# whats the difference between feeding a baby from day one and from 2 weeks



## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

my cockatiels are soon going to have babies when the babies hatch hopefully i want to handfeed them if i hand feed them from 2 weeks will they be just as tame as a baby fed from day 1 and also when i handfeed the babies should i handfeed all of them or like one of them thanks


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

If you're going to hand feed I'd pull all of the babies. I'd also wait until they are 2-3 weeks old unless you have problems. They need the antibodies their parents give them the first few days. There is no difference in tamability if you wait and you won't be feeding every 2 hours round the clock either. I have 2 babies that I have fed from day 1 and I'll tell you it's very hard to not roll over in bed when the alarm goes off an hour and a half after you just laid down. They are on 4 feedings a day now and I'm still recouping from the strain and having to take them with me if I wanted to go grocery shopping is not fun either. They need more stuff than a newborn human! I have court in a couple of weeks and I'm still trying to figure out how I can take babies with me or who will feed them while I'm 60 miles away from home for the whole day. 

I'll tell you, if this is your first time breeding I'd suggest co-parenting until you get the feel of feeding. That way mom and dad do most of the work and you can still go places if need be, they also get the antibodies from mom an dad too. There is little difference in the tameness of co-parented babies, and they also tend to be better parents than straight hand fed babies because they are still learning how to be a bird.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The difference between feeding a baby at two weeks and feeding a baby at one day is that you're less likely to kill the two week old baby. Waiting until the baby is three weeks old is even better. A newly hatched chick should only be handfed in an emergency, meaning that the parents aren't taking proper care of it and the baby will starve to death if it isn't handfed. 

The younger the baby is, the higher the risks are. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with handfeeding, and if you read the posts in the Breeding section on a regular basis you'll see a lot of horror stories. Handfeeding should be taken very seriously because the babies are likely to die if you do something wrong. So please, listen to the people who tell you not to pull the chicks too early.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

They is no harm in handling them each day if your goal is to get them tame 
let the parents feed them as there is a lot of risks pulling them away from them


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## Debbie05 (Feb 9, 2010)

As soon as you put up the nestbox, you get the parent used to you looking in it. This way when they do have eggs, they are used to it. you really don't want to feed a day old chic. It is better for the chic to be with it's parents for 2 to 3 weeks. What I do is I pull the chics when the youngest is 2 weeks. Then the oldest is about 3 weeks dependind on the size of the clutch.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

tielfan said:


> The difference between feeding a baby at two weeks and feeding a baby at one day is that you're less likely to kill the two week old baby.


Very good point! I forgot to add that. Feeding a day old chick is no picnic, I can tell you that. Aspiration is always on your mind. :blink:


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

thanks u guys have helped alot because honestly i dont want to handfeed my cockatiel from day one im just asking cause i want to have a very tame cockatiel and plus the parents are breeding for the first time and they have already made lots of mistakes i dont want them to make more mistakes on the babies thanks for ur help


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

Like said in previous posts, you don't even need to hand feed to have hand tame babies. It just takes a little time and conditioning. Spend a few minutes about 4-5 times a day playing with the babies once their eyes are open, about 7-10 days old, and they will be tame in no time. I know many bird breeders who do not hand feed at all unless there is something wrong and their babies are still as sweet as can be.


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

Thanks mentha and everyone by the way when cockatiels begin courting each other do they mate everyday or every other day or do they mate a couple times a day I feel so lost


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

They will mate as many times as they want. One breeding will probably be enough to fertilize one clutch though.


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

luffy3001 said:


> thanks u guys have helped alot because honestly i dont want to handfeed my cockatiel from day one im just asking cause i want to have a very tame cockatiel and plus the parents are breeding for the first time and they have already made lots of mistakes i dont want them to make more mistakes on the babies thanks for ur help



i would wait to handfeed til they are 2-3 weeks old if you are that worried about babies and their weight you can take babies out 1-2 times a day
to socialize them with humans in your immediate family.this will tame them.
you can also buy a gram scale and weight the babies in the morning before their first feeding of the day and write down their weight gains/losses then you will know if they are on track as they should be with their ages accordingly.
if they are lossing weight daily then you might wanna assist feed with the parents if they are gaining weight each day then leave with parents to feed them.
but you can always handle chicks daily to help them become tame.
you do not have to pull chicks to handfeed to make them tame just handling them daily does tame them
keep us posted


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

oh thanks for ur help now i know wat to do


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

also if your not prepare for hand feeding you might wanna buy supplies for hand feeding
as soon as some eggs/chicks hatch just in case you need to emergency hand feed at any point
but if parents don't feed well ....
if they do feed well the babies theres no need to hand feed before 3-4 weeks if you really want to hand feed chicks babies will still be tame even if you just handle them daily though
also if your inexperienced in hand feeding a chicks can someone show you how to(vet/breeder)
you might wanna only assist feed one or two chicks in case something goes wrong.you can stop hand feeding them and let parents continue to fed chicks instead..
you can also just let parents only feed chicks and monitor chicks weight on a gram scale before 1st feed of day and assist feed til the chicks are 3-4 weeks old when its safer to hand feed them by yourself alone if thats what you are set on doing.
sorry i know im rambling now but get the supplies needed ready after 1st chick hatches is what im trying to say(formula,gram scale,syringes,qtips,makeup pads,thermometer ,etc...)


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

i have everythinh setup in case the parents do something wrong because my birds are breeding for the first time and so far they have made lots of mistakes so incase anything turns bad i will be there to help them and thanks for ur advice i will try that


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

What kind of mistakes have they made?


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

what mistakes/troubles have your parent birds have/had?
a little info might help us help you


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## luffy3001 (Sep 1, 2010)

well they started breeding before the female even went into the nestbox the first time they mated for about a min but the second time they didnt even know wat to do and when they breed the female doesnt even do that thig where she lowers her back the male just puts one foot on her and when she stops moving he would jump on her


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## Debbie05 (Feb 9, 2010)

Sometimes it just takes a while before they get it right. I have 1 pair that the male would get on her the wrong way. lol


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## Conurekidd (May 16, 2011)

Haha. Snow still does that. He courts Casper all the tome backwards. Always has to adjust. What funny about baby tiels and watching generation grow up. Genetics being passed down. Not mutation but Attitude. Clownish ways Ability to wisle. 
Snow is an exact replica of his father. Acts exatly the same way. Except snows a whiteface. Lol. Same with snow kids. The males have his goofy attitude


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