Parents are known to mutilate their chicks

Piccolina

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Mar 22, 2014
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I have two couple of lovebirds
I have a pair :blue2::blue2:who laid 5 eggs.

In the past, they successfully laid eggs which hatched and the parents mutilated the chicks.

For the purpose of removing the agressive parent:How will I know if it's the male or the female mutilating the babies as it happens inside the box and out of site?

Also, when and if I identify the agressive parent and remove it from the cage, can the single parent feed 5 chicks by itself or do I take over and hand feed?

And for how long do I remove the agressive parent from the cage?

As I asked in my previous post, should I transfer some of the chicks to the other couple :green::blue2:who are getting ready to nest?

Thank you





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SilverSage

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parents who mutilate chicks should not be allowed to breed, and unless you are committed to producing healthy, high quality pets which takes a lot more than keeping the babies alive and tame, you should not be allowing them to breed whether they are mutilating chicks or not.

That said, there are many factors that could be causing the mutilation such as too much human disturbance around the nest box, etc. Try to eliminate these potential stress causers.

What are you feeding? The type and quality of the food will have an impact on whether or not one parent can handle the feeding. At what age have you witnessed the mutilation in the past?

And in addition, what are your motives in allowing your birds to breed?
 
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Piccolina

Piccolina

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I have two couple of lovebirds
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I went to a "seed farm" and bought a variety of the best seeds and mixed it....so I think their diet is not lacking of any vitamine.

I also give them apple every day.

The house is pretty quiet as I don't have children, but I have 3 little Maltese who are well behaved and rarely heared.

So I am wondering why were the parents mutilating the chicks, and who of the two was the culprit.





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Featheredsamurai

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Apple alone gives them very little, you need to offer a variety of veggies. Fruit is full of sugar and water, just like with people veggies are something we should be eating more.

check out this chop mix :) great way to feed veggies without throwing tons out every week Chop Mix For Your Birds
 

weco

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If your other breeders will accept the chicks, that sounds like a workable solution...you can search out stories of nesting hens and/or parents accepting neonate chicks that are neither theres or of their own specie, but if you have a mutilating pair, yes, I would remove the chicks now & give myself a cram coarse in handfeeding those chicks ! ! !

Just like doctors encourage the beast feeding of babies, chicks receive enzymes from being parent fed, especially digestive enzymes & for their immune systems, but don't wait until your other pair is set up & nesting, it sounds like you need to make some decisions now.....

Good luck.....
 

SilverSage

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Ok,a i highly recommend you begin sprouting your seed. What kids of seeds are you using? Dry seeds are basically the burgers and fries of the bird world. Sprouting your seeds instead of feeding them dry will basically transform the diet from junk food to veggies. There are many threads and videos out there on how to do it. The reason for mutilating could very well be because your birds are unhealthy because of their diet. While breeding, they also should be fed kale, other veggies, egg food and or eggs, and have cuttlebone available at all times. If they ignore the cuddle bone, grind it and add it to their food. Avoid fruit and add finely chopped veggies to the sprouts.

Chick mutilation is an indication of a problem. If you are lucky it is just a nutritional or situational problem, but it could be genetic. So unless you find a way to keep them from doing it (as in change of behavior, not just taking one away to keep him from doing it) then you should not be breeding this pair. I ask again what is your motivation for breeding? In the mean time, look around at the situation and see what could be stressing the birds out, noise is not the only thing. A mirror? A shiny object? A big red picture? You have to figure it out.

As far as I know the only way to know which is doing it is to catch them in the act. Do you have a reason for assuming it is only one of them? Again, how old are the chicks when this happens? Can you see any problem with the chicks? The only time I ever had this happen was with a bird with a beak deformity, his mother killed him. So again I say it could be genetic, it could be they are producing genetic deformities, and then killing the offspring which is a natural way of keeping the gene pool clean. It could also be that you are leaving the babies too long in the same cage as the parents, it could also be that the parents were hand raised and simply don't know what to do with the babies and are hurting them out of frustration. Is there a reason why this pair must be bred? Are they a rare color mutation or show birds or something?
 

DallyTsuka

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Your other thread you mentioned your second pair are under a year old. Please don't breed them, remove the box before they lay.
 

SilverSage

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Oh dear, agreed!
 
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Piccolina

Piccolina

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I have two couple of lovebirds
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Your other thread you mentioned your second pair are under a year old. Please don't breed them, remove the box before they lay.

They keep cutting pieces of papers and making a nest, and they already mated, I saw them "doing it".

Does that mean that the female is already producing an egg?

I don't want the situation to be where I will remove the nest and she will lay eggs anyway....on the bottom of the cage.

What should I do?

I did not have intention to breed them as I realize they are too young, but when I saw them "doing it"
I thought I better provide them a comfortable enviroment and gave the the nesting box.:11:

So if I now remove the nesting box and she is fertile, isn't she going to lay eggs anyway?:confused:





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SilverSage

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MayBe she will maybe she won't but with them being so young it is your responsibility as an owner to take steps to keep the hormones under control.
 
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DallyTsuka

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I would remove the nest, remove the paper she is making the nest out of as well. I understand full well that lovebirds are hard to prevent with their raging hormones--I have a chronic egg layer myself and she's had health complications. I just don't want to see other people cope with the same troubles. Prevent it while you can :) also, cover their cage 12-14 hours of night in pure darkness. It tricks them into thinking it's winter so they aren't as likely to lay eggs

Also, birds may "do it" but it doesn't mean eggs. Birds also do it for the heck of it... my tiels have in the past and they don't lay eggs
 

TweeterKat

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Hi - most of the other commenters on here know my situation. My thread is the nestbox/foodie question. I have a pair that despite my best efforts are on their way to a clutch. It was never my intention to breed, I just wanted the pair for the comfort they provide each other while I am not around, but clearly I got in WAY over my head and now I am on a crash course on breeding/preventing clutches!!! LOL!

If you read the thread you will see the suggestions given to me, but in a nutshell: I need dummy eggs to replace the real ones. Let my hen "sit out" her cycle til she's satisfied they are unviable and moves on. However long that takes her. Then I need to try to prevent her thinking it's breeding season again.

LOTS OF TIPS IN MY THREAD!! And google is your best friend as well. Research everything and find what works best for your birds. I am still learning... and I am grateful to everyone here who has helped guide me on my way so far!

FYI- I have only had my birds for 3 weeks!!! o_O
 

SilverSage

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Yes, it seems like lovies are particular prone to this problem, and are also cursed by the idea that they must have nest boxes or snuggle huts, which is not true but only serves to encourage these issues. I have heard multiple pet store workers telling people that love birds must always be kept in pairs and must always have a snuggle hut or nest box, leading to people who just want pets ending up with lots and lots of babies!
 

DallyTsuka

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boil the eggs and give them back, or replace them with fakes. you dont want them having problems raising babies.
 

SilverSage

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I don't know why boiling them didn't occur to me.
 

DallyTsuka

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you have a lot on your mind going from post to post helping people, thats why ;)
 

SilverSage

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well thanks. Haha, I have used dummy eggs but never thought of boiling the actual egg :p sometimes it is the simple things in life that I totally miss! Haha!
 
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TweeterKat

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Question- how long away from mom is too long for her to accept the egg back? I took Peaches egg away and will start replacing any more eggs with dummy eggs - she laid it on the bottom of the cage, but wasn't sitting on it. So, should I have placed a dummy egg in the new nestbox, even tho the egg was laid hours and hours prior? And what is "normal" for her to sit on the eggs - continous, sporadic?
 

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