# 3 Baby Cockatiels Lost In Weight



## Drake (Sep 10, 2010)

I've been handfeeding these 3 baby cockatiels for a week now, and their weight started to drop. They are about 3 weeks old, and weighed 45, 60, 63 when I toke them from the parents, and now they are down to 38, 50, 52. They act perfectly normal, I was thinking it's a yeast infection or some sort of infection. They still get food every 3-4 hours, and the crop is emptying normal. What should I do?


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Im not sure but if you hang in somebody will get back to you when they come on, poor little guys. 
http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=14905
http://www.showtiels.com/klaviary/breeding/2006/01/yeast-and-cockatiel-babies.html


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I'm not sure...since they're only three weeks old I don't know if they'd be trying to fly yet. Babies will lose weight when they're getting ready to fledge so that they can get up in the air but I don't know if they're old enough yet or not.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

My chicks start losing weight when they're three weeks old and fledge at about 3 1/2 weeks. But the weight of your chicks seems too low so there might be a problem here. The chicks' weight should be at or above adult weight at the time they fledge. srtiels is the resident expert on stunting and other problems with chicks but she has to see pictures before she can tell you anything. So if you can post some nice clear pictures of the chicks she'll have something to work with when she visits the board.


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## Drake (Sep 10, 2010)

Sure! I'll have pictures up within 3 hours.


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## Drake (Sep 10, 2010)

Ok good news, the grey one gained 4 grams, the lutino gained 2 grams, but the white face only gained 1 gram today


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

Hmm.. yeah the weights are too low for them to even be fledging. Its possible the formula is too thin.
What does their poop look like?


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## Drake (Sep 10, 2010)

Cheryl said:


> Hmm.. yeah the weights are too low for them to even be fledging. Its possible the formula is too thin.
> What does their poop look like?


That's what I think was the problem because I started making it thicker today, and that's when their weight started to go up. Their poop looks normal, it's not runny or dis-colored or anything


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## .mpeg (Oct 6, 2010)

if you're worried, go to a vet. i got mister to a vet urgently because he was a bit sluggish and had some diarrhoea (wasn't weighing him at the time so i have no idea what he was doing there, but he was was about 5.5/6 weeks old and the vet weighed him at 45g), he had really bad gastro. really bad illnesses don't have to have super obvious symptoms 
also, if they're sick, is it possible to isolate them entirely from each other and any other birds?

but yes formula is supposed to get thicker as they get older.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> formula is supposed to get thicker as they get older.


This is what the parent birds do too. I only get to see what they spill of course, but by the time the chicks are three weeks old it's so thick that it's almost solid. I don't make the handfeeding formula THAT thick, but I co-parent my chicks so I know the parents will make up for any lacks in the handfeeding department.


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

Drake said:


> That's what I think was the problem because I started making it thicker today, and that's when their weight started to go up. Their poop looks normal, it's not runny or dis-colored or anything


Usually, formula too thin will cause more "runny" poop. However, see if they continue to gain weight with a thick formula.


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