Hi y'all! Oké, so we have gotten a little situation on our hand.

About 4 weeks ago our lovebird couple, Kiwi and Mango, got their first baby. Kiwi had 5 eggs and 2 hatched. Sadly the second baby died within 2 days. They didn't feed him and me and my husband are very inexperienced with baby birds so we just hoped they would take care of him but they didn't. This said we tried our best to not interfere with their nest. Until a few days ago everything was fine. But after we took the baby out one more time to start to handle him a little the mom started picking him. We've read several causes two spoke to us the most: jealousy and nutrition. We tried everything we could but the mom seems to be not handeling it well. She has always been a very distrusted an agressive bird (she was found on the street and we think she wasn't handled well by her old owners). Sometimes we hear the baby screatch because the mom is plucking his feathers. Yesterday she first drew blood on the baby so now we are really worried. She also does not seem to feed the baby anymore and when dad is trying to he gets interrupted by mom. It's very confusing.

We bought some nutrition for the baby in case we need to step in. But again: we are not experienced at all. And I am afraid to mess it up. We considered a few options. And read a lot. The best option seems to be to take the mom out and let the dad take care of him. Still I don't know if that will be enough.

Any lovebird experts that can give us advice please? We love our birds dearly and would like to do the best for them...

I'm no lovebird expert, but I am an expert with budgies. And that is something many bird species do. You should remove the mother. Is this her first time laying eggs?
If so, she might be acting like this because she is inexperienced. First time mothers always seem to reject a baby or two, so you should always be prepared for that. And not all eggs are fertile the first time. I hope I helped.


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Thank you for your answer! We have no idea if this is her first nest. We got her about a year now. She was found in the street and was brought to the petstore where they tried to find the owner, but nobody ever responded so we took her in. She was tame when we got her, but could get aggressive all of the sudden. She has always been an odd cookie. We took the mom out and the dad seems to be feeding the baby frequently so we are trying to stay out of it. The bird will be starting to eat by himself soon... so we hope he can make it. We do have food though if needed. But we would like things to go natural. Thank you for your response though!

Breeding birds of any species is a very complicated process that should only be done if you are willing and prepared to take care of the babies should the parents stop feeding the babies, mutilating them, or pushes the baby out of the nest. This just happens. My last cockatiel clutch had one baby that was getting picked on, so I had to pull it to handfeed it or it would've died.

Ps. I saw that the mother was taken out and the father is feeding the baby, this is good. Keep a very close eye on the baby to make sure the father is NOT plucking or picking at it. Good luck!!

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- Jackie, Boo Rue , Ash & Ember

See more of my flock on Instagram!

First, I'd like to welcome you to the forums. Thank you for caring so intently and seeking the best possible solution. I have no experience with Lovebirds, but know first hand the abandonment of newborn chicks. Very long story short, my Goffin parents refused to feed each of their babies over a 3-clutch period past the 3rd or 4th day. No mutilation, just disregard. All were hand-fed and are currently happy adults.

I would suggest consulting local breeders and an avian certified vet for best advice. You may ultimately need to hand-feed the surviving chick - a task that requires great skill and care. Best of luck, and please keep us advised!

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Update: so we took the mom out of the nest. The baby is doing great. The dad feeds him regular and keeps the baby well fed. The mom isn't doing so well though. She is VERY frustrated. When we let her out to see her mate, she is not into him at all. She just hops to her old cage going all around it, but when in it she just walks around frantic. When the baby comes to her she pushes it away. She doesn't seem to want to have any contact really with her mate anymore either, she is totally focussed on searching the cage. We waited with throwing away her other eggs (that did not hatch) until she abandon them and pushed them out. But now it seems like she is frantically looking for them. We feel very sad about this development, it just shows these birds are very strong willed and can act suprisingly. If anyone has some advice; it's very welcome!

That's good the baby is getting fed, but it is sad to hear mamma bird is acting so frantic and frustrated. This is what happens when you separate a mated, bonded pair. If I take one of my cockatiels out of the room, the other becomes frantic, trying to look for the other. And with all those hormones going on, I'm sure she is very confused as to why she can't be with her mate and nest, so I understand her confusion. Separating a mated pair can cause a LOT of stress and trauma.

My only suggestion is that as soon as the baby starts eating on its own and is weaned, separate the baby and father, put the baby in its own cage, and reunite the pair again. If you do decide to let them breed again, I again highly recommend learning to handfeed so you don't have to separate the pair from each other.

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- Jackie, Boo Rue , Ash & Ember

See more of my flock on Instagram!