# Cinnamon and Fuzzy's Breeding Journal



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

So Cinnamon laid an egg today in a nest box...not exactly sure it was hers' though because Fuzzy hasn't figured it out yet. We have three set up right now and I caught Fuzzy in the other one. Of course, Hershey and Snowball have also claimed this one as theirs so I'm not sure how long Fuzzy will last in there. But Cinnamon isn't deterred, she is sitting by the entrance of the box or in it, being the good mommy that she is.

I'm pretty sure Hershey will lay soon, but not Nips. I had to give her a nest box though because she kept trying to take over everyone else's. I was thinking of maybe fostering two eggs to her (one from Hershey, one from Cinnamon) because I know Cimms will have good eggs and I'm pretty sure Hershey will too. It'll lighten their load and help Nips learn. Plus, if she does lay (her and Mudflap have attempted but he keeps falling off and is now afraid to climb on her for that reason) and they hatch then she wouldn't feel the need to lay again so soon after right? I intend on forcing a break after this, and then start back up again in the spring time. I will post pix once there are a few more eggs in the box...but Cimms lost 6gms after laying the egg so I know its the right size!!!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

2nd egg was there today when I got home...and mommy was in the nest box with them. I'm so happy she's laying and this is the perfect time too. I'm almost done with the navy so I'll have all the time in the world to help if need be. Only something weird is going on...Nips and Mudflap are trying to get into her box. She went to eat and Mudflap went right in. When I tried to show Fuzzy that this was his box, Cinnamon attacked him. Maybe she thinks she doesn't need him anymore? Would Mudflap and Nips help her or run her out of the box? I have another cage in the bedroom I can put her and Fuzzy in if I have to. Its smaller but big enough for them and their nest box. I just don't want to separate them if I don't have to. And if Mudflap and Nips will help her then I don't see the harm in letting them. Also got a pic of the eggs while she was out...


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## tielmom (Aug 4, 2010)

Congrats


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Thank you Tielmom, hopefully everything goes ok this time. I candled them this morning but the last two weren't old enough to tell yet. The first one had a giant crack in it and no signs of life so I'm assuming that the crack killed it before I could be of any help so I discarded it. I also removed Cinnamon and her nest box from the big cage and put her and the new little one in a cage together. This way she isn't alone and Nips and Mudflap will leave her box alone. I also got a pic of her in her box...


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Egg #2 is good!!! i got to see little veins and stuff in there, so we got one good egg. This makes me think that the others are probably good too. She laid #4 last night so we shall see.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Ok she has 6 eggs, five are good so far, in the first one you can see the baby moving its wing. But I think it's a cinnamon baby because I don't see any black for the eye.


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## jacky52 (Sep 2, 2010)

How do you candle an egg?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

jacky52 said:


> How do you candle an egg?


You can use a flashlight. Or sometimes you can just look at theeggs and tell if they are good or not.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I got a special light online and you just hold the eggs up to the light one at a time to see if you can see veins or not. After a couple of days you should even see a heartbeat. Right now, I can see one of the chicks moving!


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Roxy, I can't wait until your eggs hatch! Isn't it cool seeing the heartbeat? I'm very sentimental and love that I got to see Phoenix's egg the day it was laid and looked clear inside, and when I first saw his heart beating inside it, and when he was ready to hatch and chirping and pecking... and of course as he grew up! It's so special. I can't believe my handsome little boy was just a tiny little embryo too small to see less than 4 months ago.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I know they grow so fast...Cinnamon's got most of her's that are good and so does Hershey although her's are harder to check because there are three of them sitting on the eggs so someone is ALWAYS in there. But Fuzzy is used to me checking because of the last time so I just wait till he's on guard duty and check then. My only concern is that because she has so many eggs and they are at such different stages that the last two might not make it if the others hatch soon. I might have to pull them and put them in an incubator but I'll see how she does first.


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

it so exciting when you have eggs, it sounds very good all being fertile, go mum and dad.

the other thing you can consider,is if the last two are likely to hatch when the first chicks are ready for hand rearing if you want to go that option, you can leave the younger chicks with the parents and pull the older ones


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Well that's actually what I was worrying about because the younger ones are going to be so behind the older ones I actually almost bought an incubator and pulled them now except hubby spoke some sense today. Nips is on eggs as well but none are fertile because Mudflap hasn't quite figured it out yet. She has four. Cinnamon laid #7 today (quite a shock when I got home, I thought she was done!) so I candled them again. All eggs up to #5 are good (#1 broke early on so #7 is actually #8 sorry for confusion) so I took #5-7 and placed them with Nips, replacing three of her own infertile eggs. Cinnamon wasn't happy with me messing with her babies and Nips wasn't either but I just want to give these little guys a chance, I'm just afraid that Cinnamon being a single parent would have a hard time with that many so I went this route. Hubby's suggestion even, guess he does listen to me lol. O and I took pictures of the eggs today too, not all of them just some, Hershey's and Cimms, they are all progressing so well. By my calculations, we should have first pipping by the middle of next week! And Jenny thank you it is egg-citing, I want to co-parent with my birds, let them do the feeding but the babies will be seeing a lot of me that's for sure!!!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

So the three that I placed under Nips are all good and developing quite nicely, she has taken to sitting a lot (all the girls are in the boxes when I get home because its so late) but hubby assures me Mudflap helps out. Much to my surprise though, Cinnamon laid #9 (#8 since #1 broke) I'm going to check it in a few days and move it under Nips as well. I was told by a guy at the bird store who breeds tiels that not all would be fertile but I already know he's wrong since all have been up to this point. Nips laid another egg as well (#5) but I'm not sure its going to be any good, I'm going to check it as well when I check Cimms new one. Babies should be hatching soon!!! Sometime either this weekend or the beginning of next week if my calculations are correct. And I could see them moving too, it was so cute, I can't wait till they hatch!


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

How exciting! And that's a lot of eggs!


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

it sounds like your eggs are doing really well, i hope it all continues to run smoothly for you.

when you get those little fluff balls it really is amazing that somthing so small can develop so fast and look like a bird more and more each day, i think chicks are so ugly when they hatch they look cute. lol they dont really resemble a bird to me when just hatched.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

No they don't but I can't help but fall in love although hubby won't let me name them until they have feathers this time. But he says he wants to name one Cheesepuff lol. Since I know that Cinnamon's are going to be pearl, I might keep a pearl hen for future breeding, I'd just have to talk hubby into it (although he's the one that brought it up first) I love the pearl mutation and was really sad when Fuzzy lost all his!


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

I keep checking and hoping a baby hatched! With my second clutch, I decided not to name them until they were 2 weeks old and looked like they were survived. They got sick at 10 and 12 days old and I decided to name them then because I didn't want them to die nameless. I don't regret naming Nico even though he passed away. I did approach the second clutch of babies much more cynically but ended up falling in love with the little ones anyway of course once I started hand raising them even though I had the feeling Nico would die from the day I pulled him!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Well, we have four fuzzies now! I was out to sea and our internet was down so I couldn't update but hubby was here and sent me pictures. Cinnamon has one and Hershey has three. I expected this since Cinnamon's first egg cracked very badly and I had to throw it out but Hershey started sitting after the 2nd egg so the first two hatched together. Cinnamon's next one should hatch tomorrow. Only weird thing is that Cinnamon's first baby is white fuzz. Any idea on this? Meatball was yellow and I mean Fuzzy could be split to white face but would that mean all babies would be white face or just some? Then, I fostered four of Cinnamon's eggs to Nips and candled them today along with the rest of her's (she has now laid 7) and low and behold, one of her's was good! Well, she's really small so hubby had me place her other three under Hershey to see if they develop. Hershey has two other males helping her so some extra eggs shouldn't be too bad. But it'll be interesting to see what that one of Nips turns out to be since I didn't think any of hers were good. Oh and some pictures!


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Awwwwww! Congrats on your sweet babies! The mommies are beautiful, too! Are all of Hershey's babies whiteface? According to the cockatiel color palette, if Fuzzy is split to whiteface then half of his and Cinnamon's babies (half the boys and girls so sorry can't determine gender!) would be whiteface. How adorable! I'm so happy for you after the loss of Meatball and hope these little ones do well


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Congratulations on your babies, both lots of chicks are white face babies, if they have white down they are white face babies.

they look great.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

All of Hershey's babies will be white face because both Hershey and Snowball are white faced. I know breeding like to like creates smaller babies but they are bonded to each other I couldn't break them up and they are both bigger birds (she's my biggest girl he's my biggest boy) so I wanted to see if that might make a difference. One of Cinnamon's should hatch today so fingers crossed!!! Berdnerd, Jenny10 thanks, they are so cute and the little feeding sounds are adorable!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Well, as of last night Hershey had four babies (#4 hatched yesterday) and Cinnamon still has one. But I candled her eggs and they still look good, air cells are tipping on two of them. From what I can figure out, the one that broke wasn't #1 like I thought it was, it must've been #2 or #3. And Cinnamon sat right on them right away which would explain why there's a gap between the first one and the next one hatching. Should be hatching within the next 24hrs hopefully. I'm not too worried, she is by herself. But the others are still moving around in the eggs, I'm just waiting to see what happens.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

We now have seven babies! Hershey's last one and Cinnamon's 2nd one hatched yesterday!!! Cinnamon has another white downed baby so now we have two white faces from her and they'll be white face pearls because both parents are pearls. They are all so cute and chirping, it's awesome. Cinnamon has two eggs left in her box, then we have to wait for the ones under Nips to hatch which could be any time from sometime next week to the week after. And now the pictures! First is Hershey's whole clutch, then 2 of her babies, then Cinnamon's 2 babies. All so cute!


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Congratulations!...you are soon going to be busy with babies to handfeed. In the first pix it looks like a couple have red eyes.


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

I love seeing pics of baby tiels. They look so innocent and helpless


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Mpayjr yes they do...Susanne, if they have red eyes, only Mom is a lutino. Would that mean Dad is split to lutino?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Yes...Dad would have to be split to lutino to get the red eyes. So those chicks could be either sex.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Great!!! I'll just have to see how they act lol. Cinnamon has a third baby in the nest box. #5 hatched and I candled #3. I thought maybe I got #3 and #4 confused because I didn't number them till several had been laid but I checked today and it looked dead. No movement and the veins were gone. I couldn't open it though, I didn't want to see the baby so close to hatching. But surprise surprise, there's another egg. I'm not sure how I missed this one, but there's a very developed baby in there so I'm just going to leave it and see what happens. Worse comes to worse, it'll hatch in a week and a half or so and I'll have to take care of it. Or place it with Nips although now she has 6 good eggs!!! Two of hers are good and then the four of Cinnamon's. But not all of her's were good, just these two. So weird. I mean it was her first time so it must be that reason. O and did I mention the newest baby is yellow and not white? I was looking at the 2nd chick and it's a mix of yellow and white so I guess I won't know its feathering until it's older. But this is so awesome!!!


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Awww the babies are so adorable!! Someday I need to get another pair of tiels and breed them...


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

berdnerd, it's so much fun, I love doing it and watching the little ones grow. It's worth all the time and money spent on them!


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

My husband thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do this again since all our babies except 1 died in each clutch, but I really want to raise some babies that are healthy for once without having to watch them die and worry about their health constantly! I mean, I'm sure I'll worry, but it would be different if they weren't actually sick. I've been handfeeding at least 1 baby at all times for the past 2 1/2 months. At first it was such a big deal but now it's a piece of cake.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Berdnerd...I sure wished you lived closer because then I can give or loan you a couple of tiels to work with. Son of Noodles is a nice pied split to lutino pearl, and possible cinnamon....but he is parrent raised. And I have several females split to pied.


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Susanne, that would have been awesome- Pieds are my favorite mutation and of course I would be honored to breed a couple of your birds. Too bad the distance is so great!

Roxy, sorry for the derail! How are the wee ones?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

It's ok, derail all you want, I love it! Well, I have sad news. Cinnamon's first baby, the white fuzzy one, hubby thinks he died. I'm not there today, I get back tomorrow, but hubby thinks he didn't make it. He thinks it's Cinnamon's fault, that once they reach a certain age she doesn't take care of them anymore but I'm not so sure. See, I noticed this bruise line on his head earlier in the week and he wasn't being as vocal as his younger two siblings. But I thought that was just because he was older, I mean Hershey's are quieter too, but they are fine. Then, when I mentioned the bruise to hubby, he said it had always been there. I don't think so, I think Cinnamon might've caused it on accident. I told him to keep an eye on them, if we have to, we can move the babies into Hershey's box with her's. Hershey's two oldest one's eyes have started to open, they are doing really well. Cinnamon had a surprise egg in her box that is fertile, but I don't know if she's sitting enough to hatch it. Nips has 6 good eggs, so I'm really leary of giving her another egg to hatch, that might be a little much for my little girl. We'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out, I'll post more pictures when I get a chance.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

_*He thinks it's Cinnamon's fault, that once they reach a certain age she doesn't take care of them anymore but I'm not so sure.*_
*---------------------------------------------------------*

Do you know her background...meaning was she purchased from another breeder? If so, did the breeder pull the babies very young? When I first started I had this problem...some pairs would stop feeding at a certain age, and I found out that the prior breeder pulled the babies very young and the birds learned and expected this to happen and did not know what to do if the babies were in the box past a certain age. In order to de-program them from this I had to check their box several times a day, and assist feed and make sure they cared for the babies, and did not pull til they were 3-4 weeks old, and would leave 1 in for them to parent wean.

Then the other problem I had was pairs that would only feed 2-3 babies MAX. Any more and they would kill one and bury it. This was a harder habit to break.

Berdnerd...there is always airline shipping...LOL


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

oh let us know about your little one, i hope your hubby as got it wrong.


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

Grats on having little tiels Roxy,


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Well the little one was dead and buried under the pine when I got home. I'm not sure what happened to him but I did name him just in case...Coco because he was all white. Cinnamon was bought from a pet store at four months old, this is her 2nd clutch, but with the first one, the baby died at nine days old, about the age of this one. The last time was for other reasons so this time I think his head was hit and that's what killed him. On a good note, the others are looking good, full crops and all. Hershey's eyes are opening and getting so huge.


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

roxy culver said:


> Well the little one was dead and buried under the pine when I got home. I'm not sure what happened to him but I did name him just in case...Coco because he was all white. Cinnamon was bought from a pet store at four months old, this is her 2nd clutch, but with the first one, the baby died at nine days old, about the age of this one. The last time was for other reasons so this time I think his head was hit and that's what killed him. On a good note, the others are looking good, full crops and all. Hershey's eyes are opening and getting so huge.


Aww the poor little one. Least the others are doing good that's a good thing. Coco would have made a cute tiel.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

He was the all white one she had, he would've been a white faced pearl. Hopefully the ones under Nips give me similar results!!!


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

so sorry to hear that. at least the others are doing well.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Yes she was feeding them last night and this morning, I'm going to keep an eye on them though and maybe assist feed if I have to. In another week or so, I can take over fully hand feeding if need be but I don't want her to get used to that, I want her to be able to raise them all on her own. I know she can do it, circumstances just keep fighting against her.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I don't get it, I'm so confused. She was feeding them fine, they were play fighting in my hand just last night and now my hubby says another one of Cinnamon's is dead. He was buried under the pine shavings. How? She was feeding them, I heard her, I swear. I checked on them and they were fine this morning. I heard her feeding them before I went to work. What is going on with my girl's babies? He moved the last one to Hershey's box, hopefully the three adults will be able to save it. I might just pull the last one myself and hand feed it after it hatches out of the egg. I mean hand feeding from day one is hard but I'm determined to see this one live. I've lost two, I don't want to lose any more. Should I not let her breed again? Or should I wait until March like I originally planned and give her one more shot? The first clutch not her fault, this clutch, she's by herself and she is feeding them so I don't really know what's going on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. On a brighter note, Hershey's oldest baby is starting to get dark coloring on his wings and his eyes are opening and he's standing too. And hissing, it's so cute!!!


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## tielmom (Aug 4, 2010)

Oh...I am really sorry for the losses...your little white baby tiel was so cute...I am sorry to hear that the other one passed away too. I hope the other baby makes it and the three adults will be able to save him or her.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Well, hubby moved the little one to Nips' box seeing as how her first two eggs hatched on Thursday. He's closer to their age and won't be crushed among the bigger babies in the other box. Cinnamon wasn't even sitting in the box on the last egg when I got home, it was slightly chilled but I candled it and it still looked good so I moved it to Nips' box as well. I removed two eggs from her box (one was DIS and the other infertile.) Two eggs are pipping right now, one has been since yesterday afternoon, I really hope it hatches asap. I don't want to have to interfere. Hubby tells me to leave them alone, so I will and see what happens. But Nips and Mudflap are taking good care of the three babies so far, so no worries there. I think Cinnamon was depressed. First, Fuzzy ditches her, then she's put in a cage all by herself, and then the first baby died. I think it was too much for her to handle all at once. That's why she laid so many eggs in the first place, my poor girl. She's been really clingy over the last week and I don't think she was eating a whole lot. Every time I let her out of her cage she'd go get food from the big cage and then fly to me and not leave me until I put her back forcefully. But the only bird she'd let in her cage was Snowball. All the others she would attack and chase out. I'm just glad Nips so easily accepted this baby without any problems. He's got a nice full crop now and two siblings to run around with, although he's not as bright yellow as one of them. They're all so cute though, I'll post pix later...


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

*Picture update!!!*

So all in all, we have ten babies! Nips still has two eggs but I think one died in the egg (I can still see veins but it doesn't look very good) and the other one is still good, so I'm going to leave them and just see what happens. But here are some updated pix of Hershey's babies and the babies in Nips box (I'm assuming the super yellow ones are hers and the lighter ones are Cinnamon's, there is another white one!!!)


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Sorry to hear your losses, i know the feeling, unless you have experience in dealing with a day i chick. you would be better to leave with the parents for at least a week, get its feeding responce up and a bit of size, i have been unsuccesful with birds straight out of the egg, they are so small and just feeding them is a nightmare they constantly wiggle about making it difficult to even get food in and then choke on the liquid formula, i didnt even know weather my little ones had taken any or not. they had aspirated and eventually died i think. they can even asperate in the nest so could be what is happening. Anyway good luck with what you decide to do.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Yea for now I'm letting the parents raise them and the hubby and I are just playing with them. Because of all the problems I'm just afraid to pull them and cause any more. The hubby wants to feed one of Hershey's but I'm talking him out of it, he's home for the next two weeks but after that then what? He wants to feed it and let the parents feed it too but that's just crazy, there are three birds feeding those babies, their crops are NEVER empty. Cimm's oldest one is getting fed but now I'm worried its getting fed too much. Is that possible? Its bigger than the others but I don't know. Jenny10, I could never feed from day one, it seems so hard and you're so brave to try!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

So I caught Fuzzy in the act of feeding the babies (hubby was holding one) and he let me take his picture!!! Also some updated pictures of the babies, they're feathers are starting to come out of the sheaths on the older one. We lost another baby in Nips' box, not sure what is going on there, but it looks like two of them are doing fine (one is Cimm's, one is Nips') the other one looks really small, I'm kind of worried and preparing myself for the worst but hoping for the best!!!


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## tielmom (Aug 4, 2010)

Oh, they are so cute...I hope the little bittly one makes it...how old is that one compared to the others? He does look a lot smaller...Thanks for the updates


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Daddy bird looks like he was a pearl. If so, any with pearl would be females, if the Mom was not pearl. The littlest one is a little stunted. You might want to assist feed a couple times a day.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Actually srtiels, that's not the daddy...or the mommy. That's the buddy that ditched his girl to hang out with his buddy in the nest box!!! The littlest one isn't two weeks old yet, the others are almost three weeks old. I hadn't posted pictures of the one I was worried about, they're in the other box and the one is about the size of the smallest one in that box. Except his eyes are open yet. He'll be two weeks old tomorrow so I know that puts hi behind the curve, but he can stand and has started walking even though he can't see. I'll post a picture of him later on tonight. The youngest one is only a couple days old so I keep telling the hubby he'll be ok, he's small because he's so young. I guess I was just looking for reassurances here. I won't be able to tell the sex of Cinnamon's last baby because both her and Fuzzy are pearls and he is apparently split to white face. Hopefully the little guy opens his eyes soon...


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

You can use this to see how they should look at various age: http://justcockatiels.weebly.com/watch-me-grow.html

The tiny ones might need assist feedings: http://justcockatiels.weebly.com/assist-feeding-chicks-in-the-nest.html


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

srtiels, thank you! I'm going to post some pictures of Cinnamon's one and only baby to survive. I have a sneaking suspicion there was some depression issues going on this time around. I do have one question...will a depressed mother feed another hens chicks after all her babies are gone? Cinnamon has now taken to going into Hershey's box (the adults are in and out now, the babies are old enough they aren't staying in all the time) and feeding Hershey's babies. Hershey doesn't even get mad at her, they just switch spots when Hershey comes in and Cinnamon leaves. We took her last baby away when the others died because hubby found him in the box with an empty crop. Now hubby has taken to assist feeding Nips' youngest baby because this morning when he opened the box to peak in at them, he was away from the others with an empty crop and he was cold. I was in class but I explained to hubby (thank goodness for cell phones!!!) how to hand feed and he did, then placed the baby back in the box, where Mudflap promptly sat on him. 

On Cinnamon's youngest, I think he's stunted. In fact I know he is. His eyes aren't open and he's going to be two weeks old tomorrow. Can babies still survive if their eyes don't open when they're supposed to? He's starting to get a lil crest and he can walk around all he wants, he just won't open his eyes. Could they stay closed permanently? Would I have a blind baby? I wouldn't mind I just want to be prepared. Any help would be great!!!


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

_* In fact I know he is. His eyes aren't open and he's going to be two weeks old tomorrow.*_ 
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Yes...in rare instances the eyes can get sealed shut. In this case what you might try is to gently swab the eye slits with saline water (contact eye wash) This will help to loosen up the waxy coating. Then gently press with a fingertip on the top of the eye and bottom to help open the slit. If you can open it a little wait several hours or a day and repeat.

Yes...a depressed parent will go and feed another pairs chicks. BUT, when they are stressed and depressed there is risk of the bird having a secondary stress related yeast problem, and when they regurgitate to feed the babies pass yeast into them. As a precaution you might want to sprinkle some probiotics on all food the birds that are feeding the babies. And also add several drops of ACV (apple cidar vinegar) to the drinking water for several days.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Thank you so much, I'll make a trip to the store here in a little bit to get that! First, I want to try to open the little one's eyes first. He's the same size and age of Hershey's littlest, who's had his eyes open for days. Luckily, I wear contacts and have the solution on hand! I'll take pix and post them when I'm done!

Well, let me change that statement, went to try to open his eyes for him and they were open!!! He was looking at me like "woman, you worry about me WAY too much!!!" I took pix of his eyes open to show that they did, but I cleaned some of the stuff off his face, Mudflap and Nips are messy feeders. This is a relief because I really want him to pull through.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Thata great that his little eyes are opened 

OK...if Mudflap and Nips are sloppy feeders read this: http://justcockatiels.weebly.com/sloppy-feeders.html Yoy might want to keep an eye on the inside of the babies mouths.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You know what...that might explain why we lost the last little one. I couldn't understand it, he seemed perfectly fine but if he wasn't getting any food then that might've been the problem. Will apple cidar vinegar work? I have that to mix in the water, I can use it to clean the mouths out right? And as to the probiotics...I went to a small pet shop near me but all they had was vitamin stuff to sprinkle on the food. That's not the same thing right? I'm going to check at my bird store tomorrow when I get off work to see if they have what I need. Hopefully they do. Is there a certain brand I should look for?


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## tielmom (Aug 4, 2010)

Awww...look at that cute little face...so glad to hear his/her eyes opened and I hope you can figure out what might be going on to stunt his growth.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

You can go to the pharmacy or health food store and get acidopholus (sp) capsules. I've used this for years as a source of probiotics. OR if you are assist feeding the babies while in the nest you can add a little bit of plain yogurt to the formula. 

If the parents were sloppy feeder the littest one could have gotton and impacted thraot and that could've been cause of death.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Thanks tielmom, srtiels, sounds like I got some messy feeders on my hands. Hmm, well I'm going to clean the babies up today and hopefully that helps. I call him my little midget, just can't tell hubby yet, I'm not supposed to name them yet! I was wandering why their babies were all dirty and Snowball's weren't. Hubby started assist-feeding the smallest one yesterday so I'll get the probiotics today and start using it. What's the amount I should add the the food and such? I'm going to clean their mouths out this morning before I go to work, hopefully that helps. Will adults give up on a baby if they think it won't make it? I'm just curious as to why the littlest one was cold yesterday...


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*Will adults give up on a baby if they think it won't make it? I'm just curious as to why the littlest one was cold yesterday...*
*-----------------------------------------------------*

If the little one feel cold it could also be an indication of a sloght bacterial infection. When they have a bacterial infection this can lower their body temps. If assist feeding add a pinch of cinnamon powder to the formula. it will act as a mild anitibiotic.

Add, check the bedding. Try to have it bowl shaped...meaning low in the center and high at the edges near the inside walls of the box. Tiel babies back up to poop. This way if it backs up, and the bedding is at a slope downwards it can quickly get back into the clutch for warmth. If the bedding is uneven or low at the edges, the babies, especially if little have a harder time getting back, and this can cause chilling...which in turn stresses them and slows down digestion.

I've lost alot of babies over the years from sloppy feeder parents. I have learned to check the head and mouths a couple of times a day from hatch.

As to the acidopholus...you can sprinkle a 1/4 capsule on any food they will eat.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Thank you so much!!! The bedding is bowl shaped...the parents still sit in the box with the babies, Mudflap was sitting on the others but not this one that's why I asked if they would abandon a baby if they thought it wouldn't make it. But I think they'll be fine now, hubby is home all day after a surgery and he gets bored so he's checking the babies all the time. He's my baby watch lol.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

_*He's my baby watch lol.*_
_*-----------------------------------------*_

Ah...you are so lucky  I am handfeeding mousebird babies and my husband holds them after I feed them.

Sometimes they will abandom the baby...BUT many times if the baby does not feel well it will also separate itself from the others. This way it can chill and die. If the baby is digesting good and has a good feeding responce I would either pull it, or keep checking and place in the clutch.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Well I went to clean them up and the youngest was gone, poor little guy. He tried, he really did. I took the other two and cleaned them up, wiped out their mouths then swabbed it with the vinegar. Hopefully this works. It seems like there's a bunch of air in their crops too, the hubby said the youngest one when he was feeding it was taking in a lot of air and only a little bit of food and he had to keep pushing the air out. Is this normal?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

(((HUGS)))...sorry you lost the little one. Yes...sometimes when they cry they can swallow air. It can be massaged out. But, if the air is not from crying it could be an indication of some yeast starting in the crop. The swabbing of the mouths will help and the probiotic on the food (and yogurt in the formula) and vinegar in the water (or 1 drop in the formula) will help.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I don't think I caught it fast enough, at least not for Nips' baby. I swabbed him this morning and checked on him at lunch, he was looking good. Then, while I was at the pool studying, the hubby calls and said he was dead and cold. Which means he must've died right after I checked on him. Poor baby. Hubby moved the last baby (Cimm's last baby) to Hershey's box and took Nips' box down. He's the same age as the youngest so maybe he'll have a chance. Should I still continue with the probiotics and the vinegar swabs? I wanted at least one of each to make it but we can't always have everything we want.

On another note, Cinnamon laid another egg. But she laid it in Hershey's box (remember how she was going in there to feed the babies? Well she had ulterior motives.) After she laid it, she started having fights with Hershey trying to get into the box. I was afraid she was going to hurt the babies, so I moved her and the egg to the little cage again. Hubby is worried she'll get depressed again but at this point I can't help that. I'll take her out and play with her but she will NOT endanger those babies if I can help it. I'm having enough problems without her making more. And Fuzzy has been breeding with her, I'm thinking of sticking him in the little cage too and making him help her out whether he likes it or not.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Picture update!!! The oldest ones are 3 weeks old today...they are all getting so big, Fuzzy and Snowball have been pulling the shafts off the feathers. It looks like we have two light colored white faces and three dark colored white faces. Not sure about Cinnamon's last baby he still needs to feather out a little bit. So here is their family portraits!!!


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Look at all of those cutie pies! I'd have that many babies if all of mine had made it. They're so sweet, I would be snuggling them all the time


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## tielmom (Aug 4, 2010)

(((hugs))) I am sorry the other little one did not make it...
On a much brighter note..wow, look at your babies...they are so adorable and I love the family portrait


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

berdnerd, tielmom, thanks! They are so adorable! That was the hubby's idea, he's home all day right now and gets bored by himself so he takes them out and plays with them lol. They love to explore that's for sure!


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Roxy sorry to hear of your loss of little ones, but your others are looking great.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Jenny10 they are my hope...if they make it, then not all is lost right?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

So I was wandering, I know that my two youngest are a little behind the curve. They're getting in pin feathers and starting to grow little crests but they aren't as big as the others were at this age (between two and three weeks old). I was wandering if there was anything I could do to help them grow more? Would hand feeding help this? The parents are doing just fine feeding them, Snowball even feeds them outside of the box if a baby asks for it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. On a brighter note, because Snowball is a cinnamon, I do know that I have two girls and three boys!!!


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Roxy just a thought, do you offer your birds a egg and biscuit mix when feeding young, my two are currently feeding a 4 day old chick (the only chick that made it out of incubation) and i managed to give him back to mum and dad, they are being model parents so far, lol, all the other eggs died about half way through development, i dont think it helped the new incubator broke down, luckily i caught it before the eggs got really cold, but I think it maybe why the others died. anyway the chick is doing great and Rocky was fed the egg and buscuit mix too, he turned out big and strong, i mix it with water so it is a sloppy mix the parents love it and feed that and nothing else. If you do go down the hand rearing route. i recommend roudybush formula again Rocky turned out well on that, i would also recommend if you do hand feed adding a good pinch of probotic. I continued to add this with every feed until i stopped hand feeding. i looked at it like the parents would still be giving good bacteria's from there crop so why stop a good thing. Maybe i was lucky but i never suffered one problem with slow or sour crop.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Jenny10...interesting, no I haven't fed them an egg and biscuit mix, what's in it and how do I make it? I have eggs almost every morning though and my spoiled babies come eat my food for me. They eat just about anything I do unless I won't let them, although keeping them from eating something they shouldn't is harder than you would think, they are so persistent! I wish I had caught the youngest one before all this, apparently some assist feeding when he was younger might've helped. As for Cinnamon's baby, I don't know, he got moved so many times and is the only one to survive from that clutch, he's like your four day old chick, my miracle baby.


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

I also added a bit about hand rearing. i eddited, you might off missed it?

the egg and buscuit mix we can actually buy in a dry powder form over here, it is desighned to support a healthy diet and raising young. so its a case of going to the pet shop and having a look the one i have is Avian Science, science products. I am not sure if you will have that brand over there. if you like? tomorrow i can take a picture of the dry powder mix and what it looks like mixed up, but its getting late over here so i will be logging off.


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

aww, they are sooo cute.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Jenny10 I'll have to go talk to my bird store to see if they carry it, if not I can look it up online. I know the store only has the kaytee exact baby food but I can also get the roudybush online as well if need be. I think I might pull the two smallest for hand feeding next week, only because they are so much smaller than the others, maybe do assist-feeding or something, just to keep an eye on them. Hopefully they start growing more soon! Jynxstorm, thank you, I think they're gorgeous!!!


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

roxy culver said:


> Jenny10 I'll have to go talk to my bird store to see if they carry it, if not I can look it up online. I know the store only has the kaytee exact baby food but I can also get the roudybush online as well if need be. I think I might pull the two smallest for hand feeding next week, only because they are so much smaller than the others, maybe do assist-feeding or something, just to keep an eye on them. Hopefully they start growing more soon! Jynxstorm, thank you, I think they're gorgeous!!!


 
They are I love how the parents look in the pics that you snaped them in. For how they look as if their saying get that cameara outof here.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

They're very protective...I forgot to mention that Cinnamon went into egg-laying mode again. I don't even know if these will be fertile, but I know she has to run her course and get it out of her system. The funny thing is, Fuzzy was standing at the nest box entrance right now doing his wolf whistle to her. Maybe he'll help her this time, who knows. It's gonna be a wait and see kind of thing, but really, I'm going to play with her a bunch to keep her happy.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

So I think my littlest baby is dehydrated. He's redder than the other one that's close to his age and he was bowing his head when I peeked in the nest box. This always scares me now because this is what the others did before they died. So I mixed up some of the formula and gave him a little bit, about 0.3cc. Just to try and get some fluids in him. I'll check on him again before I head back to work. He's starting to get the baby beard, it's so cute!


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## D&J - SA (Sep 27, 2010)

good luck hope he/she is fine


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

It is good that they are doing fine.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Thanks D&J...I tried but he didn't make it. I had to pull him for hand feeding because the other babies were sitting on him to keep him warm but preventing him from getting to food. He was fine the first night, but he didn't make it through the 2nd. Died sometime in the early morning, hubby says he was alive at 4am when he went to the bathroom, but when I got up at 7am to feed him, he was gone. He was three weeks old but looked like a one week old baby. All he did on Sunday was sleep after I fed him and I'm pretty sure that's not normal. I did what I could, but you win some you lose some. 

On a brighter note, all of Hershey's babies are doing amazing. The two oldest are fully feathered and the younger ones are following right along. Based on the coloring, we have three boys and two girls. I have some pictures of the oldest that I'll post now, hubby has fallen in love with her, but he knows we can't keep her. She's going to his brother, who has three tiels and has been looking for a friend for one of his boys (the other two are a mated pair his father has had for a long time.) So at least I know she's going to a happy home!


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

Aww, they are sooo cute. I just wanna take one home and snuggle with them.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Jynxstorm, they love to snuggle. We had them out on the bed today (gotta wash the sheets, now its a mess!!!) and they would sit as close to us as possible. I wanted to ask, has anyone seen their babies fed outside the nest box? All three parents (Fuzzy being the step-dad that helps out) will feed the babies even when they're outside the box, I actually got some really good shots of this that I'll post later. I just think it's cool that they do this. Also, the oldest baby has started trying to fly and is actually better at it than Fuzzy (he's never been a very strong flier). Hubby thinks he wants to name her Velcro because she clings to everything, but he's not sure that's considered a girl's name, what do y'all think?


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