3 new Babies, 1 egg

[BurtyNBetty]

Hi All,

Our lovebird pair have had 3 babies and 1 egg is yet to hatch.
Me and my partner are really excited to have babies and want to hand rear them when we can in order to have a tame lovebird or 2 to keep but we will also have to find homes (probably within the family or friends) for the others.

So far mum and dad are doing a fantastic job in looking after their babies both feeding them and keeping them warm so we have not had to do anything. But we are aware if we want a tame babie we will have to start hand feeding the babies at some point so what time period should we allow until we do this?

When we do start do we keep the babies then separate from their parents or will they be safe to go back in the nest?

We plan we have a separate cage for the new babies as they grow so that
their no fights with their mum n dad.

The last few days have been amazing and we are really excited to hear back from you with any advice!

Thanks
Joe

 

[BurtyNBetty]

Here's some pictures

 

[noodles123]

EllenD is a good resource for this....I think SilverSage also (if I recall correctly).

There are a ton of things to know about hand-rearing, and many of the posts come off as kind of negative, but that is because a ton can go wrong. I have never attempted it, but I know there are people on this forum who have.

Here are a few links to threads where people are discussing some of the difficulties/mistakes related to hand-rearing and hand feeding babies. EllenD discusses a lot of details in the following links but if you send her a message, I am sure she would also be happy to answer your questions. The following posts discuss formula types, brooder temperatures, feeding schedules, yeast etc.

http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/80277-cockatiel-s-crop-won-t-empty.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/lovebirds/75389-babies-won-t-take-formula-2.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatiels/78709-periodic-vomiting.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatiels/79909-my-bird-vomiting-3.html <---PAGE 3

http://www.parrotforums.com/alexandrines/80067-my-baby-alexendrine-healthy.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/poicephalus/79549-hand-feeding-senegal.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/budgies-parakeets/80032-hand-rearing-crimson-rosella.html

Some things I do know for sure:
Never feed the babies any sort of cereal/cerelac/human baby mixes---they are fortified with dangerously high levels of vitamins/minerals. If you hand feed, you will need to get special formula for birds and make it fresh for every feeding (no re-heating). You will need to pay very close attention to the temperature because a few degrees too hot or too cold can lead to a million problems. You will need a thermometer to check it each time.

Here is a link to some general information:
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/hand-feeding-baby-birds (it is more detailed than some resources, but still lacking in detail/fairly general)

Another thing to remember, for way down the road- just because a pair is related (brother/sister) does not mean that they will abstain from mating. They have no qualms with making babies with relatives and the offspring can have serious medical issues (due to the inbreeding). They can also fight...Heck, sometimes mating pairs can even fight...So, anytime you have more than one bird in a cage, that is something you risk. Furthermore, if your goal is to have birds that bond to you, they will be far less likely to do so if there is another bird in the same cage with them.

 

[BurtyNBetty]

Thanks Noodles some really useful bits here. We are going to have a good study tonight to try and understand everything we will need and hopefully come up for some specific questions!

We plan to keep the Lovebirds separate with them being related too thanks for your advice

 

[BurtyNBetty]

Do babies feather colour normally take after their parents? Both ours are green with red/peach heads

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

Do babies feather colour normally take after their parents? Both ours are green with red/peach heads

From my experience, yes. I haven't seen a any color mutation that the parents don't have in the babies.​

 

[Rozalka]

Do babies feather colour normally take after their parents? Both ours are green with red/peach heads

From my experience, yes. I haven't seen a any color mutation that the parents don't have in the babies.​

This is possible. You wrote you have 2 normal green lovebirds. The most often ater pairs like this you will get normal too but you don't have to. This depents on if parents are spilts to other mutations and you can't visually check it.

 

[BurtyNBetty]

OOO Interesting thanks for that!

 

[BurtyNBetty]

Hi,

We have decided not to hand feed out birdies as we don't want to risk anything and their parents are doing a fine themselves.

We did lose the smallest chick so just have 2 now but they are looking a lot stronger. And the egg never hatched.

They are currently in the cage in a decent sized nesting box and we are trying to keep them warm near to a radiator as the mother and farther are always going in and sitting on them.

We let the mother and father out daily for a good fly around and they are obsessed with our wooden blinds biting them up for nesting materials even though we have supplied loads but we don't mind keeping them busy.

Do people have any tips for us, the babies will be 2 weeks old on Friday and we are thinking about interacting with then when the mum and dad are having a fly so we can bond with them.

Thanks
Joe

 

[itzjbean]

It is probably for the best that you chose not to take on hand-feeding...if done inproperly it can be fatal for the chick. Plus you would need to invest in a brooder to keep them warm 24/7 with a constant held humidity. Not super easy to do without a commercial one. Sounds like mom and dad are doing agood job so far besides the one that already passed.

Yes you will want to start handling them daily as soon as their eyes open, to get them used to human interaction, smell and touch. Allowing the parents out for this time would be a good idea as they will be busy flying around. I would discourage them from trying to eat your wooden blinds you never know what it could be treated with. You could offer some cardboard or soft wood for them to chew during this time.

Best of luck!

 

[BurtyNBetty]

Also, my Mrs thinks she caught them mating again is this normal even though they still have two week old babies?