My cocktiels had a baby. Both mom n Dad are in box with baby. But when male comes out to eat and wants to go back inside, he fights with female and gets her out. Then he is alone with baby to take care. Then within 15 min. They are both in box together. Why is he so aggressive with female. Afraid they will hurt baby while fighting. Worried. Should I take baby out and feed her? Thank you
Hi Patti,
This is not uncommon with some males in captivity. Some get so aggressive that the male and female have to be switched out leaving one in the cage during the day and the other at night. As long as he isn’t pulling out her feathers or drawing blood, it’s best to let them sort this out, if you want them to breed again in the future. If you want to hand feed the chick, it needs to be closer to 3 weeks old when you pull it from the nest. If you have never hand fed before, it is best to leave the chick with the parents. They need to learn, again, if you want them to breed again.
Once the chick has left the box, you need to remove the nest box immediately or the parents will try to nest again right away and sometimes they fail to wean the chicks. The pair should be rested for 6 months after every clutch. They should only be allowed two clutches per year, which is one more than they would have in the wild.
Hopefully your pair will work things out and the chick will be fine. If it gets worse or if this happens again next time, you might want to retire the pair as breeders. Some pairs never learn and do not make good breeders, but most work it out and learn from their mistakes.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
