# Cockatiel baby looks weak and is chirping only softly



## Saayy (Jul 13, 2020)

Hello,
One of my cockatiels' eggs just hatched yesterday. The baby was looking healthy yesterday and was chirping loudly. It's my birds' first time raising a chick, but they seemed to be feeding it properly. They only feed them the seed mix that they regurgitate and won't touch the baby food or the bread soaked in milk that I have been trying to give them since some days before the chicks hatched.
However, today the chick is chirping only softly, I have not seen them feed it much all day, but the crop looks full. Its head is bent and it looks a little weaker than yesterday. I have also attached a picture








Can someone please advise me if there's any cause for concern? ☹
I'm really worried about the chick


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## Daytontiel (Feb 24, 2019)

The babies should not chirp loudly, most time they are just sleeping. What your description to me seems a normal baby behavior. I was shocked, there was not any bedding material in the "nest box", this could cause splay legs due problem down the road. Cardboard is too slippery for babies to get good traction. Provide parent some soft foods such as cooked brown rice, pasta, and vegetables such spinach leaves daily. Plus, lots of calcium source such as mineral block.


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## Saayy (Jul 13, 2020)

Thanks so much for your reply! The parents throw out any bedding material that I put inside the box ☹


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## Daytontiel (Feb 24, 2019)

That is due to the nest box is too shallow. Cockatiel will dig a hole in bedding to make a nest. Basically, the parents throw/ push the bedding from middle toward outside to make a hole. If the nest box can't contain the bedding, then, the result looks like the parent throw the bedding out. You have to have proper nest box set up to have good babies. I think the bedding should be 2 inches or thicker from the bottom of nest box.


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## Saayy (Jul 13, 2020)

Hello Daytontiel,
Could you please help me once more and tell me if this chick looks okay? It's 5 days old now and this picture was taken after an hour after the parents fed it. The parents are still not ready to touch any soft food at all and have only been eating seed mix and sunflower seeds.
I'm worried about its crop looking rather stretched. It weighs about 10gms in this picture. Do you think they are overfeeding it? Could you take a look once?


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## Daytontiel (Feb 24, 2019)

The baby looks ok to me. At day 5, weighing 10 gram is not bad at all. Baby looks slightly dehydrate. You need keep environmental humidity (RH 50% or high) and the baby should be no exposed to too much air flow. 

Did you provide vegetables to the parents? I would provide some spinach leaves for them. 

The parent never over feed their babies. Don't worry about over feeding. I am more concerning under feeding issue. I am pretty sure, the parents did pretty good job so far. 

I look at my book, my fast growing babies will be around 12 -20 gram at day 5 with fully crop of food. Keep in mind my cockatiel babies were born from heavy parents (100-115 grams). New born weighing is around 4.5 grams. If your cockatiel parents are smaller size (90-95 grams), the baby will be smaller too.


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## Saayy (Jul 13, 2020)

I give them cilantro everyday and Spinach every once in a while, they don't really eat anything else. Tried hard boiled eggs, rice, soaked pellets, but they don't eat that either. I'll try to feed the baby some warm water.
Thanks for all the info Daytontiel, big help!


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## Daytontiel (Feb 24, 2019)

Provide spinach every day. I know all my bird eat spinach, they only eat a little. If you can find brown rice, cocked it as you cock white rice without any salt nor oil, provide them daily, you can use slightly less water, so, rice is not so soggy. My cockatiels never like any soaked pellets. They seems hate soggy food.


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