The first egg hatched! I don’t know if I show feed it yet! I bought the formula Exact Hand Feeding Formula (with OMEGA-3) and I don’t know how to use it. It says to use 92% water and 8 % for the first few days. How should I mix it in?
Hi Yosi,
Congratulations! You really need to leave the chicks with the parents and give them a chance to feed them. Most parents will figure out what to do. The chicks have a much better chance of survival if the parents feed them. It is very hard to hand feed a cockatiel chick from day 1. You need some type of brooder to keep the chicks at the right temperature. And when feeding it, it can be easy to feed too much or have food go down the wrong way – both things can cause death. As I recommended before, leave the parents alone and let them do their job. You should hear peeping when they are feeding the chick. If you check too often or interfere too much, the parents may get too nervous and harm the chicks. This is the hard part – waiting to let them feed it, but they usually will. If you have never hand fed a chick before, you are very likely to end up killing it. You should search for videos that show how to hand feed, so you can be prepared if the parents do not feed it. But I strongly advise you to leave them with the parents and hope for the best. It is good that you have the formula on hand if needed, but don’t take them out to hand feed unless the parents are not feeding them. When the chicks are a couple of weeks old, you can try taking one chick out of the box at a time, for just a few minutes, and then put it back. This is co-parenting where the parents feed the chicks but you handle them to make them tame. If several chicks hatch, sometimes you might need to remove the older chicks to hand feed if there is a significant size difference. Otherwise, let the parents feed them and you handle them gently when they are at least 2 weeks old. As the chick’s eyes open, you can try offering them some formula when you handle them. But be very careful not to choke the chicks. Don’t force them to eat and only feed them a small amount since the parents are feeding them. With any of this – if the parents get too upset with you being around or removing chicks, keep your distance and try again as the chicks get older. You don’t want the parents to accidentally harm the chicks while trying to protect them. Best of luck and keep us updated!
Thanks for the update,
Brenda
