Hatchin' and Growin' !

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
Hey all!

I'm new to this forums, but I wanted a place to document the progression of my Cockatiel's first clutch (and to ask for help where I need it!)

I've wanted baby cockatiels for a long time, although I never planned for it to happen this early in my life so it was a bit of a shock when I suddenly heard some odd noises from the cage and turned to see my two 'tiels mating! Fortunately, I was able to make a nesting box with my boyfriend.
I fed my 'tiels a good mix of nutrients throughout the mating and egg-laying process. Their daily chop consisted of:

  • Broccoli, Cauliflower and Kale for the greens
  • Bell Peppers and Carrots for the oranges/yellows
  • Apple (twice a week!)
  • Rice or porridge
  • Egg (twice a week!)
They laid five eggs beautiful eggs in total, however after the third egg I noticed that Bobbi had become quite lethargic and had even begun to vomit! She couldn't stay on her feet and had a lot of the symptoms of egg binding so I took her to the emergency vet ASAP. She was given some pain killers and the Vet was able to help her push the egg out. After that, the fifth came out fine! I'm unsure why the fourth was so difficult for her, but I'm very glad that I was able to get her some help and avoid what could've been a potentially fatal situation.

The fifth egg turned out to be infertile and, after searching everywhere online, I couldn't decide whether it'd be best to toss the egg or let it stay in the box. Bobbi seemed to make that decision for me, however. She kept pushing the egg to the edge of the box, away from the rest of her eggs, and one day when I was checking the box she began to push it out towards the door. I took the egg for her since it seemed like she really didn't want to keep it!

A few days ago, the worst happened, however. When I opened the door, despite my prior warning (a knock on the door and calling Milo's name since I knew that he was the one in the box), Milo got super spooked. He ended up running forwards and kicking one of the eggs out of the box. I sealed it as quickly as I could with some wax, however fluids had leaked out as well as a tiny bit of blood. I'm hoping that it'll make it since it is only about 5 days from hatching- but we'll just have to wait and see!

Last night, one of the eggs were pipped- today, that egg has unzipped a bit more. Another one of the eggs has also been pipped! We should begin to see some beautiful chicks soon. They're a bit later than expected, likely due to the fact that my 'tiels didn't lay on the eggs for a whole day at one point! I'm unsure as to why, but I'm glad to see that the chicks kept developing after they returned to the nest. The third egg looks to be rotating to get into the position for pipping at this point in time and I will update this thread when that happens!

Now, a question; should I continue with my current chop mix whilst the parents are rearing the kids? Or should I make some alterations? Also, I'm unsure as to how I might (or if I even should!) clean the nesting box. Bobbi seems to be fine with me looking in on her and putting my hands in the box as I have previously. Milo, on the other hand, is a bit more skittish despite being the most tame one when outside of the box- I presume because he is male? He tends to charge at me if I put my hands inside the box regardless of whether he is in the box or outside of it. A lot of this is a first for me, so I'm trying my best to learn but a lot of the search bars are clogged with information about infertile (pretend) eggs or poultry eggs. It'd be great if someone could give me the info I need to know!

Anyway, here are some pictures of my beautiful cockatiels!


image_2022-04-03_192311.png
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The pearl is Bobbi, the mother- the (pied?) is Milo, the father! I'm unsure about what mutations the babies will have, does anyone have any ideas?

 

texsize

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5 Cockatiels
Cleaning the nest box is necessary.
In the biggening when the chicks are young 1 week or so it does not need to be done daily.
as they get older and eat more they will void more and need cleaning every day.

My first clutch had 3 survivors out of 5 eggs.
One egg had a dent in it and never developed.
I lost one chick very young, just a couple days old.
My birds hatched in Aug of 2016 and they are super friendly.
 
OP
Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
Cleaning the nest box is necessary.
In the biggening when the chicks are young 1 week or so it does not need to be done daily.
as they get older and eat more they will void more and need cleaning every day.

My first clutch had 3 survivors out of 5 eggs.
One egg had a dent in it and never developed.
I lost one chick very young, just a couple days old.
My birds hatched in Aug of 2016 and they are super friendly.
Thanks! How should I go about cleaning it? Should I put the chicks into a tub or something and just change the nesting material?
 

texsize

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Oct 23, 2015
3,899
Media
5
4,794
so-cal
Parrots
1 YNA (Bingo)
1 OWA (Plumas R.I.P.)
1 RLA (Pacho R.I.P.)
2 GCA(Luna,Merlin) The Twins
1 Congo AG (Bella)
5 Cockatiels
I used a kitchen bowl with a hand towel in the bottom to keep it soft.
After the chicks eye's are open is when you want to start handling them and get use to human contact.

My second clutch I ended up with 4 out of 5 chicks hatching.
I had to separate the chicks from the parents because the parents started plucking the feathers off the neck and head of the babies.

No more babies since then. Plus my female breeding bird passed away and I don't have any mated pair's.
 
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Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
I used a kitchen bowl with a hand towel in the bottom to keep it soft.
After the chicks eye's are open is when you want to start handling them and get use to human contact.

My second clutch I ended up with 4 out of 5 chicks hatching.
I had to separate the chicks from the parents because the parents started plucking the feathers off the neck and head of the babies.

No more babies since then. Plus my female breeding bird passed away and I don't have any mated pair's.
Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that. My female never really interacted with other birds prior to meeting my cockatiels, so she's only recently begun to learn how to preen others and how to receive scritches. She's been really good with the eggs, however, so I'm hoping that her instincts will be good enough to carry her through the process. My male bird is, admittedly, a bit younger than desired for this process- only being 10 months old while my female is 3 years old! I did keep them in separate cages, however it seems like they built a little romance whilst outside of the cage. Oh well, he seems to be in good health and he does do his duty with the eggs.
 

texsize

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Oct 23, 2015
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1 YNA (Bingo)
1 OWA (Plumas R.I.P.)
1 RLA (Pacho R.I.P.)
2 GCA(Luna,Merlin) The Twins
1 Congo AG (Bella)
5 Cockatiels
Male/female normally share incubation duties.
one sits at night the other during the day.
both parents feed the young.
 
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Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
DAY ONE EGG TWEETING



Some exciting sounds this morning! I can't hear the tweeting from outside of the box since it's quite thick, but I can hear the egg rolling around!
 
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OP
Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
DAY ONE EGG HATCHING


Ahh, this is so incredible! I've been quite lucky in my life to have never known anyone who's ever been pregnant or has died, so this is my first time seeing life kind of just.. Magically appear! It's beautiful. Oh, it's so beautiful!
 
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Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
DAY ONE
  • EGGS HATCHED - 1/4
I added some more bedding to the nest so that the chick won't be at risk of getting splayed legs (also to protect the box from poop!). I was wondering whether there's any meaning to the chick constantly tweeting? I noticed that neither the mum nor the dad are sitting on the chick, but the skin colour seems healthy to me so I don't think it's too hot or cold. Out of concern, I eventually posted this query here [x] and the tweeting might have just been the chick getting used to its lungs and speaking with its voice! Late in the night, the chick rolled/waddled its way over to its parent and slept against their wing. I also heard some feeding noises from the chick shortly before I went to bed and so I'm fairly certain that they were fed!

Parent's food for today:
  • Red Cabbage
  • Carrot
  • Sweetcorn
  • Kale
  • Basil
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Red Pepper
  • Chicken
  • Pasta
  • Thyme
  • Seeds!
 
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texsize

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Oct 23, 2015
3,899
Media
5
4,794
so-cal
Parrots
1 YNA (Bingo)
1 OWA (Plumas R.I.P.)
1 RLA (Pacho R.I.P.)
2 GCA(Luna,Merlin) The Twins
1 Congo AG (Bella)
5 Cockatiels
I tried hamster bedding but my Tiels removed it.
In the end I think I used paper towels on the bottom of t nest.
 
OP
Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #11
DAY TWO
  • EGGS HATCHED - 1/4
The chick appears to have grown right on schedule today! Actually, five hours earlier than expected, it got to the right weight and size for a 2-day-old cockatiel chick! The only issue is that I've noticed a black line across its abdomen. Now, we all know what the internet is like- you have a headache? Brain tumour. Of course, sometimes the internet is right- but more often than not, it just causes you to needlessly panic when there's a much simpler solution. The chick is energetic and the parents are eating the right foods. I see evidence around the box (such as yellow stains on the eggs and the momma's beak) of the fact that the parents did feed the chick. The chick could still have an infection or some sort of internal bleeding, but they seem fine? Therefore, I have simply added watery eggfood and a probiotic supplement to the parent's diet. Hopefully, this will have the power to erase that black line (if it's not a vein that I'm just seeing due to my torchlight). But this is the most that I can do if there is an issue. I do not have the recourses (nor knowledge) to hand-feed the chick, and there are no Avian vets in my area. This black line could easily just be a dark organ or a vein- or even just the crop as its being digested (since the parents had a lot of vegetables). I will update this thread if further problems arise.

On a side note, I've heard tapping from the other egg as well as tweeting! A second chick might join us tonight!

Parent's food for today:

  • Red Cabbage
  • Carrot
  • Sweetcorn
  • Kale
  • Basil
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Red Pepper
  • Eggfood
  • Probiotic supplement
  • Pets At Home Cockatiel seed mix
  • Jasmine rice
  • Lettuce
Fresh water and a bath has been cleaned/provided!


You can see the stripe for an instant in this video. Aside from that, however, the chick is developing at the right pace and appears energetic for so early in the morning!

Some unfortunate news..- The egg which I sealed appears to have begun to leak some yellow fluid. I candled the egg and bacteria had entered- the colour of the egg had become yellowed inside in a way that told me it was dead. I had to take it away. The other egg is still chirping away, and appears to have scizzored a bit around the egg! The final egg is a bit of an enigma to me. I can't tell whether it's dead or not. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for now since it has the rest of the week to hatch. Bobbi has been eating like a hoover!

  • EGGS HATCHED - 2/3
The second egg has hatched! But the first chick was quite far away from mother and the eggs. I pushed the chick back towards mother and he crawled under her wing. He's still moving and giving the occasional tweet- hopefully they're feeding him right!



Ahh! I was so concerned. The first chick appeared very weak- its crop was entirely empty and it had become quite pale. Just in case, I immediately ordered some hand-rearing formulae.. But fortunately, the male just entered the box and fed the chick! I think that Bobbi is a little confused on how to feed the chicks despite being the older one in the pairing. If problems continue, I'll be there to help with supplementary feeding. I helped to hand-rear a pigeon before so I have a little bit of knowledge/experience, but it'll be nerve-wracking nonetheless!
 
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OP
Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #12
DAY THREE
  • EGGS HATCHED - 2/3
Happy news! Last night, I was very concerned for the chick, but this morning they appear to be thriving once more! The other youngling has been sleeping all day, however. Perhaps this is something that I needed to learn from experience- chicks are loud on the first day, quiet on the second, then thriving on the third. All development appears normal and the parents are getting better at feeding the chicks!

Now, I am uncertain about our third egg. I'm not sure about whether it's going to hatch or not. Regardless, I will wait and see! I didn't mark the eggs while they were being hatched since I wasn't sure about what could be used to mark them- nor was I very confident about holding the eggs since I have very poor motor skills. This could have been the fifth egg, or the fourth, and so I will wait until the end of next week. If it doesn't hatch by then, then I'll know! My concern then would be that the other chicks would be having harder food, and the young chick being born so late might not be fed the right consistency of food by the parents. At least this time, I'll have the means to step in- but I hope that I won't need to!




Parent's food for today:
  • Red Cabbage
  • Carrot
  • Sweetcorn
  • Kale
  • Basil
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Red Pepper
  • Eggfood
  • Probiotic supplement
  • Pets At Home Cockatiel seed mix
  • Dirt from my plant pot apparently :mad:
Now.. What I'll need to figure out is how in the world I'm going to clean the box. I think that all I need to do is change the shavings, right? But how do I get the old ones out- how do I get the parents out- and how do I handle the eggs/chicks in the meantime? This is the part that confuses me most about this whole thing, I think. I'll figure it out, though. I'll probably clean the box later in the week like was suggested to me, and then every other day after that.
 
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MayMaroa

Well-known member
Feb 13, 2022
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1,761
Putrajaya, Malaysia
Parrots
2 female budgies i have a green named tofu she is 1 years old(she turned one years old in April) and i have a blue budgie named sky she is the younger one she is younger then tofu by a few days
Well you can know if the is egg is fertilized i dont know how to explain but here's a video
just do what they did in the video so if you can see any red veins and veins and a heart it mean its fertilized if you dont know if its fertilized just picture the egg while the flashlight is on it and then i will determine if the egg is fertilized
and nice to meet you
 

MayMaroa

Well-known member
Feb 13, 2022
1,031
1,761
Putrajaya, Malaysia
Parrots
2 female budgies i have a green named tofu she is 1 years old(she turned one years old in April) and i have a blue budgie named sky she is the younger one she is younger then tofu by a few days
  • Dirt from my plant pot apparently :mad:
THATS WHY YOU HAVE TO HIDE YOUR PLANTS ONE DAY I HAD MY CHILLIE PLANT IN MY HOUSE AND THE BIRDS WERE OUT I WENT TO MY ROOM AND THEN CAME OUT AND SAW MY CHILLIE PLANT EATEN
 
OP
Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #15
THATS WHY YOU HAVE TO HIDE YOUR PLANTS ONE DAY I HAD MY CHILLIE PLANT IN MY HOUSE AND THE BIRDS WERE OUT I WENT TO MY ROOM AND THEN CAME OUT AND SAW MY CHILLIE PLANT EATEN
I knoww my boyfriend got me an alo-vera for my birthday and after all the research he did about plants that would be safe for birds, it died within a week because they kept eating it 😭
 
OP
Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #16
Well you can know if the is egg is fertilized i dont know how to explain but here's a video
just do what they did in the video so if you can see any red veins and veins and a heart it mean its fertilized if you dont know if its fertilized just picture the egg while the flashlight is on it and then i will determine if the egg is fertilized
and nice to meet you
Nice to meet you too! I know that the egg was fertilized, but I'm unsure as to whether it's still alive- it just seems a bit further behind in development than the other ones. I'd probably be able to see it better if I had a stronger flashlight, but my phone has a really weak one. After this clutch, I think I'm going to invest in some better equipment/resources for chicks- I want to be better prepared!
 

MayMaroa

Well-known member
Feb 13, 2022
1,031
1,761
Putrajaya, Malaysia
Parrots
2 female budgies i have a green named tofu she is 1 years old(she turned one years old in April) and i have a blue budgie named sky she is the younger one she is younger then tofu by a few days
Advice: Each day check if the egg is fertilized
 

MayMaroa

Well-known member
Feb 13, 2022
1,031
1,761
Putrajaya, Malaysia
Parrots
2 female budgies i have a green named tofu she is 1 years old(she turned one years old in April) and i have a blue budgie named sky she is the younger one she is younger then tofu by a few days
I knoww my boyfriend got me an alo-vera for my birthday and after all the research he did about plants that would be safe for birds, it died within a week because they kept eating it 😭
I know its a pain!!!
 
OP
Dozi

Dozi

Member
Apr 3, 2022
52
174
England
Parrots
Cockatiels:
- D'ion
- Bobbi
- Milo
- Chui
- Astro (Coming soon!)

Conures:
- Omei
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #19
DAY FOUR
  • EGGS HATCHED - 2/3
There's some very sad news today.. The second chick has passed. I assume that the parents forgot about this chick, and then did not feed him as he had stayed under Bobbi's tail, whereas the other one sat next to her wing. If only I had investigated sooner- I could have fed the chick. As it stands, though, we can only mourn his passing.
Rest in peace little one. Fly high. I am sorry for the life that you never got to live.

What should I do now? Should I hand-feed the other one, or leave it be? The other one appears to be healthy- kicking its legs and tweeting. It's grown some more as well. But I think that, if I hadn't pushed it towards Bobbi before, it would have met the same fate as the other chick. I'm concerned for it. Maybe after the first week I'll begin to hand feed it- or is that too risky for a beginner?

Parent's food for today:

  • Red Cabbage
  • Carrot
  • Sweetcorn
  • Kale
  • Thyme
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Red Pepper
  • Eggfood
  • Wholemeal bread crumbs
  • Probiotic supplement
  • Pets At Home Cockatiel seed mix
 
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