a brooder, and it needs to be set to the right temp etc

There are cases where 2 females get along fine.

So are you planning on breeding them more in the future? I suggest you do a bit more research.
I have had 2 clutches of chicks but I do not want to be a breeder it just happened. Luckily I had been taught by a pro breeder how to handfeed when I bought my Sydney. My first clutch stayed with parents til 24 days old. I had never even touched then til that day, then I took them and handfed them, they got to see their parents everyday and still live with me. Even thought their mother is a wild hen the chicks are tame like dad. I have the second clutch now. I took 2 of the 4 chicks from the parents at 22 days old, I had no choice as I have an extremely small chick and the risk of it being asphyxiated under its siblings was high. I have been handfeeding that small chick since 5 days old as the parents stopped feeding it. Not my choice.

Also if you are wanting to breed her more remember she needs a break. It's not healthy to breed non stop, same like puppy farms.

Please don´t take my post the wrong way, I´m not trying to tell you that you are wrong, I just think that the pèt shop worker has told you some bad info.
Creating a bird room is a very good idea if you have the space.
Ps: If you need help with brooder set up there are people in this forum that can help you.

Edit:
I found a thread that may help How To make a home made brooder | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[Zara]

I have just noticed your signature, Rachel,.. Jacob AlexRoxanaIsaiahEsther

So Roxana is the bird in your prof pic, and I´m guessing that Isaiah and Esther are the parents to chicks Rachel, Jacob and Alex? (Sorry if I got that wrong).
If you do create a bird room, be carefull with Roxana trying to pair up with one of the 3 chicks your kept. Roseicollis shouldn´t breed with Personatus (masked). Although if she paired up with Rachel it wouldn´t be the worst thing, as long as they are both female.

Also, I don´t know if you have a true bonded pair of siblings but personally it goes against my ethics to let siblings mate, not to mention heath problems. I kept the first clutch that was born in my house and they are a pair, but they are a same sex pair.

You said you wanted to get them sexed, maybe bob to the vet and get them to take the feathers to do it. I´m also to squeemish to pull the feathers so I know the feeling.

 

[JenBirds]

no, the profile pic is Alex who was in my first clutch.. he was born to Jacob and Rachel. I just put the ones I thought looked like the birds not knowing which ones to use.. I see now they have a black face.. lol! All are peachfaced Lovebirds.. I bought Roxana to mate with Alexander aka Alex. I went with clipping because they would stay out of the cage and not come back.. we've got a pot rack they like to fly to in the kitchen.. and some would stay there for days.. it was scary in case they never returned to eat. I also was told that you can clip the toe nail a bit too short, thus getting the blood for the sex test We don't have a Vet nearby there's one that is far away and very expensive. Alex was bonded to me and tamer, until he learned how to fly. Then it was all over. I let him hang out with his not tame sister and brother and Jacob the dad. Two are brother and sister, I think, and they need to be separated. I am afraid they will be lonely though. The parents and the other siblings aren't tame and Alex was. I was told you need to let them stay by themselves to keep them tame. I don't know if this is correct. i changed my signature .. they are all peach faced love birds, Alex came out more blue because his mom has a blue tail. I also think there's some yellow in some, since with the second clutch, they was one with no grey on the feathers. Roxana has some cinnamon in her I was told by the breeder. Fun! Well, I do need help to learn more of course. How do you make sure they don't breed? I did want them to for this clutch to replace the ones I lost for the brooder I am using the method I found on you tube.. not an aquarium but a critter box and keep warm with a heating pad adjusted to the desired heat. The other side can be a cool area so they can get out if hot. I have care fresh bedding and a toy mom.. I know you can do co-parenting with the mom. Or at least that is what I read. I changed the signature to make it less confusing

 

[Zara]

Have you tried looking to see if there is a breeder close to you? Maybe the person you bought Roxana from? Or go online and look for baby agapornis for sale. I´m sure if you asked a breeder to help you, they would. They may know how to clipand handfeed the birds properly and also to take a feather for the DNA test. That or have one vet visit and do everything in one. If you do go to the vet, watch them closely clipping the wings and ask to be taught that way you can do it yourself in the future. Things like clippìng nails, feathers and such can go wrong if you don´t know what you´re doing and a bird can bleed to death quickly (I don´t file my birds nails, it scares me too much, they have pedi perches instead).

My Jaime is tame. He lives with Aldora who is not. She not just untame, she bites. Jaime is still tame, they´ve been together for a year.

If you have clipped their wings, the next step is to start training and tame them. It´s not impossible. Eventually the wings will grow back and maybe you will be able to leave them in the future. Aldora is not clipped so it is a little harder to work with her, but I won´t give up.

If you don´t need to co-parent, best leave the parents to do their thing for 21-25 days. Then you can take the chicks and take over.
My first clutch saw 2 chicks hatch(Nube and Lapis), the parents did it all - I left the country and went home to the UK when the chicks were a few days old. I never opened the nest or even touched the babies. Back then I had Jaime and Aldora in a normal cage with the nest inside, Aldora bites so I couldn´t get near even if I wanted to. On day 24 it was an operation to get the chicks out of there. I also moved the parents into a breeder cage as Aldora was attacking Jaime. I would then put the chicks in Jaimes side for a half hour here and there and he´d feed them and snuggle with them.
With the second clutch is was a totally different ball game. I had to co-parent to keep the youngest alive. So it´s not that I wanted to, but more I had no choice. I took the 2 elder chicks at 22 days old and left the young ones with the parents, but as I still had to co-parent, I ended up wpulling those chicks too not long after. Also, this time, dad Jaime isn´t interested in the chicks like last time. He hasn´t fed any of them since they left the nest.
Co parenting won´t make the birds any more or less tame, so I wouldn´t do it unless there´s a problem, especially with the parents not being tame.

You say you lost a clutch? That seems odd. How many chicks were there? What went wrong?

Ah ok I understand. Sorry yes, It did lead to some confusion. It´s good that they are all the same species. They are all Roseicollis. Also, when the face is white like your birds, it´s refered to as white faced as opposed to peach faced.

Maybe you could post some pictures of all your birds? I´d love to see them all! I refer to Aldora, Jaime and their chicks Nube and Lapis as the blue team, I love the different colours. I now have the Blue team #2 (the lates 4 chicks) their feathers are just poking through. I´m excited to see the mutations they have

 

[JenBirds]

You say you lost a clutch? That seems odd. How many chicks were there? What went wrong?

Zara, there we're 4 chicks as the one runt passed.. early on, I read that was typical. We had two clutches where the mother laid 5 eggs and this was the 2nd. Then I started hand feeding them by watching a you tube video how to. Everything was fine and there was no brooder. The two older ones were always climbing out of the nesting box and into a plastic container which i placed beside the nesting box. I used the heat lamp which my pet lady said to.. Before I just put it on for a few minutes to warm them up. So I put them in a cage near the others and this may have been part of the problem. I put the heat lamp, further away.. and the two biggies got out of the nesting box.. and got burned,,, it was closer than I had thought. It was heart breaking and of course I had a hard time getting over that. I kept saying if only.. if only.. Anyway, then we went out and the two small babies died by the time we got home. Now I find out.. it's better to have a brooder box, thing and keep them to the temperature of 90 degrees temperature -98 degrees and give them an ability to get out of that to cool off.. this is what I have planned:

 

[JenBirds]

She keeps the temperature lower, than is recommended here in this thread. Below 80 degrees Since the young babies died due to what I say is wrong information, I will keep it between 92-98 but allow babies to move around as suggested in video. I am sure if you take them out later rather than earlier the lower temp is okay.. The breeder I bought Roxana from has given me info too, she lives over 3 hours away. She said in the 90's is good

 

[Zara]

I had 2 little ones in this clutch, I noticed the youngest hadn´t been fed on the 2nd day so I stepped in and fed him but I didn´t check in on him first thing in the morning. I was naive to think it was a one off thing and they´d feed him and unfortunately he passed. Not a nice day at all. When the next youngest was rejected the same day I stepped in and he´s still going. He´s a tiny one but he´s still here.
I can´t imagine finding your chicks like that. How awful. poor little things I know that guilty feeling well
Seems like the lady in the pet store didn´t give you any advice on setup, that´s a tragic shame.

I don´t know anything about brooder set ups. I know there´s lots of other members that do.
I have the same set up now as my last clutch. When the chicks are 22-24 days old, I take the whole nest box off the parents cage and put it on the floor (with the grid removed) of my small ¨travel¨cage, and put it on my big coffee table here next to my laptop. No lamp or anything like that. Luckily I live on the Med and we have a good climate here. Also I work from home so I am right here at this table most of the day and I don´t go on any days out when I have chicks.

How old are the chicks when you are taking them from the parents?

She keeps the temperature lower, than is recommended here in this thread. Below 80 degrees Since the young babies died due to what I say is wrong information, I will keep it between 92-98 but allow babies to move around as suggested in video. I am sure if you take them out later rather than earlier the lower temp is okay.. The breeder I bought Roxana from has given me info too, she lives over 3 hours away. She said in the 90's is good

Maybe this will help?
How To make a home made brooder | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[JenBirds]

Well, I may change when I take them now.. I was told to take them out on day 10, to day 14 from the hatching so the biggest was hatched on Jan 4th. next one the 6th.. 3 the ninth, 4 the 12th.. This mother fusses a bit when you try to check on them but she will be okay to co-parent. With the first clutch she pecked the little one and like you I had to step in. I want to give them a chance to develop with mom. and Dad, he is a good dad and Rachel is good too, except when she thinks it's time to breed again. then she pecks them. So I like you took them away from her and let Dad feed them, which he did. Sometimes I recruited them to help get Alex back because when he got out, he would stay on the pot rack and not come back.

 

[JenBirds]

 

[Zara]

So they chicks you have now are 2 weeks old?
Leave them at least another week before taking them. They won´t be any less tame. Mine are just over 4 weeks and just want to be on me snuggling.
10 days is so young, It´s cruel if there´s no problem, It´s like taking away a 2 week old puppy from its mother for no reason.
Even co parenting comes with risks. I suppose every clutch is different and different problems call for different solutions.
Strange she is pecking at the chicks... preening yes, but not hurting them.
Maybe she wanted to breed so soon because her chicks were taken? My hen had 3 months between laying clutches. I kept her in contact with that first clutch as long as possible until one day she turned on them and wanted to move on.
*I´m not a professional, I just know what I know from raising Sydney, Jaime and the 2 clutches.
My little ones:

 

[JenBirds]

I am making a you tube video to show you the older birds, when loaded will put here: this one is more current as was filmed on the 12th of January:

 

[JenBirds]

she did that with the first clutch.. so she had them.. I was told by another breeder she just wanted to go on..and start another Clutch.. and it's normal. Alex was tiny at first compared to his siblings and she pecked them too.. so she was put in another cage, and for awhile he fed them and then they weaned.

 

[Zara]

Lovebirds are notorious for breeding, and once the fledglings leave the nest, it´s time for more. It just seems very soon for you.
I did notice with both my clutches, that when the chicks reach a certain age ( i think around 2 weeks old), Jaime took over the feeding. I don´t know if Aldora fed at all, but I don´t think so.
I´ve got my pair split atm. They can still preen through the bars but not make any more babies.

 

[JenBirds]

maybe will have to do that.. they hatched first clutch in Aug.. then had another one in beginning of Nov. now this one was hatched in Jan !! Really appreciate your help.. it's hard to get help as far as what to do and I always welcome new ideas! old picture of first clutch.. you can see Alex is on the bottom left snuggling in his feathers came out more bluish and so I wish to breed him with Roxana providing the sex test comes out okay..

 

[Zara]

That´s a lot of eggs. sounds like she might need a little break ?

The little bald patches you mention are where the crop has expanded with the food. Mine have those too.

Jacob is a lovely bird. He looks Slate (double dark factor dutch blue). Also, I said in a prev. post about white faced, but if your birds have the peachy band then they are peach faced, sorry I didn´t realise they had the band.

You should have quarantined Roxana before introducing her. Birds are flock animals, when one gets sick they all get sick.

Whenever you´re unsure about something or want a second opinion to the pet shop, it´s a good idea to come and ask the forum. The more advice the better.

If you split the brother and sister you have in that cage, you would find it easier taking one at a time out and trying to tame it,and cut the chance of inbreeding. Although, they´re sat on your husbands shoulder, so they are kind of tame? or do they not come to him anymore?

Do you have some birds that look the same, maybe you could pick up some bands for them (the ones that aren´t closed, so you can open them and put them on) lovebirds take a 4.5mm

Lastly, that rack in your kitchen would drive me insane! I know if I had one of those, my birds would never come down, it´s like a climbing frame for them. I see what you mean about yours not wanting to come down.

 

[Zara]

Have you tried using a syringe like these to feed your babies?

They come sterile. You may find it easier than that humongous thing you were using. You will have to keep reloading it but you will have much more control with it and won't waste food squirting it everywhere.
I have 1ml, 2.5ml and 5ml. Maybe worth a go? If your chicks will be 3 weeks old then the 2 bigger ones will be good ones. I have the 1ml one for my tiny one.