I have 4 babies right now and 3 eggs left that may not hatch (1 was laid on the cage floor and the other 2 had cracks which I covered with clear nail polish). The parents are eating regular cockatiel food, millet, a powdery supplement for nesting birds, egg biscuits, cuttlebone (for calcium), broccoli, and Cheerios. They seem to like the Cheerios best and so far, the babies seem to be doing well (the oldest is 9 days old). Should I just continue on with what I’m doing then? I have been doing a lot of research on cockatiel breeding but I wasn’t prepared and that’s why the first egg was laid on the floor. I didn’t have a nest box in there since I didn’t think they had bred. Thanks for any info.!
Have you seen this website: http://www.cockatiel.com/ ???
Here is another one : http://www.avianweb.com/cockatielbreeding.html
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Limit the Cheerios, as that isn’t what they should be eating the most of (lots of sugar). Sorry I can’t remember when their eyes open, but only check on the babies once or twice a day. They need that nestbox to stay warm and dark.
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Cheerios have very very little sugar in them! They are good for them. They are getting the extra calcium and iron that they need from the Cheerios. Broccoli has a lot of calcium too so that is really good for them also!
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I think the remaining eggs are probably junk and should be thrown away before they start to smell. Cheerios are fine in small amounts, the calcium is great but birds do need other nutrients besides calcium. Also, I assume you are using regular and not the honey-nut or apple-cinnamon. Those would be way too sugary. My recommendation is that after these babies are weaned, talk to your vet about switching them to a pelleted diet and eliminate seed altogether. You can then eliminate the powders and cuttlebones, and any other supplements.
From my recollection, their eyes start to open around 12 to 13 days.
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Why can’t anyone be prepared for bringing a new life into the world? The eyes open at day 10 granted there is enough moisture in the box.
There is nothing wrong with using cheerios, but i’d also offer thawed out frozen mixed veggies to the parents as well.
You also don’t say what your plan is with these chicks! Are you going to hand feed? What is the plan for banding them? Homes for them? What are you going to do if the parents don’t feed the chicks? What if they pluck the babies or kill them?
Do NOT remove the remaining eggs, they will only relay the ones you remove and could pose a risk to the hen.
If you need any help, feel free to email me!
28+ years of breeding endangered species, avian certified, avian behavioral specialist, 180+ pairs of birds, rescue, & a sense of humor LOL
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cheerios is one of my fav. foods i like to give my cockatiels first its round with a whole in it and they think its a toy and food at the same time, so they will eat it. also cheerios is very healty and good for the heart. also when they open there eyes it should be on the 9th day till 12th say depends. you are doing a good job also. just let them be and check on them once or twice. just dont take out the eggs of chick.
good luck
im breeding mine as well
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