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Breeding Cockatiels
Part 2
The nestbox needs to be cleaned since it will become very dirty once the
babies are born. This should be done daily to prevent bacteria from growing. A good time to do this is when both parents come out
in the morning to eat. You can prevent them from re-entering the nestbox
by sliding a piece of cardboard through the cage bars and blocking off the
entrance. Put the babies in a small, bowl that has been
lined with paper towels. Cover it halfway with nesting material.
Place the bowl on top of a heating pad set on low that has been covered with a folded terry cloth towel. Work quickly
so the babies do not get chilled or overheated. Remove the soiled nesting material and scrape
the sides of the nestbox. Replace the contents with clean nesting material
then put the babies back inside. Remove the cardboard so the parents can
re-enter the nestbox. Always be careful not to startle or frighten
the parents. They will panic and stomp on the babies, killing or injuring
them.
Sometime the parents will push an egg or baby to the side of the nestbox and won't take care of it. The eggs
may be defective or the babies may be weak and have some problems. The last
chick to hatch can sometimes get less food than the other babies, becoming weak.
According to what I have read and have been told by
other breeders, the parents seem to instinctively know something is wrong with an egg or
baby, thus rejecting it. If this happens to a baby, make a brooder for the baby and start handfeeding it. If
it responds to your feeding, try putting it back inside of the nestbox in
a few days. In
many cases the parents will resume feeding the baby once it's a little stronger. In some cases the
baby's jaw is literally locked shut. This is caused by a condition called
Bordatella, which makes it impossible for the baby to open its mouth to eat.
Babies like this need to be taken to an avian vet or they will starve to death.
 Cockatiels
breeding their first clutch may abandon their eggs or their babies. It seems that
they just don't know how to take care of them. Sometimes it takes a few clutches
before they learn what to do. Abandoned eggs get chilled and the embryos will
die if they are not put inside of an incubator. Abandoned babies will not be fed
and need to be put inside of a brooder and handfed. You can also place the
abandoned eggs or abandoned chicks with another pair of birds that have been successful
at breeding. Surrogate parents
can take care of them. Not all birds are good parents, just like all humans are
not good parents. Parents can start pecking at
babies or plucking their feathers at any age. Some of them are really abusing the chicks
and others are just being over zealous cleaning them. If your chicks are being
injured or plucked by one of the parents, remove the offending parent. You
may have to give supplemental feedings if the babies are not growing and the
remaining parent needs help. If both parents are causing the problem you will
have to remove the chicks and start handfeeding the babies yourself.
If you plan on handfeeding the babies, remove them
from the parents and place them inside of a brooder at 2-3 weeks of age. Purchase a
quality, baby bird formula
at a pet shop and follow the directions on the package. Formula should be between
102-106 degrees
Fahrenheit and should be tested with a good candy thermometer to prevent crop burn.
Breeders have told me that lower temperatures causes the food to travel
down the crop too slowly, causing sour crop and
other digestive problems. Some breeders add a FEW drops of apple cider vinegar OR half baby food applesauce to half already mixed
formula to the morning feedings. This helps the crop to drain. There should
always be some food in the baby's crop but it must drain completely once a
day, between the last feeding at night and the first feeding in the
morning.
Do NOT Aim The Syringe At The Back Of The Bird's Throat. If food goes down the windpipe the baby will choke.
Food travels down the right side of the babies the neck. So it is very important to place the syringe on the
Left side of the beak and point it towards the Right side of his neck. When the
baby is facing you as in this photo, his Left side will be on your Right side.
Never feed the babies when the crop is completely or almost completely full. This will overstretch their
crop causing digestive problems. If the crop isn't draining, take the baby to an
avian vet immediately before sour crop or slow gut sets in.
Babies can be fed with an
eyedropper, a syringe or a spoon. Plastic spoons can be dipped
into boiling water so you can bend the tips, making a little V shape
for easier feedings. Do NOT use the same feeding instrument for each baby.
Each baby should have their own to prevent the spread of bacteria or illness
from one bird to another. Never double dip into the formula. After feeding the
babies, wipe all of the excess formula off of their beaks, skin and feathers
with warm water and a clean wash cloth. Also take a Q-Tip with warm water and
wipe out the inside of their mouths or give the babies a few drops of warm water
inside of their mouths. This will clean out excess formula and help prevent
bacteria from forming. If you do not plan on handfeeding, you can still socialize
the babies by gently handling them at least 4 days a week, 10-20 minutes per
session, starting at the age of 3 weeks. According to research by the
University of California, babies handled like this will be just as tame and sociable
when they are grown as handfed babies. Wash
and warm your hands in hot soapy water so you do not spread bacteria to the babies
and so they do not get
chilled. Don't keep the babies out too long or they will get cold and over tired.
Babies can be put in a small cage (that does not have a grate on the bottom), with perches on the bottom of the
cage and a water dish at 4 weeks of age. (The babies in this photo are NOT 4
weeks old yet.)The
weaning process can begin at 5 weeks but the babies are still handfed according
to the schedules below. At 5-6 weeks of age you can start providing pellets, preferably weaning pellets
which are made just for babies, fresh
vegetables such as corn, peas, carrots, broccoli, greens, fresh fruits such as
apples, oranges, bananas, pears, grapes, whole wheat toast and
other nutritious foods as well as a small amount of
moistened seeds in food dishes on the floor. Make sure the pieces of fresh foods are
tiny and do not leave fresh food inside of the cage for more than an hour. Weaning babies
still need supplemental handfeedings. If a baby is crying and begging for
food, handfeed it. A crying baby is a hungry baby. Babies will start rejecting
the formula on their own when they are ready to be fully
weaned. This is called abundance weaning.
Weigh the babies daily to make sure they are getting enough nutrition and are not losing weight.
Cockatiels are
usually fully weaned by 8-10 weeks of age but some babies can take up to 12
weeks To be fully weaned, a
baby must be eating entirely on its own for 2 weeks. Do not rush weaning and do not starve the babies.
 CLICK HERE
to Return to Breeding Cockatiels Part 1
CLICK HERE
To See What Babies look like 2-26 days old.
Find an Avian Veterinarian
Here
Photos courtesy of Cheryl, Ellen, Georgia, Gretchen, NaDeana,
Lori, Kat, Sophia, Lee, Tracey, Carol, Jim and Lorraine.
Thank you so much for sharing your babies with me and for teaching me how to breed cockatiels.
Graphics Courtesy of
Graphic Garden
Country Patch Collections
Just Nana's
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All Graphics and Photos Copyrighted by Credited Artists and Bird Owners are Not Public Domain
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