Sir,
I am Khaja, from Tanuku, AP, India.
I have pair of Cockatiel birds. The female has laid 4 eggs, and one of them hatched yesterday. So I am very much confused on the food of the mother bird, because the mother feeds the chick.
Plz suggest me all the food that I need to provide the mother bird.
Hi Khaja,
You should actually start feeding the pair extra foods before the hen lays eggs. As soon as you hang the nesting box, you start the special diet. The male and female should be eating a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets. If they are only eating seeds, this is not enough nutrition. You can’t change the diet now, but you can add foods. So if they are eating seeds, you should mix pellets with the seeds. Also offer dark leafy greens and chopped vegetables. They need an egg food – this provides the female with the protein and calcium she loses when she lays each egg. The egg food is also good for the chicks. You can cook an egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the egg. There are also commercial egg foods that are made with dried eggs. Both birds will eat a lot of food now, and both will feed the chicks. You should give them more food throughout the day – they will eat a lot of food, and it will increase as the chicks grow. As soon as the chicks have left the nest box, you should remove the box and rest the pair for 6 months. You will also stop giving them egg food during their rest period. It is not good to allow them to breed and lay eggs again until they have had a rest. In the wild they would only lay eggs once a year. As long as you rest your pair, they can be allowed to have two clutches per year.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
