# Eggs due to start hatching in a week.



## Justin (May 15, 2009)

Hi all! I made a thread back in November about how my tiels were laying eggs and I did not want them to breed... But they refused to give it up, so I ended up separating them for a while. But now I think I wouldn't mind them breeding. Infact, I would like to handrear the babies myself. I understand this is a big undertaking; I've done research, read my books and articles and watched my videos. I think I understand what it takes.

So, I put them together with a nestbox, and a week later Tye started laying. The first egg was laid either late night of the 3rd, or early morning of the 4th. 

But I have a few questions that I hope the reliable people here at Talk Cockatiels can help me with;

1. The male, Rocky, has become very aggressive. If I go near the nestbox, he draws blood usually. Now, I hate this... and from what I understand, once the babies hatch I'm going to be needing to change the lining on a fairly regular basis. I've read a few different ideas on changing; Some say to change every day. Is this necessary? If so, I'll bare it and maybe even put on some gloves if I have to to change it. But I'd just like to know how frequently you guys, the average breeders, change the nestbox lining. 


2. I have a 10 gallon fish aqaurium I'd like to set up to use as the brooder. Of course I'll be cleaning it thoroughly before the babies ever get in there. But I want to make sure its a good enough substitute for a commercial brooder. Also, there are 6 eggs. Potential for 6 babies. Is a 10 gallon tank enough space for the babies?


3. When to pull. Cockatiel Cottage tells me to pull the babies after they turn 14 days. But I also read on a few different sites, including atvchicks, that 3 weeks is optimal. What are your opinions/experiences?


4. Feeding schedule. I've seen on several sites that feeding on a schedule works well. I.e., every 3 hours, every 4 hours, twice a day, etc. But I've also read that you should just feed them when they cry for food. Should I stick to the schedule and only feed them at regular times, feed them when they cry, or a mixture of both? When I say both, I mean try to stick to the times but also make sure to feed when they're hungry. 

5. If I can get some pictures of my two tiels, Rocky and Tye, would anyone be able to help me identify their specific mutations and what the babies might be?


Thank you for any advice I can get on my questions, or any other advice you'd like to give me.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

1. You don't have to clean the litter in the nestbox at all if you don't want to. Cockatiel parents don't bother with cleaning and the chicks are fine with dirty nests. It's we humans who aren't too keen on them.

2. I've never actually used a brooder but the aquarium sounds fine. It's a lot bigger than the 12"x12" nestbox they'd be living in otherwise!

3. Anywhere in the 2 to 3 weeks range is the norm. Younger than that there are more health risks for the baby; older than that you'll have more resistance from the chicks.

4. I'm not qualified to answer this question but other people here are.

5. Absolutely!


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## Justin (May 15, 2009)

Thanks for the quick response!

Here is Rocky, the male:

















Tye is also in the first one...

Here is Tye, the female:

















I tried my best to get a picture of both their bellies and their backs... Let me know if you need a different angle!


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## Debbie05 (Feb 9, 2010)

I have 4 babies that just hatched. I have been breeding Budgies for many years and cockatiel for a few years. I found this site that gives the weight the tiel should be and how much to feed at what age. It a great link. 

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

There also this on brooders. 

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=6140

I think a fish tank would be fine. I use a tupperware container with pine shaving and then a layer of paper towel. I then can change the paper towel at every feeding. I place the container on a heating pad that is wrapped in a towel. I put a thermometer in the container. When the chicks start to feather out I put them in a small cage. I move them to the bigger cage when they are starting to move around the cage good. 

I pull my chicks out between 2 and 3 weeks. Sometimes I pull the older ones and then the younger ones a week later. If there is more babies. With my 4 I'll pull the first 2 at 14 days. I pull them out late at night and then I don't feed them tell morning. I also do not feed in middle of the night. That the good thing of waiting tell ther over 2 weeks. I'll then pull the second 2 a few days later. But I keep a close eye to make sure parents are feeding the second 2 I left in the nest. 

I try not to bother them to much at first. I don't clean the nest untill I pull the babies. Unless I really have to. Sometimes I'll just scoop out the messy shavings and add some clean stuff on top.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Rocky is pied and Tye is pearl pied. I'm pretty sure Rocky is gray but I'm not sure whether Tye is gray or cinnamon.

All your chicks will be pied, and all the male chicks will receive the pearl gene from their mother. Other mutations may be possible if your parent birds have any hidden splits. If Rocky is split to pearl you will be able to have pearl pied chicks of both sexes. If he isn't split, you won't get any pearl chicks even though the mother is pearl.

If Tye is cinnamon, all the male chicks will receive the cinnamon gene from her. If she is cinnamon and Rocky is also split to it, you will be able to have cinnamon pied chicks of both sexes. However I'm more inclined to think that Tye is gray. If she is grey and Rocky is split cinnamon, you can get cinnamon females but not cinnamon males.

It is not possible to get male lutino chicks from this pair. But if Rocky is split to lutino you can have female lutino pied chicks. Lutino chicks are identifiable at birth because their eyes look pink instead of dark.

If both parents are split to whiteface it will be possible to get whiteface pied chicks of both sexes. Whiteface chicks have white fuzz at birth, all other chicks have yellow fuzz.

There is a genetic calculator at http://www.kirstenmunson.com/cockatiels/blue.html that will let you play around with different combinations.


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## Justin (May 15, 2009)

@Debbie05;
Thanks for the links and info! Definitely useful. 
@tielfan;
Hm, interesting. I really like this genetic calculator, too! Nifty. 
Thank you for the info, I appreciate it! Good to know these things. 
I'll have to mess around with this calculator a bit more, too.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

I have been hand-feeding Cockatiel chicks for the past few months now, and so far I have hand-fed/raised 12 Cockatiel chicks including 3 I have at the moment. I have hand-fed chicks from 2 weeks old, to 3 weeks old, and I have found that starting at 3 weeks hasn’t made a huge difference, leaving them an extra week (from 2 weeks) doesn’t harm them, plus they get the protein from the parents that they need for that extra week. And they have still ended up being extremely cuddly, tame, and friendly. It is up to you though!


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## Debbie05 (Feb 9, 2010)

Yes teilfan I really like the genetic calculator to. Thought it was pretty kool. Solace your right I didn't find much of a difference between 2 or 3 weeks either. I like to leave them a little closer to 3 because it less time handfeeding and healthier for the babies.


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## Justin (May 15, 2009)

3 weeks sounds good to me then if it doesn't make a difference in the feedings! Thanks.


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## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

This is just my opinion and I know some will agree some won't but here goes.

When you pull all the babies can you imagine what that does to the parent birds? They have feelings and emotions as well, they will grieve for the loss of the babies and might go straight back down to nest again. 

If you let the parents rear the chicks I've not found it a problem changing bedding, they don't tend to kick off because they do'nt want the babies hurt. 

When the babies are 2 weeks old or so even sometimes less the parrent will start to leave them for short periods of time, you can spend time taming the babies then.

I think if you are really set on handrearing and you are fortunate that all 6 hatch don't pull all of them, maybe just 3.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Your tiels are gorgeous  If my two girls had babies i would let them feed them and i just be going awwww till they are older lol


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Jess, *excellent and very indightful advice * I had learned long ago that the parents do get stressed, especially the males. At the time I was having problems with yeast with the 2nd clutch. What I learned is that pulling all the babies can be so traumatic to the parents they stress and get secondary yeast and bacterial infections. And this is passed on to the next clutch that hatches.

I learned it is best to let the pair keep a baby and wean it out. it can be handled daily from the time it's eyes are opened so that it is used to people and not afraid of hamds.



Jess said:


> This is just my opinion and I know some will agree some won't but here goes.
> 
> When you pull all the babies can you imagine what that does to the parent birds? They have feelings and emotions as well, they will grieve for the loss of the babies and might go straight back down to nest again.
> 
> ...


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## Justin (May 15, 2009)

@srtiels && Jess;

Makes sense to me! I have no problem with letting them keep a baby, especially if it will keep them with less stress and chance of getting sick. 

@lperry82;
Thanks!  I love them alot, even though Rocky has become a bit of a meanie.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Co-parenting is also an option. That's where you let the parents tend the chicks most of the time, but pull the babies temporarily once or twice a day for handfeeding and/or general handling. You get the advantages of both handfeeding and parent raising.

It's advantageous to put the parents in a different cage while you're borrowing the babies. Otherwise the sight of the empty nestbox will alarm them.


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## Justin (May 15, 2009)

Hi all! I've done alot of reading and thinking, on and off this site since I last posted... I think I will only be pulling one or two babies to start me off. I figure it'll be an easier way to learn without the stress of 3-5 hungry babies. 

The first egg was laid on the night of the 3rd/the early morning of the 4th. It'll be 18 days starting either tonight/tomorrow morning. I am eager to check for a pip mark in the coming day or two.

But I have a question; How long is the hatching process after first signs of the pip? I'm sure it varies, but google is doing me no service on this particular bit of information, and neither is cockatiel cottage.net, though I might be missing it somewhere. 

Also, I know that the babies can last off the yolk from the egg after hatching for a decent amount of time before the parents need to feed them. But what is this period?

Thank you guys, I appreciate the help.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

after you notice the pip mark which is a small dent on the shell mark it down on a piece of paper with time noticed, it can take anywere from 36 to 40 hours for the chick to hatch, if there is no change in the pip mark after 36 hours the chick propably isnt strong enough to hatch, and as much as you want to help it i recommend just letting nature take its course, cause a weak chick rarely survives the first 24 hours. by changes in the pip is you will notice cracks moving in one direction around the egg starting from the original pip mark.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

As to your second question the babies will usually go about 24hrs with the parents just giving them occasional fluids. If you do want to assist hatch if the baby has been piping for 2 days, srtiels has a how to on her website that you can follow and help the little guy out. Once out, you should give a drop of pedialyte with a syringe as the baby will be dehydrated. Good Luck!!


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## Justin (May 15, 2009)

36 to 40 hours? OK thanks!
And wow, they go a whole day off of the yolk? That's pretty cool! Thanks. 

One more question... What formula do you guys recommend? I've been looking at either the Kaytee Exact formula or the Lafebers, but I'm not sure which one is better overall... Kaytee seems good, and its cheaper, but I've also heard great things about Lafebers although its more pricy. I'm planning to go out and buy the formula very soon, but I'd rather not go off of what the pet store recommends.. More often than not they don't know what they're talking about, unfortunately. =(


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