Hi, My first chick fledged today and the second is otw out as well soon. Do I return them to the nest or wait and seen if dad will feed them..I do have formula, but hoping a parent will continue. Thank you for answering my questions.
Hi Linda,
If both have left the nest on their own, then go ahead and remove the box. This will make sure mom & dad focus on them, and not breeding again. You can put food dishes on the cage floor to encourage them to self feed. If there is a metal grate that can’t be removed, you might put some paper towels over it if they are having problems walking on it. Go ahead and offer the same foods the adults eat, as well as some soft food – cooked brown rice & mixed veggies are good to offer, served warm. Although it’s best not to get them used to only seed, you can offer some spray millet as that is easy to eat. Ideally they would eat some pellets or some crumbled Nutri-Berries or Avi-Cakes if you feed those. They will spend more time on the cage floor at first, but once using the perches well, they are close to the parents weaning them. When you start observing the parents chasing them away, and no longer feeding them, it’s time to separate them, or move the parents back to the main flock.
Thanks for the update,
Brenda
