# Help, all my babies dying in every breeding



## drkbb (Mar 27, 2015)

Hi from Turkey. I have a cockatiel couple for 1,5 years.:grey tiel:earl: In 1,5 years they had 6 nesting period. We have 2 young parrot from first nesting, and 1 young parrot from second nesting (other 3 died in 2-3 week old). In the third nesting all 4 babies died in 2-3 weeks old. All they had empty crops. I fed the parents very well like everyone wrote on forums.
 Every 2-3 moths they had new eggs but all babies are died in 24 hours all nesting periods. Is it too frequently? If I take nesting box, she left her eggs on the basement of cage. And I put box back.
Once I took a baby from box. I fed him by hand and put him back. After one hour I found some blood on his head. And they don't feed him again. And he has died. In the other nesting period I took the baby in first day and I began to handfeed. Because of my job, I fed him every 4-5 hours(not 2 hours in first week). His weight gain was not enough and he died at 30 days old. 
A few days ago my last baby died again. He had a empty crop too. I tried to feed by hand and I put him back to box. But his parents didn't fed him. Only they sit near the baby in the nesting box. When I saw the mother at outside the box, I understand he has died. I'm so sorry and I'm so confused.
What do you think about it? 
*Why my babies dying with empty crops? May be my couple don't feed them(I don't know why ) May be my babies were sick and they couldn't eat anything. 
*It is very hard to feed by hand from first day. 
*What is the ideal number of nesting period per year? How can I coordinate it?
*Must I separate my couple different cages? (I tried it and they cried very much, so I put them together again?

Please help me!


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

If the parents just aren't feeding it could be they are just bad parents and that's why the chicks starve to death.

It could be that the parents are carriers of some disease that gets passed to the chicks causing them not to beg for food and thus starve to death or succumb to the disease.

If some chicks have blood on their head you could be overfeeding the chicks before putting them back with the parents. Some cockatiels will nibble on edges of the chick to initiate a feeding response. If the parents don't get a feeding response they may get more aggressive with the chick. When co-parenting you want to just round out the bottom of the crop unless a full feed is completely necessary.

I can only suggest a change in hand-feeding behavior and a vet check for the parents.


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

I would definitely stop them from breeding so often. Usually taking the nestbox out does the trick, but if that's not working you may have to separate them and just keep them beside eachother in separate cages. I have only ever allowed my hens to breed once per year, twice if no eggs are viable in a clutch. I think laying eggs every 2-3 months would be quite unhealthy for the hen, and it could also be a contributing factor to her ignoring her chicks.


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## Nimra (Aug 4, 2014)

If this keeps on happening then feed the chick yourself. After all that, you can't expect the parents to feed the baby. But I think you should stop them from breeding.


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