This is mine and my birds’ (Birdy and Baby) first clutch. They laid 7 eggs of which four hatched. The first hatched on Easter so it’s now almost 4 weeks old. One died. The youngest is the one I’m worried about now. He is about 18-21 days old. His eyes are squinty and he can’t keep them open long. He just looks like he doesn’t feel well! His body temp. seems okay. Now, where exactly is the crop? Is it that buldgy front part? If so, it’s not very big but it’s tummy is! I’m afraid it’s not getting enough to eat. I fed him a bit of Exact (I followed the directions VERY carefully) which he ate. He pooped green droppings. He seems about the same this A.M. I want to let his parents continue to feed him but I want to feed him atleast twice a day myself as well. CAN I DO THAT??? I want to keep him in the nest box with his siblings! ANOTHER thing I noticed about the little guy is that his bottom beak is going in front of his top. It almost looks like the tip was broken off.
IS THAT POSSIBLE AND WOULD THAT AFFECT HIS FEEDINGS? I did do a lot of research on ‘tiels and breeding and own and read four books on them. It’s just that I don’t have any hands on experience yet. That’s what I’m doing now so PLEASE don’t lecture me on not knowing what I’m doing. I ACTUALLY THOUGHT THAT THE PARENTS WERE BOTH MALES ONLY TO DISCOVER AN EGG ON THE CAGE FLOOR!! I put a nest box in there with some bedding and they laid more and like I said, some hatched. It’s so cool and the oldest is so cute right now. Mama is plucking some of his feathers though on his head but I read this is fairly common. SO, my main questions are 1) CAN I HAND FEED AND LET THE PARENTS FEED TO ENSURE IT’S GETTING ENOUGH FOOD? 2) What else could be wrong with it judging by it’s symptoms (the beak thing, weakness, eyes not opening widely, not peeping loudly)? PLEASE HELP ME WITH ANY ADVICE. I don’t really want to pay the money for an avian vet if there isn’t much that can be done.
Well the best thing to do would be to have a Vet look at your bird.
Oh and a the stomach is above the feet and bellow the breast bone. it you lightly squeeze that area you can tell if the little guy has had enough to eat or not.
Birds do break there beaks and are just fine, but its odd that it should happen to a baby bird thats a pet :/ is there anyway that he could have chipped it? There are ways to fix that but I’m not sure how.
you should check out this site:
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/feeding.html
(the site has the location of some bird vets)
but as i said before you should consult with a vet, they should be able to answer all your questions.
Report Spam/Abuse
Helping the parents feed the baby is a good idea. It is called “co-parenting.” This gives the baby an extra boost, and still lets it learn it is a bird. You might want to do that with all the babies – they make sweeter pets when you do that. What kind of food are you feeding your cockatiels? They need scrambled egg (no salt or butter), bread, vegetables like broccoli, corn, peas, rice, romaine and stuff. They also should have a pelleted food with them all the time, such as Roudybush or Exact, plus a good cockatiel seed mix. The beak is a problem, and may indicate that the baby is not getting the right kind of food. It also could be damaged by the parents not knowing how to feed the bay properly. Might improve, but also might need a vet’s care. It will definitely be a problem when it starts to eat solid food unless it grows back (if it is broken it will grow back). The crop is the bulgy soft area under its chin, and gets smaller as the food is absorbed. The body is usually very big compared to the head and legs. Keep asking questions and reading! Your vet might be willing to answer general questions about the bird, too.
Raised and lived with cockatiels for more than 25 years.
Report Spam/Abuse
Hi Jenna,
I have a 9 week old Baby African Gray, Friday.
You can feed your baby Exact a few times a day. The front part of the body under the neck is the crop.
You have to let the crop empty completely atleast once a day. Maybe the parents are nnt being able to feed the bird. All you are doing is helping it survive.
I love to feed my baby. It helps in bonding. Spend good time with it feeding and make it a fun experience.
See the vet too if you can.
Personal Experience and http://www.greyforums.net
Report Spam/Abuse
hi there!! i think ur best bet would try and foster it to another cockatiel that has young near the same age!!!
Personal Experience and http://www.greyforums.net
Report Spam/Abuse
Put him in a plastic container lined with paper towels. Put a heating pad under the container on low setting. Make sure the heating pad does not have an automatic shut off. Cover with a light towel. Do you have some hand feeding formula??? Go to the pet store and get some, does not matter what kind. Also get a few hand feeding syringes. When you test how hot it is, don’t use a thermometer, use your wrist. Put some on the inside of your wrist to make sure it’s not to hot. You don’t want to burn the babies crop. Go to this site and watch the video on hand feeding. When you hand feed, make sure you are aiming for the left side of the throat so you don’t choke him to death.
http://www.Kaytee.com/kaytee exact hand-feeding/search-html. Good luck. I answered you yesterday a few times, guess that little bugger is saying he wants to live. If you feed him, make sure his crop is almost empty. Feed him t every 4 to 5 hours and don’t feed him till he looks like he is gonna explode.. You can go all night without feedings. This is not co- parenting….I don’t think this is the right situation. You are gonna be the parent. You can do it, don’t be afraid
Personal Experience and http://www.greyforums.net
Report Spam/Abuse