in the deep end with chicks

[omalley87]

hi
i bought a friend lovebirds about 6 months ago, a pair of them
they are in no way tame, they dislike any kind of messing around witht heir cage and she was ok with this as she just loves to watch them beautiful as they are

a few months back Meme started laying eggs, there was no nesting box and so we got one as she kept on laying to make her feel better, figured having never had eggs before they would not amount to anything but thought it would be better for her to think she was doing something

however this time round the eggs hatched, 2 of them the other 2 we assum are not going to hatch. This was about a week ago and both chicks still appear to be going strong both mum and dad are doing well and looking after them

my questions are many and i will try to remember as many as i can just now

first as stated the birds like to be left at arms length but with chicks in there now i assume we should be trying to clean the nest box? or is this going to be too stressful for them?

second is the 2 remaining eggs, should we leave them there or attempt to take them away as above though will messing with the box make them not care for the chicks

we are feeding them on high quality bird seed for nesting birds was told this is good for when they are laying and caring for chicks, they also get fruit and veg i just want to check that we are not missing something as info was given by a local pet shop dont want Meme or Joey getting sick

lastly we plan on keeping the 2 chicks as im sure the 2 diff colours should not have been mixed is it ok to keep them all in the same cage and just get a much larger one or should we be getting seperate cages for chicks from mum and dad? also we do not want them to continue to have chicks so after this if we removed the eggs would that be ok or is that going to distress them too much having eggs constantly taken away?

also the chicks colour, one appears to be orange ish in colour yet the bugger one appears to be black? mum is green with wgite/blue face and dad is green with red face

im sure there are many more i will remember as i go but thats the biggies for now

As i said, this breeding was not intended and although we maybe should have seen it coming im trying to find a solution so please no comments on irresponsible breeding im just looking for any help and advice on a situation that is what it is without should haves

any advice much appreciated

 

[weco]

i bought a friend lovebirds about 6 months ago, a pair of them
they are in no way tame, they dislike any kind of messing around witht heir cage and she was ok with this as she just loves to watch them beautiful as they are

Many species that are not hand tame are like this and though it is normally harder to do with mated birds with chicks, you really should read up on training efforts and begin training the parents and chicks...even co-parronting of the chicks might be advisable.....

a few months back Meme started laying eggs, there was no nesting box and so we got one as she kept on laying to make her feel better, figured having never had eggs before they would not amount to anything but thought it would be better for her to think she was doing something

When hens are ready to lay eggs, they will do so wherever they are...nest box or not, as you've seen...

however this time round the eggs hatched, 2 of them the other 2 we assum are not going to hatch. This was about a week ago and both chicks still appear to be going strong both mum and dad are doing well and looking after them

It's hard to say, she should have laid them 1.5 to 2 days apart, so their hatching schedule should be on the same schedule, so if these two eggs are within that time frame, they could still hatch.....

my questions are many and i will try to remember as many as i can just now

first as stated the birds like to be left at arms length but with chicks in there now i assume we should be trying to clean the nest box? or is this going to be too stressful for them?

I wouldn't worry about housecleaning the nestbox...hens normally are quite good about keeping the nest areas suitably clean...

second is the 2 remaining eggs, should we leave them there or attempt to take them away as above though will messing with the box make them not care for the chicks

Lovebird eggs are normally incubated 21 days before hatching, so if the remaining eggs have not hatched in 23-25 days, it would probably be safe to remove them

we are feeding them on high quality bird seed for nesting birds was told this is good for when they are laying and caring for chicks, they also get fruit and veg i just want to check that we are not missing something as info was given by a local pet shop dont want Meme or Joey getting sick

You might want to take some time & read through the various bird diets and chop mixes offered in the forum's archives...a plain seed diet, even if it is high quality seed, is not good for sedentary, caged parrots...

lastly we plan on keeping the 2 chicks as im sure the 2 diff colours should not have been mixed is it ok to keep them all in the same cage and just get a much larger one or should we be getting seperate cages for chicks from mum and dad? also we do not want them to continue to have chicks so after this if we removed the eggs would that be ok or is that going to distress them too much having eggs constantly taken away?

Normally, chicks leave the nest soon after they have fledged and if your two birds go back to nesting, they can get aggressive with their chicks...and...if you cage the chicks separately and they happen to be brother & sister, they could mate and produce their own chicks...

Although inbreeding is how various specie mutations are created, you would be wise to read up on inbreeding of lovebirds, so that you are aware of potential deformities you might appreciate.....

also the chicks colour, one appears to be orange ish in colour yet the bugger one appears to be black? mum is green with wgite/blue face and dad is green with red face

im sure there are many more i will remember as i go but thats the biggies for now

As i said, this breeding was not intended and although we maybe should have seen it coming im trying to find a solution so please no comments on irresponsible breeding im just looking for any help and advice on a situation that is what it is without should haves

A bird's coloring is genetically determined and a chick's coloring may not be directly related to the coloring of its parents...reading up on lovebird color mutations can offer a better explanation.....

One other thing, if you cage two birds together that are of the same specie, but of different sexes, your planning will usually have nothing to do whit their producing viable chicks...if they are able and in the mood, I doubt you'll be able to dissuade them from doing what comes naturally.....

Good luck.....

any advice much appreciated hope this answers your questions.....

 

[omalley87]

Thank you for that, we were just caught unprepared, I know we shouldn't have but unfortunately that's just how it worked out this time.

I'm thinking that maybe hand rearing the chucks might be a better idea as we will home them with family and give mum and dad separate cages.

Just want to check that touching the chicks will not make mum and dad abandon them given that neither mum not dad are bonded to us. I would not feel comfortable hand feeding the chicks as I'm sure there are many things I could do that would injure the chicks

Will be more than happy to handle chicks through the day if it is unlikely that it will cause them to abandon them

Have attached a pic

Thanks again for the help and we willbe taking the necessary steps to prevent this happening again