Ask Lafeber

No feathers at 2&1/2 weeks for my chick

My cockatiel chich is 2&1)2 week old. It is the 3rd one from a cluster of 3. I’m hand feeding them currently. The first two are perfectly growing. Though the 3rd one was with its parents until last week. The parents were not feeding him and started plucking at it. So I seperated it from the parents and started handfeeding it. It was very malnourished to start with, however since we are handfeeding it, it looks a bit better now. But it still doesn’t have any signs of growing feathers. This is very concerning and we would like to know if this is normal form r a malnourished chick.

Hi,

Before addressing the chicks, hopefully you have removed the nest box to prevent the parents from nesting again right now? They need to be rested for at least 6 months before you give them their box back. Always rest your pair in between each clutch.

Your chick is a bit stunted because it wasn’t being fed enough. With good handfeeding, it should catch up. If you are not seeing improvement, then you need to take it to an avian vet.

New parents will make mistakes like this on their first or second clutches. It’s important that you are feeding them a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets, and not a seed mix. They also need leafy greens, chopped veggies, fruit and an egg food – cooked egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the egg or a commercial dry egg food.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda