# Questions about new chick



## Korvia (Aug 3, 2012)

So Cheerio is our first ever chick, I just had a few questions.
1)Is there a way I can tell if she is stunted or not?
2) I know it's not ideal to breed like like, other then stunted what else should we watch for?
3) is it common for babies not open eyes after two weeks?, Like cheerio has just turned 2 weeks and her eyes are not quite open yet.
4) how can I tell if Cheerio is split Cinnamon? Dad is normal pied and Mom is Cinnamon Pied, meaning girls will be just pied and all boys will be split Cinnamon.
5)Is Cheerio a good healthy looking baby?

Picture of Cheerio: (s/he has pinnies coming in btw, this is at 10 days)


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## Erinsmom (Sep 7, 2012)

here is a chart of what babies should look like. If that baby is 14 days old to me it looks behind. I have noticed mine usually open eyes day 8-10. I am sure more experienced breeder can give you more advise. Click on the pic and it will enlarge it for you


http://www.justcockatiels.net/watch-me-grow.html


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I know nothing about breeding, but I hope little Cheerio will be okay. I know even severely stunted chicks CAN survive and grow to be healthy adults. Are the parents doing their jobs well?


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## Korvia (Aug 3, 2012)

echolalia said:


> I know nothing about breeding, but I hope little Cheerio will be okay. I know even severely stunted chicks CAN survive and grow to be healthy adults. Are the parents doing their jobs well?


Oh yeah, they feed her all the time, only one who can't be with her all the time is dad, he tries to groom her pinnies and hurts her.

@Erinsmom
She's 13 days but looks like a chick at 10 days with her eyes still closed, they just open as little slits and she keeps them closed almost all day.


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## lilbear (Aug 2, 2012)

She looks like she is super stuffed and that they be feeding her to much. Do you ever see her with nothing in here crop. To know if it is slow moving or not?


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## Korvia (Aug 3, 2012)

lilbear said:


> She looks like she is super stuffed and that they be feeding her to much. Do you ever see her with nothing in here crop. To know if it is slow moving or not?


Her crop is never empty, from what I've seen.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

With parent fed babies the crop will never be empty. But she doesn't look overfed to me although there are red veins which can be worrisome. She does look stunted though. She should definitely have more pinnies than she does and her eyes should be fully open at this point. She may be having difficulty opening them and you can do that for her by taking some saline solution and rubbing it on her eyes with a q-tip and gently pulling them open for her. It should help her open them. As to the stunting, I'm really not sure what's going on there since she is the only baby. Was she the only one to hatch?

Like to like breeding can cause smaller babies (means the birds will grow up to weigh less than the parents, be smaller of stature), more DIS eggs in the nest, higher mortality rates in the nest (more babies not making it to weaning.) So those are the things to think about when breeding like to like. And if she is the only baby that made it from this clutch, I wouldn't breed this pair again as they obviously aren't compatible.

I forgot to add, as to the split to cinnamon, if Cheerio is a male, he's automatically split to it since mom is a visual. The way to tell if a male is split or not is to check the eye to see if you get a flash of red when you shine a light in it. Not all males show this, but it is pretty common in split to cinnamon males (although I will add that birds, male or female, that are split to fallow also have this as well.)


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## Korvia (Aug 3, 2012)

roxy culver said:


> With parent fed babies the crop will never be empty. But she doesn't look overfed to me although there are red veins which can be worrisome. She does look stunted though. She should definitely have more pinnies than she does and her eyes should be fully open at this point. She may be having difficulty opening them and you can do that for her by taking some saline solution and rubbing it on her eyes with a q-tip and gently pulling them open for her. It should help her open them. As to the stunting, I'm really not sure what's going on there since she is the only baby. Was she the only one to hatch?
> 
> Like to like breeding can cause smaller babies (means the birds will grow up to weigh less than the parents, be smaller of stature), more DIS eggs in the nest, higher mortality rates in the nest (more babies not making it to weaning.) So those are the things to think about when breeding like to like. And if she is the only baby that made it from this clutch, I wouldn't breed this pair again as they obviously aren't compatible.
> 
> I forgot to add, as to the split to cinnamon, if Cheerio is a male, he's automatically split to it since mom is a visual. The way to tell if a male is split or not is to check the eye to see if you get a flash of red when you shine a light in it. Not all males show this, but it is pretty common in split to cinnamon males (although I will add that birds, male or female, that are split to fallow also have this as well.)


Atm the only pinnies she has is a few on her wings and tail, like just started.
We didn't intend to breed them, the hormone reducing doesn't work on them. Cheerio was the only chick to hatch,the other three were DIS near hatching time. They always have 100% fertile eggs.
We can't split them up they cry and cry for each other and attack the other tiels.
They do a wonderful job with her, they feed her right away and sleep with her at night. Cheerio is doing great too, we handle her everyday, she doesn't hiss, she does try to preen our fingers. Not sure if she is a she but calling her a she.

Side question is is common for mom to throw up her seed even when she's not with baby?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

No that's not common, not in tiels though some have been known to do it (mostly boys though). 

Did you try the 24 hours of light verses the long nights treatment? Only because it does sound like this isn't a good pair to breed together because of so many DIS eggs. I would try that first and if that doesn't work, maybe look into lutron shots for the hen.


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## Korvia (Aug 3, 2012)

roxy culver said:


> No that's not common, not in tiels though some have been known to do it (mostly boys though).
> 
> Did you try the 24 hours of light verses the long nights treatment? Only because it does sound like this isn't a good pair to breed together because of so many DIS eggs. I would try that first and if that doesn't work, maybe look into lutron shots for the hen.


Will do, is it bad for them to just sit on the DIS eggs? like if 24 light doesn't work.
This is their 3rd clutch (first for this year) and Cheerio is the first to hatch. They take great care of her, half the time the feed her before she cries.
EDIT: I'm not a breeder and not trying to be btw, they just surprised us with eggs and then baby Cheerio.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

No DIS eggs need to be removed as soon as you realize they are DIS. If one was to break in the nest, it could cause a serious bacterial issue. Your best bet, if they're going to continue to lay, would be to shake or boil the eggs so that they don't develop. What kind of bedding are they using? That may have something to do with it as well. But it would be best to prevent them as much as possible from laying since they have a low hatch rate.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i would not give them a nest. just because they mate it doesnt mean eggs. giving a nest will trigger them to nest... 

i agree, this is not a good pair to breed.


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## Korvia (Aug 3, 2012)

Funny thing is, we didn't give them a nest, until she laid.
Alright dummy eggs it is.


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## Erinsmom (Sep 7, 2012)

I agree with maybe getting the hen shots or you can always put them in separate cages but right up against each other... Best of luck with this baby


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

What kind of food are the parents feeding the baby? If there's too much hard solid food (like dry seed) and not enough liquid, it's possible that the baby can't digest the food properly, even though it's obviously very well fed.

I'm concerned about the red veins in the crop too - this can be a sign of a yeast infection. There's lots of information about development issues and crop problems in the sticky library at http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27514 The information was mostly written by srtiels, a VERY experienced breeder who unfortunately doesn't visit this board very often any more. But you can talk to her at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ICR.unite/ and I think it would be a good idea to show her your baby's picture and get her advice.


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