# Cockatiel Chicks - Growing Up!!



## SftWrmRain (Sep 8, 2009)

For those of you who have followed my adventure in feeding 2 baby cockatiels from day one - you may find it enjoyable to peek at them today. We took a short trip outside to enjoy the sunlight. Lilly is 4 weeks old today and Mia is one day younger. Enjoy!


----------



## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

The look gorgeous against the green grass...and they have grown so big


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

What cuties!!!


----------



## dude (Mar 29, 2010)

Oh my ! What gorgeous little darlings they are. How adorably sweet.


----------



## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

I saw those pictures in the other thread but am happy to see them again! So cute! How are the little ones doing now? More feathery, I'd imagine?


----------



## SftWrmRain (Sep 8, 2009)

Berdnerd said:


> I saw those pictures in the other thread but am happy to see them again! So cute! How are the little ones doing now? More feathery, I'd imagine?




Thanks everyone! They are SO FUN!! I'm enjoying them SO much - and their personalities are coming out loud and clear! Crazy how different they are when having been raised exactly the same.

Berdnerd - these are new pictures I took this afternoon. The others were several days ago, although they do look similar. They're preening their feathers clean more and more though. I even caught them preening each other yesterday! It was the *cutest!*


----------



## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Aww, yes, of course they're different pictures! I didn't look closely enough today! Now the chickies look like birds  Do you know for sure they're girls? I love the names you chose for them! Also, was there ever any point where you couldn't tell them apart? All my chicks should be normal greys and I have this fear that I'll get 2 of them mixed up. I mean, I know they're supposed to hatch on different days so should be different sizes.... but still!


----------



## SftWrmRain (Sep 8, 2009)

Berdnerd said:


> Aww, yes, of course they're different pictures! I didn't look closely enough today! Now the chickies look like birds  Do you know for sure they're girls? I love the names you chose for them! Also, was there ever any point where you couldn't tell them apart? All my chicks should be normal greys and I have this fear that I'll get 2 of them mixed up. I mean, I know they're supposed to hatch on different days so should be different sizes.... but still!



Hi again! Yes, I know they are both girls because their dad is split to pearl, and mom is not pearl at all. I am not sure how much you know about genetics so forgive if I seem to be patronizing you, but ... since pearl is a sex-linked gene it passes from father to daughter, or mother to son. Dad passed his pearl gene to these two, making them daughters.

Thank you on the names - I am happy with them too. I have several other birds that need names, pronto!! I keep saying "I'll do that tonight..." :blush:

I have come close to getting them mixed up, yes!! They are only one day apart in age, and their sizes are close. Now, with their pearl markings looking virtually identical at this point in their feather growth, it's hard unless you really look closely. I find myself relying on personality a lot in those first seconds after approaching them, to tell me who is who.

One thing I do often is check their tails, which are slightly different. Mia is split to pied and Lilly is not. I know this because Mia's tail has several "clear" feathers and Lilly has grey markings on every single one. Their mom is split and dad is not, so Mia inherited her mom's single pied gene. 

When are your babies due?


----------



## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

That's so cool how you tell them apart, and rather reassuring to me! When Little Bird was alive, everyone in my family but me would get him and Arthur mixed up because they're both grey. Their personalities were totally different and I thought they looked quite different- their crests were different, Arthur was taller, Little Bird had bigger eyes, etc.

I know a little bit about bird genetics and think the sex linked mutations are so cool! I was wondering if their dad was pearl  I kind of wish Arthur was Lutino and Poppet was normal grey (it's reversed) so I'd get some Lutino babies and be able to tell the sexes, but oh well! Greys are beautiful too! And who knows, maybe Arthur is split to something so maybe half the girls will be pearl or something 

My first little eggo was laid on June 2nd, so we are about 5-8 days away! So exciting! I'm attached to the little babies already. Something about being able to hold the eggs and see the babies inside makes it seem much more real.


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I can't wait till all these babies hatch!!! And to see all the little personalities develop. Are you going to keep both Mia and Lilly?


----------



## SftWrmRain (Sep 8, 2009)

Berdnerd said:


> That's so cool how you tell them apart, and rather reassuring to me! When Little Bird was alive, everyone in my family but me would get him and Arthur mixed up because they're both grey. Their personalities were totally different and I thought they looked quite different- their crests were different, Arthur was taller, Little Bird had bigger eyes, etc.


Funny how so many people just don't notice subtle differences. I mean, seriously people mix up 2 humans because they both wear glasses!! LOL When we go out to eat my husband couldn't tell you which waitress has our table out of the 5 servers in the restaurant because he says they all look the same! :blush: Still, now that I've said that, Mia and Lilly are closer and closer to the same size every day. Lilly has a more yellow head though, and also if you look at the pictures again you'll notice that Lilly's beak is mostly clear whereas Mia's has taken on the grey color of her mom's.




Berdnerd said:


> I know a little bit about bird genetics and think the sex linked mutations are so cool! I was wondering if their dad was pearl  I kind of wish Arthur was Lutino and Poppet was normal grey (it's reversed) so I'd get some Lutino babies and be able to tell the sexes, but oh well! Greys are beautiful too! And who knows, maybe Arthur is split to something so maybe half the girls will be pearl or something


I could talk genetics all day long!! Yes, its always more fun when our males are the recessive genes holder, but it can be fun if you don't know what hidden traits your male may be carrying. The father of my 2 babies is split to pearl and cinnamon, so while he COULD have had both the pearl and cinnamon genes on one chromosome, he doesn't since my 2 pearl babies of his are normal grey pearls. If he has more babies, he could send me straight cinnamon baby girls too!



Berdnerd said:


> My first little eggo was laid on June 2nd, so we are about 5-8 days away! So exciting! I'm attached to the little babies already. Something about being able to hold the eggs and see the babies inside makes it seem much more real.



Congratulations!! What an exciting time!! I can't WAIT to see what mutations I get from my other cockatiel pair sitting on eggs now. The male is visually a pastelface grey, but is split to whiteface, lutino, pearl and pied. My female is a whiteface cinnamon pearl, so offspring should be a range of beautiful mutations!


----------



## SftWrmRain (Sep 8, 2009)

roxy culver said:


> I can't wait till all these babies hatch!!! And to see all the little personalities develop. Are you going to keep both Mia and Lilly?


Hi Roxy! I can't wait either!! Yay! Yes, I'll be keeping Mia and Lilly, as well as the other cockatiels and the parakeets I've got coming up too. I am not a breeder, and can't hardly stand the thought of giving my babies up. However, I suppose I'll have to see how many babies I end up with before saying with 100% certainty. Still, Mia and Lilly have been raised from their hatch day by me, so I'm insanely attached to them!!


----------



## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

. Mia is split to pied and Lilly is not. I know this because Mia's tail has several "clear" feathers and Lilly has grey markings on every single one.
-------------------------------
 If some of the tail feathers are a solid yellow, including the center vein of the feather then she is a pied, a lightly pied


----------



## SftWrmRain (Sep 8, 2009)

Mia's tail feathers do have the dark vein down the center, but most are otherwise clear. Lilly's have grey of some kind on all of them.


----------



## SftWrmRain (Sep 8, 2009)

*Perching and Flapping!!!*


So we spent much of the past couple days learning how to be big girls!! The little babes have now moved into a big cage, and got themselves a low perch to practice perching on! They've also been given their first water bowl, which they promptly made a mess of! LOL I covered the perch with a bandage wrap material usually used to hold gauze on an injured animals leg or whatever part that's hurt. It works GREAT to make a perch more "sticky" so new perchers can hold on better. They've had their share of spills, but it's not a long drop and at this point when they want off the perch they just hop onto the bottom.  Lilly is attempting climbing the side of the cage, and is climbing the little cheapy plastic ladder to get up onto the perch, too! I put an upside down plastic dish under the perch too so they can step up if they'd like. They are now 4 weeks, 3 days (Lilly) and 4 weeks, 2 days (Mia).


----------



## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Eeee! The CUTE! I want your baby birdies! I hope I get baby birdies and they're as cute and sweet as Mia and Lilly.


----------



## BLESSED'S_WINGS (Apr 14, 2010)

*I love the photos!!*


----------

