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Question:

July 13, 2020

Cockatiel breeding


Hello Dear Brenda,
Finally my cockatiel pair got their first egg hatched and have a cute chick! I guess there are another 1-2 unhatched eggs…
How often/much should I feed my cockatiels now? Should be more or less than ordinary feeding behavior?
Is it ok if I hand feed one of the chicks if they let me take them from them? If yes, After how many days should I separate from them?

Your help is highly appreciated
Shad


Answer:

Hi Shad,

Congratulations! It is important to have a lot of food available to the parents. They are likely to eat foods they would not eat before, so pile on the chopped veggies, fruits, multi grain bread and cooked eggs along with their normal diet. Replenish foods throughout the day as needed. You will be throwing a lot of food away, but the parents need to feel that they have ample foods for themselves and the chicks.

If you have never hand fed before, I’m not sure you should remove a chick. Cockatiel chicks can be tricky sometimes – they have to be kept at the right temperature and the food needs to be the right temperature and consistency. A better option is to co-parent, if the adults will tolerate this. Don’t do anything until the chicks eyes start to open. Once they start to open, you can remove one chick at a time, and gently handle it and talk to it. Replace it after a few minutes and do this a few times a day, but only if the parents do not get too upset. If the parents scream, try to attack you when you get a chick, rush into the box, etc – all of these things can result in injury to the other chicks or to the chick once you return it. Most parents will tolerate co-parenting once they realize they will get their chick back. As the chicks gets older and starts to grow feathers, it can better regulate its body temperature and you can keep it out for longer periods of time. The best time to take a chicks out is when you can catch both parents out of the box at the same time. They will both be out more often as the chicks grow because the nest starts to get crowded and hot.

If you already know how to hand feed, cockatiel chicks are usually pulled at 2-3 weeks of age. But again, I encourage the co-parenting because the chick can be just as tame but has the benefit of the parents feeding it. There are articles and videos addressing co-parenting and handraising cockatiels, so since you have at least a couple of weeks to decide, you might do some research and read about other owner’s experiences with both options.

Thanks for the update & let us know how it goes!

Brenda

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