HELP! My Conure's Eggs Hatched

So I have a male and a female conure and she laid 4 eggs. The first egg hatched yesterday and today I saw the mother feeding it and ontop of it to keep it warm.

Another one hatched tonight, and it is by itself in the open squirming. She looked at it and kind of played with it with her beak, but went back to the rest of her eggs to sit on them and to feed the first baby.

Does this mean she is ignoring the 2nd one? Or does it take a day and then she will give it attention? Should I push the 2nd baby closer to her or should I just leave it alone?

I don't know if this is normal and it is fine, or if she is pro-occupied with the first baby and the other eggs and the 2nd baby is in danger?

How long until they are supposed to be fed, does it take a day or should she be feeding the 2nd baby immediately? I keep looking at the 2nd baby and I see it laying there and squirming every once in awhile.

Thanks for any help? I don't know if I should move it to her or if that will upset her and make things worse and all is well?

Ok...
What kind of conures?
How old are the parents?
Have they ever raised babies before?
How long ago did the second egg hatch?

No, the babies do not need to be fed immediatly, they are still absorbing the nutrients from the yoke, but leaving him cold is concerning. Do you have a brooder set up and formula on hand? How far away is your avian vet? Do you have a local breeder of this species that you can call?

SilverSage said:

Ok...
What kind of conures?
How old are the parents?
Have they ever raised babies before?
How long ago did the second egg hatch?

No, the babies do not need to be fed immediatly, they are still absorbing the nutrients from the yoke, but leaving him cold is concerning. Do you have a brooder set up and formula on hand? How far away is your avian vet? Do you have a local breeder of this species that you can call?

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Thanks for ur reply, they are green cheek conures, both 2 years old and this is their first time being parents. The 2nd egg hatched about 2 hours ago.

I used to be very close to an avian vet but we had to move so now we are over an hour away. And no I do not have a brooder, we didn't get one because both me and my girlfriend are both full time students and full time employees.

any advice at all is greatly appreciated.

SilverSage said:

Ok...
What kind of conures?
How old are the parents?
Have they ever raised babies before?
How long ago did the second egg hatch?

No, the babies do not need to be fed immediatly, they are still absorbing the nutrients from the yoke, but leaving him cold is concerning. Do you have a brooder set up and formula on hand? How far away is your avian vet? Do you have a local breeder of this species that you can call?

Click to expand...

When u say leaving him cold, is she supposed to pick the 2nd baby up and bring it to her with the other? I can't decide if I should move the 2nd baby to her. Because of the cold thing I have the thermostat in my house set at 76 degrees with the heater on. Should I put an electrical portable heater in front of the cage for additional warmth?

I waited to answer because I have practically no experience.

I think you may need to set up a brooder and hand feed the baby which I understand is very difficult and should be a last resort.

My tiels started sitting eggs a few days ago.

I'm not trying to be mean or anything BUT you should know what your getting yourself into prior to allowing them to breed and have babies, it is a lot of responsibility. And YES there might be a chance where you must do the hand feeding yourself. It is NOT easy and very tiring process, I've done it I know, and it is also very dangerous as you can easily kill the chick if you didn't do it properly.

IF they left the chick by itself too long, yes they can get cold and die regardless if you put a heater infront of their cage which I would suggest in doing so since they have babies, it is something new and they might just freak out.

If they still haven't taken the 2nd chick under them, please do put the 2nd chick with the eggs and the 1st chick together. But you gotta make sure cause they will push the baby out at times and lay them on their backs to feed the chicks.

Do you know why they lay so many eggs? More than the amount of babies they can feed? naturally all the babies aren't supposed to make it.Ever wonder why all the babies don't hatch at once? Rare for more than one or two to wean/survive. If you're going to play 'mother nature " you need to be prepared. And yes, first time parents rarely do well, they have to learn and practice. Lucky your's have shelter and food close by and no pedators.

I don't have any words of wisdom for you but CONGRATULATIONS. I know you came here hoping to get some answers without getting bashed but unfortunately it isn't going to happen. You are going to have to take the good and the bad. Honestly, search the Internet for your answers. It may take longer but it won't hurt as much.

Seriously everyone, watching nature do it's thing is exciting. We learn by doing. We also learn by asking.

How does one go about letting a pair of birds do their natural thing, ask questions about it, and not get blasted here? I know it can happen because we don't blast everyone on the forum.

henpecked said:

Do you know why they lay so many eggs? More than the amount of babies they can feed? naturally all the babies aren't supposed to make it.Ever wonder why all the babies don't hatch at once? Rare for more than one or two to wean/survive. If you're going to play 'mother nature " you need to be prepared. And yes, first time parents rarely do well, they have to learn and practice. Lucky your's have shelter and food close by and no pedators.

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You know, I have my kitchen cupboards full of things ready for the eventful day that my parrots may have a clutch that hatches. It does not make me know all of the answers. I have several books and I still don't have all of the answers. But I'm trying to learn and sometimes I just want to come here and ask questions but I'm always afraid of getting blasted. Is that what you really want to do?

WHOA! Hold on to your keyboard there, Dopey!

Nobody is being blasted. Breeding parrots, ANY kind of parrots, should NEVER be taken lightly. Yes, everyone has to start somewhere, and that 'somewhere' should definitely always be RESEARCH. Anyone can throw a pair of birds together, give 'em a nestbox, and hope for the best. But why do that? Because it's so much fun to see in nature? Our birds are NOT in the wild - they rely on us!

How many lives could be saved if 'wanna-be-breeders' did their research BEFORE providing those nest boxes?

It's a sore subject for me, and I won't pretend it's not, however, I'm just saying that NOBODY is being bashed here. Hearing the truth may not what you want, but why sugar coat this?

Any updates on the babies?

I googled homemade brooder. It seems fairly easy and inexpensive to set up.

Dopey said:

...I know you came here hoping to get some answers without getting bashed but unfortunately it isn't going to happen. You are going to have to take the good and the bad. Honestly, search the Internet for your answers. It may take longer but it won't hurt as much.

Seriously everyone, watching nature do it's thing is exciting. We learn by doing. We also learn by asking.

How does one go about letting a pair of birds do their natural thing, ask questions about it, and not get blasted here? I know it can happen because we don't blast everyone on the forum.

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Hmmm....

It's curious, Mary Lynn. When I read this post and your follow up, I honestly went back and reread this thread from the beginning. I was concerned, you see. One of the things I try to guard against, both in my own behavior as a member and and in the actions of others in my capacity as a mod, is the tendency to attack someone unfairly. It happens from time to time. We're all passionate about birds here, right? (Otherwise, why join?) So occasionally, we might see something that gets us riled up and we post before we take the time to think.

It was in the spirit of addressing any such wrong that I responded to your post by rereading everything.

But I honestly just don't see it.

Dani gave very helpful advice about how the OP should proceed and asked some important questions.

Grace admitted to having little or no experience in the area but offered what help she could.

Michael gave further valuable advice along with a warning that breeding birds is not an enterprise to be taken lightly. A warning that, while not sugarcoated, was delivered rather tactfully and without heat.

Richard, seeing that the what-to-do-now advice had already been dispensed, drew from his own considerable pool of experience as a breeder and bird owner to educate us on why parrots sometimes lay more eggs than they could possibly raise... a tidbit that was quite relevant when you consider that the OP expressed concern and puzzlement over one of the hatchlings being left out of the nest and in the cold.

Oh, and his point about the OP needing to be prepared if they were going to play "Mother Nature" wasn't a jab. Again, when considered within the context of the lesson he was giving about why so many eggs are laid, it becomes clear that he's referring to the abandoned chick. In nature, that baby would die. Period. Either by exposure, a fall from the nest, or eaten by predators. So if the OP wants to save that baby, preparation is in order. Namely, learning about handfeeding.

I hope you don't take this as me blasting you, Mary Lynn. Because that is far from my intent. But I do take such assertions and implications regarding this forum... my forum... OUR forum... seriously. And I didn't want the OP, after reading your post, to see attacks or ill-intent where nothing of the sort existed.

Dopey said:

...You know, I have my kitchen cupboards full of things ready for the eventful day that my parrots may have a clutch that hatches. It does not make me know all of the answers. I have several books and I still don't have all of the answers. But I'm trying to learn and sometimes I just want to come here and ask questions but I'm always afraid of getting blasted. Is that what you really want to do?

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You've been a member long enough that it grieves me to think you might have questions but are afraid to voice them. If you have questions, then by all means let's hear them. If anyone truly attacks you for it, they'll have us mods to answer to.

The truth is, this community is like a family. And family is honest with one another. As Wendy said, why sugarcoat? Everyone was simply trying to help. Nothing less, nothing more.

Thanks for that. No , i'm not blasting anyone. The only reason i'm here is to help out birds and their care giver/parront. My comment s where more of a reality check. Sometimes parent birds "see' things in their chicks that we can't/don't. Abandonment is common , parent will often only feed the most demanding chick. First time breeders (ex=pets?) even more so . Just trying to give a little insight. And yeah, i wish they had asked some of these questions before now. My best advice at this point, buy the book, "Parrots, Handfeeding and Nursery management" by Howard Voren and Rick Jordan.

I agree... Anyone thinking about raising birds needs to get their hands on that book.

Nothing said so far has been blasting, but this is the internet so it can be hard to tell tone of voice, especially if one has been attacked before.

Moving on to the case at hand, is there an update? In all honest6, as gentle as I can be, it sounds like you were horribly unprepared for this I would tell you that if the baby was being ignored for too long you should pull it and put it in the brooder that you should not only have already purchased, but already have running at the right temp and humidity, and begin feeding it the special day-1 formula you have on hand, and be ready with your electrolyte solution that you already have on hand in case of this situation, and begin feeding every hour using the equipment and techniques that you have already studied and be on guard for the specific problems you have already researched. But it is too late for that. Since you already work full tie you don't have the capability to handle problems in the nest, that's just a fact of time, not a reflection on how badly you want to, or anything like at. At this point what you really need to do is get on the phone with a local repeatable breeder about the details and concerns, and hopefully find one who is willing to actually take your tiny babies off your hands if problems come up, because at that age, you honestly can't even hope to monitor the situation closely enough, let alone fix it, if something goes wrong and you have a full time job.

Please keep us updated, we all hope the best for your little ones.

henpecked said:

Thanks for that. No , i'm not blasting anyone. The only reason i'm here is to help out birds and their care giver/parront. My comment s where more of a reality check. Sometimes parent birds "see' things in their chicks that we can't/don't. Abandonment is common , parent will often only feed the most demanding chick. First time breeders (ex=pets?) even more so . Just trying to give a little insight. And yeah, i wish they had asked some of these questions before now. My best advice at this point, buy the book, "Parrots, Handfeeding and Nursery management" by Howard Voren and Rick Jordan.

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Ok - here goes. I got that book and I'm still reading it but I had to take a break. Unfortunately I got it after one of the author's died and the price went way up but I waited a couple of paychecks and bought it anyway. Based upon what people on two forums told me to do. I find the books on the market lacking for me. I don't want to start a huge breeding business. It's not what I want to do but I do want to provide the best I can for what may or may not take place in my home.

Let me give you a for instance - and Dani finally gave me the answer for it. I wanted to know the best temperature and humidity level to provide in my home for my birds. We are going to have to co-exist but I'm older and I can deal with a little more heat than I used to. I could find the answers. I think I finally found it in "Parrots, Handfeeding and Nursery management" but it was Dani who gave me the most direct answer.

I would love to talk to someone about brooders and such because I consider myself a DIY person and get some satisfaction out of saying - wow I did that. I would like to know how Dani and others on here have their nurseries set up - because I want a little less of a nursery than what is shown in the books and on the internet.

A congratulations is what I am looking for and then a helping hand.

I have two hens sitting on eggs that are infertile if I candled right. I have a waiting list for both of them. I don't plan on charging for them. And those waiting know it may never happen. I don't have an incubator - I don't plan on going that direction. If the hens can't do it then so be it. I don't have a brooder for a day old chick but I do if they are 10 days old. I have droplets, syringes, and towels, thermometers, whisks, ceramic bowls, and I honestly don't remember what else because I've put it away for the next season. I have an avian vet that I love and who is right down the street from me. Oh - I don't have spoons bent yet. BUT it would be awesome to come here and feel comfortable enough to ask questions but honestly I know that most of you don't approve. As someone said...it's a sore subject...I guess for all of us.

And Dani - thank you for your list of questions. I cut and pasted them; put each one on a separate page; gave myself some lines to write upon; and printed them out so that I can answer each one and refer to each one when I need to. An exercise physically waiting to happen but one that has mentally happened more than once.

I apologize for saying that the OP was being blasted. Not everyone did but the tone has changed.

Steve - I'm sorry - I didn't mean to leave you out. You have a wealth of information that does help me. I just feel that I can't live up to the standards of some people on this forum. I do the best that I can.

I took some of what was said as very harsh and what I'd really like to feel is that we can come here and get the info that we want. Whether you believe in it or not just give the information.

PLEASE tell me what it is that I'm not understanding the "Parrots, Handfeeding and Nursery management" by Howard Voren and Rick Jordan book. It honestly has not helped me much.

Are you asking Steve a question about the book or is that open to everyone? I find the book helpful in that it explains how to raise day old chicks, how to set up a incubator and what temps/humidity, etc. Invaluable when it comes to issues and answers that may arise with baby chicks. i guess i don't understand what question you're asking? BTW my issue with the OP is contained in the title. I'm all for folks researching and learning, resources i didn't have when i started. I didn't have the internet and someone like me who you could ask. If i were you i'd take advantage of that , i'll try and not be judgmental or mean. I think it's great we can have this section on a companion parrot forum (not very common).

The question is open for everyone. I bought the book with the understanding that it was the best on the market. Maybe it is but I had done so much research on the Internet and had bought a few other books that I found this one to be disappointing.

I have a question so let's go with it...okay? It's about temps and humidity.
I have two hens sitting on eggs. Severe Macaws and Eclectus. Both rooms are between 72 and 73 degrees and 45% and 50% humidity. Is that enough or should I up them? According to Voren and Jordan the temps and humidity are within the ranges. What do you keep your room temps and humidity levels at?

I don't know if your questions are covered because I didn't read much of it...but here you go:
Tips For Breeders
Egg Incubation: Optimal Temperatures Needed for Embryo Development
Breeding Articles - Feathering Crest Aviary
https://www.brinsea.com/Brochures/BrinseaHandbook.pdf