Hatchin' and Growin' !

[Dozi]

DAY TWENTY

• EGGS HATCHED - 1/1

Isn't she beautiful! Her feathers are beginning to break out of her shafts at the ends on her wings, and she's getting closer and closer to the true size of a cockatiel! Her colours are absolutely dazzling. Her pattern seems strange to me, though- her wings begin like a pearl's, but then the edges of her wings become whiter in a bigger patch than on the usual cockatiel. I'm excited to see what she'll look like- and, of course, whether she is really a she or a he! Her head appears to be coming in yellow with orange cheeks.

As for her other 'blue' eye, it doesn't seem to bother her much..- Since I removed the mater that was in her eye, she's been holding it as open as the other and glances around the room. I'm glad that it seems that she isn't in pain with it, although her vision must be quite blurred if it is indeed a cataract as was suggested by the vet. When she is old enough, I will definitely have her checked out.

I cleaned the box today!

Parent's food for today:

• Sweetcorn
• Carrots
• Peas
• Red Cabbage
• Eggfood
• Lettuce
• Babyleaf
• Spinach
• Rocket
• Pets At Home Cockatiel Seed Mix

 

[Dozi]

DAY TWENTY-ONE

• EGGS HATCHED - 1/1

Such a cute lil' guy! He's very relaxed around me, accepting scritches around the neck and under its chin. His blue eye has darkened, yet there is some definite clouding of the pupil. I do wonder about why it has changed colour when the pupil has whitened further, but at least he has semi-matching eyes now! More feathers have come through the shafts, and it definitely appears to be a pearl with some (cinnamon? fallow? I can't recall the difference) colouration. It continues to grow larger and develop further each day! I am very glad that I added the heat mat- it has worked wonders.

Parent's food for today:

• Sweet Potato
• Butternut Squash
• Sweetcorn
• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Eggfood
• Mango
• Watermelon
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Pepper
• Pets At Home Cockatiel Seed Mix

 

[texsize]

They are so cute at that age.

 

[Dozi]

DAY TWENTY-TWO

• EGGS HATCHED - 1/1

More feathers on the face, more coming out of their sleeves along the wings, and stubs now covering the entirety of the chick's back and abdomen! I heard the chick in distress at one point in the night, however- a soft sort of crying. Not her usual hunger sound, but more like a pained sound. I opened the box and saw that Bobbi was pecking at her previously discoloured eye! When she saw me, she pecked the poor chick hard enough that she came tumbling out of the box.. Fortunately, I managed to catch her in my hands just a few centimetres from where she fell, and I don't think that she is hurt..- Aside from that one feather that's poking away from her chest. She was breathing quite heavily after the incident, so I sat with her for a bit and sang. After she calmed down, I returned her to the box and things have seemed fine since! Her breathing is steady, her weight gain is healthy, she developed after the incident and continues to be fed by her parents. She's getting so big!

Parent's food for today:

• Sweetcorn
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Red Pepper
• Curly Kale
• Eggfood
• Pets At Home Cockatiel Seed Mix

 

[texsize]

I would separate the bird that was attacking the chick.

My second clutch of Tiels had parent abuse to the chicks.
Parents were plucking feathers off the neck and head of the babies.

I kept parents separate except at feeding time.

 

[Dozi]

DAY TWENTY-THREE

• EGGS HATCHED - 1/1

So cute! Feathers are becoming super fluffy! She's beginning to look a lot like her mother- it's actually quite scary! She now has 3 black toenails like her mother does. I've always wondered what the significance of that is and why it happens- D'ion, my other female, has fully black toenails apart from one nail.

Parent's food for today:

• Sweetcorn
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Red Pepper
• Curly Kale
• Eggfood
• Orranges
• Rice
• Pets At Home Cockatiel Seed Mix

 

[kme3388]

DAY TWENTY-THREE

• EGGS HATCHED - 1/1

So cute! Feathers are becoming super fluffy! She's beginning to look a lot like her mother- it's actually quite scary! She now has 3 black toenails like her mother does. I've always wondered what the significance of that is and why it happens- D'ion, my other female, has fully black toenails apart from one nail.

View attachment 39272
View attachment 39273

Parent's food for today:

• Sweetcorn
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Red Pepper
• Curly Kale
• Eggfood
• Orranges
• Rice
• Pets At Home Cockatiel Seed Mix

Such a beautiful baby!!!

 

[Dozi]

DAY TWENTY-FOUR

• EGGS HATCHED - 1/1

She seems to be really attentive to music! She's also really receptive to scritches now- she rotates her head around my finger and it's so cute! It'll only be a week or so until she's fully fledged, I believe. She's started to stretch her wings and flap them inside of the box. Her pearls are honestly dazzling.

Parent's food for today:

• Sweetcorn
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Red Pepper
• Curly Kale
• Eggfood
• Orange
• Apple
• Spaghetti
• Pets At Home Cockatiel Seed Mix

 

[HeatherG]

Awfully cute!

 

[Dozi]

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT

• EGGS HATCHED - 1/1

Won't be long now until Chui is able to fly! Lately, when I've been taking her out of the box, she's been naturally attempting to sit on my finger like her parents do- it's very cute! She's actually got a good grip on my fingers so I let her do it for a few minutes at a time before giving her a break. In the box, I see her running up and down with her wings out and flapping. She also sticks her head out of the box, wanting to come out but being unsure on how to fly quite yet. I take her out more regularly now, allowing her to try some foods in a sort of pre-weaning stage that I read about online.

Parent's food for today:

• Sweetcorn
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Green Pepper
• Curly Kale
• Eggfood
• Pets At Home Cockatiel Seed Mix

 

[Dozi]

Uhhhh sooo... Bobbi and Milo just had sex.. Umm.. Good bad?

 

[texsize]

Uhhhh sooo... Bobbi and Milo just had sex.. Umm.. Good bad?

See my comment on your other thread.

 

[MayMaroa]

How is the chick and the parents are they fine?

 

[MayMaroa]

umm any updates?

 

[BirdyBee]

How are the cuties doing?

 

[MayMaroa]

Yaa iv been waiting for an update for ages.

 

[Dozi]

Hello guys! Just updating this thread-

Truth be told, I was avoiding the forum because one of my other birds recently passed away… It was a very unexpected passing, and I had the closest bond with the bird that passed. It’s been a month, but it still hurts to think about the fact that I will never see her again. She fell down a small gap between my wall and wardrobe- my dad was supposed to be supervising her time outside of the cage, but he didn’t notice that she was missing. It hurts a lot to think about how scared she must have been, but I’m happy knowing that her final years were full of love at least.

As for the surviving baby, he’s still alive, and he’s begun to attempt to sing! It’s a shame that he will likely lose all of his pearls, but he has a very cute sound to his chirps. He still attempts to get into the nesting box every night unfortunately, despite how his parents keep trying to get him away lol.

Here’s a video of him jumping on his father lol

The second batch of eggs that they had begun to lay was entirely infertile, with grey spots on the eggs. I’m at a loss for why, but they’ve recently begun to lay again after a 2 week break following the infertile clutch. One chick has already hatched, and the other two eggs will likely be hatching in the next few days.

One of them, unfortunately, passed away. It was fed and warm, but didn’t move much after hatching and appeared to be very weak. The one that continues to love is very energetic, however, so I believe that the cause was distinct to that other chick. The parents are much better with the chicks now, so things are pretty hands off aside from making chop and checking in.

 

[HeatherG]

(My sister lost a finch and found it years later in her shoe. It happens. But I’m sorry that it did.)

 

[BirdyBee]

Hello guys! Just updating this thread-

Truth be told, I was avoiding the forum because one of my other birds recently passed away… It was a very unexpected passing, and I had the closest bond with the bird that passed. It’s been a month, but it still hurts to think about the fact that I will never see her again. She fell down a small gap between my wall and wardrobe- my dad was supposed to be supervising her time outside of the cage, but he didn’t notice that she was missing. It hurts a lot to think about how scared she must have been, but I’m happy knowing that her final years were full of love at least.

As for the surviving baby, he’s still alive, and he’s begun to attempt to sing! It’s a shame that he will likely lose all of his pearls, but he has a very cute sound to his chirps. He still attempts to get into the nesting box every night unfortunately, despite how his parents keep trying to get him away lol.

View attachment 41758
Here’s a video of him jumping on his father lol

The second batch of eggs that they had begun to lay was entirely infertile, with grey spots on the eggs. I’m at a loss for why, but they’ve recently begun to lay again after a 2 week break following the infertile clutch. One chick has already hatched, and the other two eggs will likely be hatching in the next few days.

View attachment 41759
One of them, unfortunately, passed away. It was fed and warm, but didn’t move much after hatching and appeared to be very weak. The one that continues to love is very energetic, however, so I believe that the cause was distinct to that other chick. The parents are much better with the chicks now, so things are pretty hands off aside from making chop and checking in.

I am so sorry to hear this. I thought something was wrong...


It's really sad when we lose our feather babies, especially if we feel like we could've done something.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hey all!

I'm new to this forums, but I wanted a place to document the progression of my Cockatiel's first clutch (and to ask for help where I need it!)

I've wanted baby cockatiels for a long time, although I never planned for it to happen this early in my life so it was a bit of a shock when I suddenly heard some odd noises from the cage and turned to see my two 'tiels mating! Fortunately, I was able to make a nesting box with my boyfriend.
I fed my 'tiels a good mix of nutrients throughout the mating and egg-laying process. Their daily chop consisted of:

• Broccoli, Cauliflower and Kale for the greens
• Bell Peppers and Carrots for the oranges/yellows
• Apple (twice a week!)
• Rice or porridge
• Egg (twice a week!)

They laid five eggs beautiful eggs in total, however after the third egg I noticed that Bobbi had become quite lethargic and had even begun to vomit! She couldn't stay on her feet and had a lot of the symptoms of egg binding so I took her to the emergency vet ASAP. She was given some pain killers and the Vet was able to help her push the egg out. After that, the fifth came out fine! I'm unsure why the fourth was so difficult for her, but I'm very glad that I was able to get her some help and avoid what could've been a potentially fatal situation.

The fifth egg turned out to be infertile and, after searching everywhere online, I couldn't decide whether it'd be best to toss the egg or let it stay in the box. Bobbi seemed to make that decision for me, however. She kept pushing the egg to the edge of the box, away from the rest of her eggs, and one day when I was checking the box she began to push it out towards the door. I took the egg for her since it seemed like she really didn't want to keep it!

A few days ago, the worst happened, however. When I opened the door, despite my prior warning (a knock on the door and calling Milo's name since I knew that he was the one in the box), Milo got super spooked. He ended up running forwards and kicking one of the eggs out of the box. I sealed it as quickly as I could with some wax, however fluids had leaked out as well as a tiny bit of blood. I'm hoping that it'll make it since it is only about 5 days from hatching- but we'll just have to wait and see!

Last night, one of the eggs were pipped- today, that egg has unzipped a bit more. Another one of the eggs has also been pipped! We should begin to see some beautiful chicks soon. They're a bit later than expected, likely due to the fact that my 'tiels didn't lay on the eggs for a whole day at one point! I'm unsure as to why, but I'm glad to see that the chicks kept developing after they returned to the nest. The third egg looks to be rotating to get into the position for pipping at this point in time and I will update this thread when that happens!

Now, a question; should I continue with my current chop mix whilst the parents are rearing the kids? Or should I make some alterations? Also, I'm unsure as to how I might (or if I even should!) clean the nesting box. Bobbi seems to be fine with me looking in on her and putting my hands in the box as I have previously. Milo, on the other hand, is a bit more skittish despite being the most tame one when outside of the box- I presume because he is male? He tends to charge at me if I put my hands inside the box regardless of whether he is in the box or outside of it. A lot of this is a first for me, so I'm trying my best to learn but a lot of the search bars are clogged with information about infertile (pretend) eggs or poultry eggs. It'd be great if someone could give me the info I need to know!

Anyway, here are some pictures of my beautiful cockatiels!

View attachment 38003View attachment 38004View attachment 38005View attachment 38006

The pearl is Bobbi, the mother- the (pied?) is Milo, the father! I'm unsure about what mutations the babies will have, does anyone have any ideas?

How exciting! Nothing's sweeter than baby birdies! Since this is your birds' first time be prepared to step in and handpiece