i need help 2 week old budgie not eating!!!!

[Amsterdam]

so i have 4 budgie babys and they are healthy and growing well someone just knocked on my door asked if i could save this baby budgie its 2 weeks old i took it in what i did is that i placed it with the mom of my 4 budgies she seems to feed her i put the male in a seperate cage will the little one survive?

 

[LaManuka]

Geez Amsterdam, word must have got around where you are that you are the local Bird Whisperer!

I'm sure you've handraised budgies before haven't you? There's every chance your hen may happily feed and foster another baby in the short term at least, but you will have to monitor them closely and make sure that all 5 are getting enough nutrition, and watch for any signs that she may reject some or all of the babies.


I've tracked down an old post from EllenD who always had a lot of good info on the subject!

You need to get yourself a digital kitchen scale, if you don't already have one, and start blocking-off the nest-box at the same time each day (the best time is first thing in the morning, early enough that it's before any of them have been fed) and weighing each of them with empty crops, and writing it down. They should each continue to gain weight, or at least not lose any weight, until the point where they fledge, as it's normal for them to suddenly lose a bit of weight during fledging, then they'll start gaining again. But as young as your chicks are, they should be gaining weight each day and not losing any.

It's possible that you're just not seeing the parents feed this one particular chick, as sometimes the parents do feed them at different times, based on how/when their crops are emptying. But if there is an issue with this chick's health, for instance if he has a crop infection or some kind of congenital issue, it's quite possible that the parents will reject him.

This is why you always need to be prepared to have to remove a chick or all of the chicks from the nest box, put them in a Brooder at the proper ambient temperature, and have the equipment, supplies, and knowledge to hand-feed them formula. Sometimes the parents simply stop feeding the chicks for no apparent reason at all, sometimes they literally kick them out of the nest box. It can be because there is something wrong with the chicks, such as illness, disease, there are too many chicks in the clutch, etc., or it can be simply because they just want to stop. Either way, this is why you cannot ever just rely upon the parents raising/feeding chicks up until they are weaned, as over 50% of the time something goes wrong and the breeder/owner has to take over.

Start weighing all 3 of your chicks every day at the same time, and if this chick isn't gaining or is losing weight, then you'll need to take-over feeding him; as long as the parents aren't being aggressive or hurting him, and continue to keep him warm, then you can allow him to stay in the nest box and just block it off, feed him, and put him back in. If the parents start hurting him, plucking him, kick him out of the box, etc., then you'll have to set-up a homemade Brooder at the appropriate ambient temperature and actually raise him. But hopefully it won't come to that.

In addition to weighing him, I would be checking his crop many times throughout the day to make sure you're not just missing him being fed. At their age they should be fed between 4-5 times a day by the parents or you, so you should be able to catch him with a full crop many times throughout the day; if he never has a full crop, chance are you're going to have to start hand-feeding him formula and take-over for the parents. Sometimes the parents will again start feeding the chick once you have started hand-feeding them and they see him with a full crop again, but most of the time you'll have to continue feeding them on a schedule, every day up until they wean...But start by weighing all 3 of them every morning at the same time with empty crops and checking him many times a day for a full crop.

Good on you for saving yet another little life Amsterdam!

 

[MonicaMc]

If your pair are willing to take care of the chick as their own, and the chick is not sick, I don't see the issue!