# Weaning Question



## Rocky's Rose (Jun 24, 2008)

My chicks are 4 weeks old on tuesday and i have been noticing that Screech has been bugging the smaller one and grabbing his beak. The smaller one is only just starting to get its pins in and Screech is fully feathered out...my question is should i pull Screech from the nest and feed him myself so the other one is getting enough to eat and not picked on?? The other one had a bleeding beak the other day and there is a crack in its beak and i'm thinking that Screech bit it. I have weaning pellets that i bought at the petstore and so im wondering if i was to pull Screech would I hand feed him the pellets or still give him formula?? Also for a brooder would it be okay to put a heat pad down on one side of an aquarium???? or would Screech be able to go in his own cage???


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

At 4 weeks he should still be on formula but he is ready to start weaning. Scatter some seed on the floor of the cage and moisten some of the weaning pellets to start.


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## Rocky's Rose (Jun 24, 2008)

okay then. Another question. When will the cockatiel chicks come out from the nestbox??? And should i handfeed Screech or continue to let Rosie feed him?


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

If he's hurting the other babies you need to either separate him or them. It would be easiest to remove the eldest of course because they won't be as dependent as the younger ones. As to when they leave the nestbox. It varies. Some birds come out sooner than others. I've seen 4 weeks for sure. I usually pull mine to hand feed at 3 weeks and they've never tried to come out at that age. Sometimes the parents want to go to nest again and they evict the babies from the box.


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## Rocky's Rose (Jun 24, 2008)

Okay would a aquarium with a heat pad on one side be okay for a brooder or is it okay for Screech to be in a cage. Also at four weeks how often do you have to hand feed them?


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

It depends on how well they eat. I have a couple of babies that will be 4 weeks on Sunday. They were slow to get started. They were only eating 2 spoonsfull at a time. As a result I fed them more often (every 3 hours) to be sure they got enough food. It's often difficult to start hand feeding later than 3 weeks. It seems that it is harder to get them to take the spoon. I put mine in a regular cage with a heating pad under it yesterday. They are already eating better. An Aquarium would be fine. If he has a sibling close to his age I would pull him as well. 2 birds competing are more likely to eat well than one bird alone.


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

I'm not sure how the weather is there, but last spring/ summer when I hand fed my tiels I didn't need to heat the brooder(which was also a fish tank) because it was 70 + degrees (Fahrenheit) so i was told i wouldn't need to. i pulled at 3 weeks by 4 weeks they were fully feathered and if i remember right eating maybe 3 times a day Breakfast, lunch and Dinner SOMETIMES a "snack" in between, I put a sturdy crock dish (it was a brand new cat dish) in the bottom of the brooder and filled that with pellet/seed mix, along with Millet spray and started giving them veggies at the same time. 

by 6 weeks or so they were in a cage, Still had the crock on the cage floor - but i also had my stainless steel food dishes in the cage close to the low perch, One with water one with their pellet/seed mix. 

here is a chart for what a brooder temp should be for the respectful ages 

Age of Chick Degrees in
Fahrenheit
1-5 days 94 - 96
6-9 days 93 - 95
10-14 days 91 - 93
15-21 days 86 - 90
22-28 days 81 - 85
29-35 days 76 - 80
36 days to weaning 70 - 75

and one for feeding times/amounts/ for their age 

Age of Chick Feeding Times Feeding
Amounts
1-4 days Every two hours 1 - 2 cc's
5-7 days Every three hours 2 - 3 cc's
8-14 days 7:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM, 7:00 PM, 11:00 PM 4 - 6 cc's
15-24 days 7:00 AM, 12:00 PM (Noon), 5:00 PM, 11:00 PM 7 - 10 cc's
25-34 days 7:00 AM, 5:00 PM, 11:00 PM 11 - 15 cc's
35-44 days (fledging) 7:00 AM, 7:00 PM 11 - 15 cc's 
45 days to weaning 7:00 PM 11 - 15 cc's

I got it from this website 

http://www.cockatiel.org/articles/handfeeding.html


but keep in mind with him already being 4 weeks old and parent raised this far, He may not take to hand feeding as easily as a young bird would


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## Rocky's Rose (Jun 24, 2008)

Screech has one sibling that is the same age but he is picking on him.....Can you telling me on average how often they need to be fed??? I don't really want to pull him but he is picking on the smaller on. i'm not sure what i should do.....pull him or leave him in....


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

It depends on how agressive he is to the younger bird. Many times if the parents do not keep the chicks in the nest crops full the will start to pull on clutchmates beaks trying to force them to regurgitate up food. The problem with this is if the older bird gets too agressive in pulling on the others beak he can in rare circumstances pull off the younger birds upper beak.


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

Rocky's Rose said:


> Screech has one sibling that is the same age but he is picking on him.....Can you telling me on average how often they need to be fed??? I don't really want to pull him but he is picking on the smaller on. i'm not sure what i should do.....pull him or leave him in....


Here is the chart - go by their age, then see how many times you feed them 



> *Age of Chick Feeding Times Feeding
> Amounts
> 1-4 days Every two hours 1 - 2 cc's
> 5-7 days Every three hours 2 - 3 cc's
> ...


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Even 2 days can make a huge difference in size and development. Atv has the right info for you. Follow it as best you can.


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## Rocky's Rose (Jun 24, 2008)

ok thanks for your advice


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