# Parents killed babies



## nathan (Sep 23, 2014)

Hi all,

My pair of cockatiels had 4 babies and around 2-3 weeks of age the parents decided to kill the babies. At first I found 2 babies dead in the box, and we had a storm the night before so I thought they may have gotten a fright from the thunder and high winds. Later that day I checked on the birds again to make sure the 2 remaining were fine, and one was dead and the other was struggling to survive, it ended up passing away shortly after.

I am wondering why this happened, would it be because the parents may have been given a fright and thought the box was unsafe, or could they just be bad parents?

Thanks,
Nathan


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## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

I'm so sorry for your loss... 

It could be a number of factors. Are there any signs of abuse on the baby chicks? Like blood, puncture marks, bruising around the beak?

You can find the one that seems to fit best here. Though it is about bird yeast, it covers a lot of parrot parental abuse if you read through it: http://www.justcockatiels.net/yeast-problems-with-babies.html

http://www.internationalcockatielresource.com/help-my-parents-are-plucking-the-babies.html


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## nathan (Sep 23, 2014)

Thanks,

The first 2 babies didn't have any signs of attack but the second 2 did. They had injuries to the head and back.

These were first time parents and both are around 2 years of age, would this play a part in why they attacked the babies?

Also would it be best not to breed with these 2 again or would I be able to test them again? I'm not wanting the same thing to happen so I want to know what the chances of this happening again is.

Thanks,
Nathan


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## RexiesMuM (Sep 7, 2011)

It could be because they are first time parents but it also could be a number of other things . There might have been something wrong with the babies that the parents could sense . Once a parent kills their chicks it is always best not to let them breed again . I have a male who kills chicks and he wont ever be bred again .


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## blueybluesky (Jul 9, 2013)

It could be a fright but then it might not be to. My Randy and Swinger's clutch once died and had red marks over them from what I would guess of being trampled or attacked by the parents, I put it down to a fright because my dad was being really noisy with his tractor work a few meters away from their cage. I ended up giving them another chance later on though and they did great.


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