Difficulties with Cockatiel Breeding

[Taffy]

Hi everybody, I wanted to ask this question for my father who has been trying to get Cockatiels to breed. We have had some babies from a couple of the pairs but my Dad checks on the babies in their boxes and then the parents seem to neglect the babies and let them die. He does not touch the babies, just lifts the lids on the boxes and checks on how they are doing.

Does anybody have any idea why the parents would do this?

Oh and he also wants to know, how exactly do you sex them? I heard it has something to do with under the wing but we're not 100% sure.

Thank you! :)

[Plukie]

Well, hello and welcome to TC. I don't know the answer to your questions but keep checking because we have a lot of people on here that breed Cockatiels and they will certainly be able to help.

[atvchick95]

i've haven't had any of my birds (tiels or budgies)abandoned the babies when i check the boxes (or the eggs) and i check several times a day and i handle them often.

as for visually sexing a tiel thiers only 2 mutations this is possiable in, One bieng normal grey - the males have the yellow faces the females have grey faces/bodies

and normal white faces - The male has a white face, the female does not it stays grey like her body


Sometimes you can visually sex a Pearl because males normally lose the pearling markings after their adult molt but some keep some markings

other then that any other mutation would need to be dna or surgically sexed

[Laura]

There are many reasons why parents neglect there babies, are they first time parents that seems to happen a lot with them and first clutches, sometimes some cockatiels just don't make good parents, there is really only two options they will either have to stop breeding the pairs that are doing it or they are going to have to pull all babies and hand feed them.

[Taffy]

Thank you for the replies, some of the birds might be older since they were given to us by somebody. It's odd, they seem to look after them until my Dad looks at them. We were told that the babies shouldn't be touched because the parents don't like that, I'm not sure if they're that fussy with that or not. They have had some babies because my Taffy is one of them but a lot of them they have let die.

[Bea]

I was wondering if they're first time parents too. I check nest boxes (whether it's budgies or tiels) somewhat obsessively and i'm always handling the babies from an early age, yet i've never had parents abandoning their chicks because of it. I'm not sure how often he was checking the nest box, but maybe if he sticks to a quick peek twice a day (morning and evening) that would be less upsetting for the parents. :huh:

[Laura]

We were told that the babies shouldn't be touched because the parents don't like that


It does seem odd, its not the norm, most cockatiels are ok with handling of the babies, I know of many people that take the babies and handle them from early on with no problems.

[Taffy]

Yeah, I thought it was bizarre too since Budgies are alright with handling the babies. I don't know what is going on, it's been happening for a while and Dad is thinking about getting rid of them. I don't want that! We've had very little problems with Budgies compared to Cockatiels.

Thanks for all the replies so far, I truly appreciate it. :D

[Bea]

I found that my budgies just breed like rabbits, if you give them the opportunity they're ready to go. :p And i've never had a problem with budgies being bad parents either. I haven't got much experience with breeding tiels, but from everything i've read tiels are a little more difficult than budgies, but still relatively easy. Is your dad breeding the tiels in an aviary, or in individual breeding cages?

[grannybird]

Does he give plenty of soft foods to the parents, such as an egg food mixture when they should be feeding the babies? The parent birds dont normaly get to upset when you look in on their babies. Each day the babies should be looked at to see that their crops are full, because if not they need to be pulled for hand feeding. You say they have raised chicks before, so they are not new parents. Another thought, where is the cage and nest box? Is it in a place where there is not too much people traffic? Maybe they need more quiet time. And the temperature. The nest box should keep a temperature of around 80 to 90 degrees. They like to be warm and cozy.. Hope this helps

[Taffy]

Is your dad breeding the tiels in an aviary, or in individual breeding cages?
They are in an aviary, there are a few pairs in there.

Is it in a place where there is not too much people traffic? Nobody really goes near the cages unless they need to, when they are being fed and checked on.

The nest boxes are hanging around the place up top of the cage.

[sweetrsue]

There are many ways to tell the sex of young birds. Depending on the mutation of the parents. There are a few mutations that are sex linked. The Father passes the color to the daughters. If the Father is a Lutino and the Mother is not...then all the Lutino's hatched would be girls. The same holds true with Pearl and Cinnamon. If the Mother is the same as the Father you could get that type of bird of either sex. If they both appear to be normal greys and you get any of those mutations they will be girls as well. The Father is the only parent who can carry one of these genes without showing it. As for hens they pretty much are what they appear to be. Unless they carry ressessive genes like Whiteface in which case both parents would have to carry that gene to get any offspring of that type and they could be either sex.