Hand rearing my first bird

[lisascannell]

So I am having my first ever experiencing with hand feeding a baby bird! I grew up with my brother and father very much involved with hand raising birds and did a lot of research myself before getting my baby cockatiel.
I think I'm in love with it! It's the cutest little creature I've ever seen, at just three weeks of age! At feeding time she will crawl closer to me. She's nt content being fed at her paper she wants to rest her head on my leg! I think the bird thinks I'm it's mother After feeding I really enjoy snugling with the bird for 10 minutes cleaning its feathers and stroking its head. It almost falls asleep

 

[lisascannell]

Here's a picture of it snuggling after its feed
http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz136/lisascannell/homer_zpsd6812593.jpg

 

[Mike17]

Very cute, Lisa. Your bird looks quite young, about two weeks. We have a clutch of 5 babies, the eldest three of which I'll take out next week, the oldest is about a week older than yours the middle two a similar age. Hard to tell what your bird's colour type will be, two of ours appear to be lutinos which has my wife very excited. It's going to be a busy time with 5 birds to feed I have photos, very crowded nestbox but also now very dirty so hesititate to post.

 

[lisascannell]

Hi Mike. At what age is it suitable to bring them out of the nest for a bit? She has a considerable amount of her feathers now and can walk, but extremey wobbly! I'm considering putting her in a little cage with towels on the bottom so she can still snuggle, and then putting her back in her nest for sleep. She has so many feathers I feel like she might start to fledge! LOL...
A photo of your cuties would be lovely My cockatiel is grey with streaks of yellow.

 

[Mike17]

Hi Mike. At what age is it suitable to bring them out of the nest for a bit? She has a considerable amount of her feathers now and can walk, but extremey wobbly! I'm considering putting her in a little cage with towels on the bottom so she can still snuggle, and then putting her back in her nest for sleep. She has so many feathers I feel like she might start to fledge! LOL...
A photo of your cuties would be lovely My cockatiel is grey with streaks of yellow.

Hi Lisa, I've posted a pic of our clutch in a thread in this section.

We're taking the 3 larger chicks from the nest this week, mainly so that the two youngest ones get some concentrated feeding from the parents. They'll be 3 weeks old. We wanted to make sure they had a reasonable covering of feathers, although they'll be warm enough inside the house- we keep them in a fishtank with a pad heater at the bottom, covered with teatowels.

This is our first clutch of chicks of our own although my wife (with a little assistance from me) has done quite a few babies now with the only loss being a 2-day old barraband. As far as I know it's not advisable to return chicks to a nest once removed.

 

[MikeyTN]

I usually remove chicks at 2 weeks old. Your chick is around 3 weeks old! It looks like its going to be a pearl baby from the looks of it. You can socialize now like you've been doing. He/She would be fledging soon! About another week.

 

[MikeyTN]

This one is a pearl chick at 22 days old, one of my babies. Just remember some chicks do grow at a different rate so they don't always look about the same age.

 

[lisascannell]

How long can I keep her out for socialisation? I don't want to interrupt her sleeping time, but she looks curious and I want to spend more time with it.

 

[lisascannell]

Your pearl chick looks just like mine cute

 

[Mike17]

Looking at your 22 day old, and my photos, Mikey, I would have to revise my age estimate. My wife wrote down the dates so ours are probably closer to two weeks. The lutinos look like twins (maybe 2 days apart?). Lisa, I posted a pic of our clutch in the Budgy & Tiel section.

 

[lisascannell]

@MIke17 yes yours look very young indeed! They are lovely.
Here is a full body shot of my baby
http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz136/lisascannell/chick_zpsbb0af3b8.jpg
She is going to be the family pet bird!

 

[lisascannell]

I really would like a blue ringneck parrot next but already have two lovebirds and a cockatiel It's beginning to be a bit of a zoo! The lovebirds have bonded with each other so they happy not to be touched, they just have free run of the house.

 

[MikeyTN]

Lisa,

You can socialize as much as you want but once they act tired you need to leave them be!

Mike,

Sometimes chicks can hatch on the same day or just a day apart. I know they laid every other day but the development depends on many factors such as humidity, etc.

 

[MikeyTN]

Lisa,

That is going to be a Pearl chick! The full picture is quite clear.

 

[lisascannell]

I have another question! (sorry). After her feed her crop is full, but it doesn't stay bulging full for long! It's been about an hour and a half since her last feed and when I touch her crop it's soft and not firm and she's begging for food I think maybe I'm feeding her formula too thin but she prefers it runny. Some crop advice please! Will she beg for food regardless of having enough food?

 

[MikeyTN]

Yes they will beg regardless if there's food left or not. Try thickening the formula a bit, don't make it too runny since he's older.

 

[lisascannell]

actually her crop is empty after only 1 and a half hours

 

[Mike17]

Lisa
There should be no problem having a "zoo" we have a budgie, a cockatiel, a princess and a plumhead all out of their cages at the same time. I'd worry about mixing lovebirds with other species though as they have a reputation for being "leg biters" (of other species) and used to have a lovebird (peachface) who tried just that when I took him to some friends' place- he sidled up to their 'tiel and immediately went for her legs!

Mikey
Yes, I figured there'd be some variability in hatching and development, there is a slight difference between the two lutinos. Is there a difference between "spangled" and "pearl" or are they different words describing the same thing? Our "inside" hen Ziggy is a cross wild type with whiteface, and she was described to us as spangled. She looks a lot like your 22 day old chick.

 

[MikeyTN]

That means you need to thicken the formula! Its going through his/her system very rapidly because it's mainly water content. Cause at this stage two to three times a day of feeding is enough. Of course you can feed more times if you prefer to remain thin on the formula. But still needs to be thickened a bit regardless!!!!

 

[MikeyTN]

Yes I've heard them called Spangled but we call it Pearl here in the us.