# Bucket o' babies



## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

All twelve have survived the night and on a whole gave me a good feeding response on their last feeding, so it's going well so far. There are still a couple I'm worried about, but they seem to be getting stronger. The mites seem to be lessening too. I change the bedding every feeding and put a little DE in their bedding to kill the little blood suckers. I am still finding them here and there, but not half as bad as yesterday. In order to tell them apart each one got a different color dot on top of their head with a sharpie marker. Hopefully the color last long enough until I can tell them apart.


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## jerry2006 (Oct 10, 2008)

Very nice!
Jerry in Philly, pa. usa


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Very cute Mentha


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## geenz (Apr 4, 2011)

Eeeeeee so much cuteness


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## Kristian (Jul 5, 2011)

Good luck with all those chicks. Are you keeping them all? (I forgot to ask)


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

No. I was told by hubby that I needed to get rid of a lot of birds, so reluctantly today I posted an ad on craigslist for my doves an some extra male cockatiels. These ones will have to go too once they are weaned.


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## Kristian (Jul 5, 2011)

I wish you lived near here. I wouldnt mind taking one or two 
He is just making you sell the babies right, not the older tiels or both?


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## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

Mercy! What a pile of little fuzzlets.

Glad they seem to be overcoming the ants and mites. Are you getting desperate for uninterrupted sleep yet?


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

First casualty, one of the 3 lutinos. I didn't think it was going to make it anyway but it still hurts. I have one more which I figure I'll lose too. It's just too hot even inside for them with no AC it gets hotter inside than outside many times. That will leave me with 12 total the two 3 week old wf babies and 10 from these ones and however many Emperor decides to hatch. I think I'm going to take the boxes down until it cools down a bit and try for one more breeding before winter. 

I'm going to sell the babies and a few of my extra males. I only have 5 females and 10 males so there is a lot of squabbling. I'll then be ready to bring home some lovelies from the bird fair. There was one breeder there with pastel faced and silver cockatiels. Hubby said in order to get more birds I need to get rid of some. So the doves are going and I'm going to concentrate on refining my cockatiel stock.


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## Kristian (Jul 5, 2011)

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and leaving the rest. I have been using that phase for awhile. 
Sorry for your loss. And best wishes on getting the best cockatiels at the bird fair.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

The other one is lost too, that leaves one more that is iffy. Sometimes I hate breeding animals. I know they would have been sucked dry if I'd left them, but it still doesn't make be feel better.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

O my gosh its too much!!! Sorry about the one baby but hopefully the others do OK!


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## Kristian (Jul 5, 2011)

Try looking at all the ones you have saved. Look at the big picture and even though its really sad loosing something special, being sad wont help the others survive. You still have many specially little chicks that need you on tip top happy shape to be able to take care of them. Try smiling: It sends endorphins to your brain and will lighten you mood.
Taking a psychology course comes in handy at times.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

I know they wouldn't have survived a mite infestation and 110+ heat also, but it still doesn't make me feel better. We take the lives of animals in our care and hopefully try to do best by them. I have some really sweet babies already. I just hope the heat subsides long enough for them to have a fighting chance.


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

so sad for ur loss i hope u find a good home for the babies


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

Lost another last night, and the little lutino looks like it might be on it's way too.


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## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

I'm sorry about the babies. That's got to be so hard.
It's been a very painful week at your house.
Sending strengthening and uplifting thoughts your way, Mentha. Hang in there.


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

u should be happy they were comforted when they left at least u tried ur best to help them because if it wasnt for u they probably would have died in the nestbox without the comfort that u gave to them


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

A few of them had slow crop so I did a little research, did a couple crop drains and they had yeast in their crops, baking soda water, (didn't have alka seltzer) spice mix, yogurt, and applesauce helped keep them going. They have survived the night and only three of them seem to have stretched their crops. One is still not draining though, but it's holding on. I can still see some yeast in a couple crops but did get alka seltzer this morning first thing, hopefully that will work better than the baking soda. Thanks srtiels for all your wonderful info. I'm pretty sure I'd of lost a couple more if I hadn't found those posts.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Fingers crossed for you hun, its been a rough year on babies! Especially tiels for some reason. The local pet store here doesn't have any tiels because their breeder hasn't had any babies yet and its already July.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

So far so good  I noticed it's the 6 and 9 am feedings that usually drain slow. I think I'll make those their night time. Almost everyone's crop was empty this last feeding. I'm making the formula on the lighter side of the scale for a while until everyone grows into their crops.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

Lost another this morning. The ants found them and attacked it so I'm off to get some more sevin dust.


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## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

How are they doing today, Mentha?


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Im so sorry


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

O those nasty ants...squish them!!! Hopefully this is the last one.


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

where do you keep the babies that ants are getting at them?

sorry to hear about your loss

how are the rest of the babies doing today?how many are left?


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

We live in a mobile home on top of a 15 mile wide nest of Argentinean ants. I don't know if you know about Argentinean ants, but they are not native to the US and fight the native ants, but will not fight their own kind. Native ants will fight ants from different colonies even their own species, but not these ants. That's why they are so many of them they won't kill off other colonies of their own kind. There is no place I can put them that the ants aren't eventually going to find them. The ants are so bad that I have to put my soda in a bowl of water to deter them and they still get to my cup within a few minutes. 

I haven't lost any more, but there is one that isn't doing too well because it's the smallest and just doesn't want to grow. It's still fighting a yeast infection. The fact that's it's survived this long tells me it's a fighter though. There's still hope for the little guy.


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## DairyMay (Jun 18, 2011)

oh my gosh ive heard of those ants!!!! I live in northern california and i have ant problems here but nothing like that! I hope they stay away from the rest of the babies!


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

I'm such a bad bird mama  I was trying to get the yeast out of the littlest one's crop so it would drain and it aspirated


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

O no!!! You aren't bad...were you not able to blow into its mouth? Sometimes during aspiration that can clear the airway and save the baby. But its not your fault you did what you could and were only trying to help the baby.


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

you did your best for that little one you are a great moma
dont bash yourself for this lil ones loss you really did try to save it
sorry for your loss


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> O no!!! You aren't bad...were you not able to blow into its mouth? Sometimes during aspiration that can clear the airway and save the baby. But its not your fault you did what you could and were only trying to help the baby.




i totally agree with you Roxy
and thanks for aspirations saving techniques directions reminder and i have had to use it too
i read that here too by srtiels i believe and another member about a aspiration scare


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

Blowing in its mouth didn't help because it's mouth was full about 3 cc's of gunk.


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## Kristian (Jul 5, 2011)

You are a great tiel mom! 
Don't try to put yourself down. You are doing a wonderful thing, doing the best you can to take care of those baby tiels.


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

in future...
you could use a rag/qtip or anything available in your emergency time to wipe out mouth/beak area before blowing in ...it would be gross but ultimately could save the chick life.


my young cockatiel once got water up his nose while i bathed him and started acting like he was chocking/wheezing/sneezing so i sucked it out fast out of his nose
good thing i did it cause he was starting to go limp in my hand then the water can out by me sucking on his nose and he was alright 
boy was i scared i was willing to try anything to save him

did the chick choked while you were trying to empty crop?he was having crop problems right?


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

yes, I was trying to empty his crop and he got stuff all the way up his esophagus into his beak about a whole inch of blockage. I wasn't quick enough with the q-tip and blowing didn't work either.


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

once again gross 
but sucking it out might work too ....opposed to blowing in different circumstances

maybe a baby nose bulb should become standard must have
to clear stuff like that in an emergency sitution?


i am truely saden by your loss though ive been there too


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

Sorry, I was just trying to emphasize that I had done everything I could think to save it. It's sad because I'm left with one lutino baby. However I put some eggs laid on the wire under a pair a few weeks ago and one of them was pipping at about 8 pm. The other egg looks to be a few days behind. I should have another wf chick tomorrow, sibling to the two that are a month old. I'll leave it with it's fosters until it's about 2 weeks old then these ones should be ready to fly.


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## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

Mentha, you're not a bad mom!
You hear me? You're not a bad mom! You gave the chick appropriate care. They are just so tiny that sometimes these things happen no matter how much skill and experience the handler has. 
I looked up those ants. GAH! I thought fire ants were bad, but those things are horrifying. You're fighting a hard battle against them to save the little ones-- it must be very discouraging sometimes. Sending good thoughts to help you keep your spirits up! 

Post updates when you can!


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

I am down to 6 from 12 and like last year, they are only growing a little bit maybe a gram a day for some of the smaller ones. 10% of their body weight just isn't enough to make them grow. The other two seem to be doing well, but not these ones.


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## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

But they _are_ gaining; that's a good sign, right? 

Could they be slow growers due to their systems dealing with ant toxins, or maybe the awful heat you've had? Do you think maybe they can catch up? I hope so.

Keep on keeping on! We're rooting for ya.


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## vaneupr (Jul 11, 2011)

Good luck! dont give up, I had one that was growing really slow, at 15 days had no pin feathers so i was really concerned i thought she was going to die but she survived, got feathers all over her and did very well.







This is she at 37 days. Something that really amazed me is that her father didnt give up on her, so dont give up on your babies, they will keep fighting just because of you.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Aww so cute 

One of my babies is slow with his feathers too (baby 3) i have been calling him stumpy lol


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

aw cute  its beautiful


can i copy/download your photo and use it for future references or help to people?
can i have your permission?


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## vaneupr (Jul 11, 2011)

Yes you have permission (^_^)


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

I think the pin feathers are in enough to see that two will be pearl. So that is 3 normal, 2 pearl, and 1 lutino left. Plus the two 5 week old white face babies, a boy and a girl. I still have eggs ready to hatch too. I lost the little wf I had to assist hatch though. It's fosters didn't feed it.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Aww poor little thing bless


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

finally starting to get their pin feathers in. 1 lutino, 2 or 3 pearls, not sure on the third and 2 normal grays.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

O my ain't they just full of spunk?


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## vaneupr (Jul 11, 2011)

My God they're beautiful!


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

I had to color their heads so I could keep track of who's who. 6 is almost too many to keep track of 12 was a nightmare.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

Update: They are 7 weeks old and I am down to 3 babies out of 12, two grays and a lutino pearl pied which is a monster, it bites continually. Not only does it bite, but it grinds it's beak when it does. I am so not going to keep this one. It still looks like a little bald chicken, it still has pin feathers on it's back. The other two get to go outside and play in the aviary with the big birds, but the lutino has to stay in the brooder with the babies. It did get a bath today as it's feathers were covered in feces.

The good thing with the experience is I learned how to feed with a tube while struggling to make them survive. I also learned how to drain crops via tube. Hopefully that knowledge will help me in times to come.


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## This'll Do (Jun 24, 2011)

Sounds like you've got a real little cannibal on your hands. 

Any pics of the little ones? Maybe the cannibal is just an ugly duckling and will grow up to be a sweet little swan, LOL.


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

Good Luck and Good Job!


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