Need advice with newly hatched lovebird chicks...

[Anaana]

Hello, does anyone know if the love bird mom can hurt the new hatched baby? There are few more eggs to hatch, the new baby is sitting close to the eggs, and the love bird mom is sitting on the eggs and on the new chick too. Can she suffocate him? Please let me know if you experienced the same.

 

[wrench13]

Dont know much about lovebirds, but almost all birds, parenting is something that is mostly learned, not instinctive, and a lot of first time parents wind up loosing some or all of the brood. Sometimes males need to kept away from chicks, and hens can hurt them too. Breeding is something not to be taken lightly and best done with the help of an experienced breeder, for the above reasons , and to help with feeding and general care of chicks. Good luck! See if there is a breeder in your area willing to walk you thru the ropes and offer advice (good advice- breeders do so for economic reasons usually and what works for them to produce product is not necessarily what you want to do in your situation).

 

[Rozalka]

It's normal - even when all babies are hatched, their mom will be sitting on 'em to warm 'em. She shouldn't hurt 'em. However when there are many babies, then the weakest (the yongest ones) may die.

 

[Anaana]

Thank you for your reply, but unfortunately the small baby died. I was thinking there are natural instincts that will guide the hen to keep him safe but unfortunately this was not the case. I m not sure what to do with the next baby hatching, shall I take him out of the nest? Keep him a while separate until all the eggs are done hatching? I m so helpless, and don't know how to do better. I m just thinking maybe just because I ve been in the room most of the time, the hen have got agitated... I ll wait and see whats happening with the next one.

 

[Kitekeeper]

Hi Ana,

Is it the first time ever your hen have babies? Sometimes it takes a little bit of practive to young parents to learn how to do.

Most birds will count on their instincts to start behaving accordingly, some species must have some learning practice with their siblings of another clutch, thus they keep close to their parents and help to raise their brothers and sisters.

Lovebirds do not have that "learn with siblings" behavior, but they might need some kind of previous observation time to kick start. Nature is quite often not categorical.

It is common for first time parents to loose their babies for lack of experience. Unless you are an experienced hand feeder, I would not try to take the baby out of the nestbox until he/she is at least 15/20 days old.

Good luck

 

[Anaana]

Hi Ana,

Is it the first time ever your hen have babies? Sometimes it takes a little bit of practive to young parents to learn how to do.

Most birds will count on their instincts to start behaving accordingly, some species must have some learning practice with their siblings of another clutch, thus they keep close to their parents and help to raise their brothers and sisters.

Lovebirds do not have that "learn with siblings" behavior, but they might need some kind of previous observation time to kick start. Nature is quite often not categorical.

It is common for first time parents to loose their babies for lack of experience. Unless you are an experienced hand feeder, I would not try to take the baby out of the nestbox until he/she is at least 15/20 days old.

Good luck

Hi Kitekeeper,

It is the first time; I didnt expect this but it happened and I m happy. I dont have any experience with new born, but I hand fed the "parents" . Got them when they were 2 weeks age. I think I can do with such a small baby chick too, but I m just afraid the hen will be disturbed seeing that her babies disappeared. Thank you for reply!

 

[Kitekeeper]

Great! So you have experience handfeeding the parents when they were 2 weeks old, this is very good in every way!

First you already know how to handle babies that old, secondly the parents are well bonded with you and will most likely accept your interference with the babies.

but I m just afraid the hen will be disturbed seeing that her babies disappeared.

If you intend to handfeed the babies and put them back in the nestbox after their meal, I would suggest to block the nestbox entrance until they are all back, so the parents will not see they were gone for awhile.

If you intend to take them from the nest for good, do not worry, just keep the nest box a couple of days for the parents to get used there are no more babies and take it out. They will probably be ok with that as they trust you.