# socializing this chicks, how?



## tweetycockatiel (Nov 18, 2010)

I breed my cockatiel and produce three chicks now about 5weeks, can already fly but not yet mastered it. from time to time they start hating me:C when they still young i always handle them but now when I will go and get them they fly away. btw they are outside now, when i will handle them i will get them and go inside talk to them and whistle, is that good?


another thing, I start with the oldest, s/he's a bit calm with me, steps on my finger and let me touches hes head but sometimes bit/nibble at my finger to say stop that. then i will get the second one i put them inside the house then fly and fly until exhausted and no choice to step onto my finger, when he fly the oldest fly to. what should I do? I want them to love me as a i love them

the youngest is so afraid of me always nibbling at my finger although she's not like her brothers/sister she will not fly that much.

any advice is greatly appreciated thankyou>>


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

When they are old enough to eat by themselves, you can hold treats in your hand for them to eat. This will teach them that good things happen when you are there. Anything else you can do to give them pleasure will also help, but these birds are so young that there isn't much you can offer them right now.

When one chick flies it is natural for all the other chicks to fly too. If you work with just one bird at a time you won't have the problem of multiple chicks flying around.

Are they frightened when they are inside the house? They are likely to fly when they are frightened so this might be part of the problem. If you work with them in a small room they might not fly so much. A small room is safer than a large one anyway because they can't build up too much speed. Use the same room every time so they become familiar with it and start to feel safe there. Cover up any hard unyielding surfaces like glass or brick for safety. Wood and wallboard yield enough to be safe in a small room.


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## QTiels (Jan 24, 2011)

If your birds are caged together, then they will often bond more with each other than with you. Maybe you could clip just their flight feathers (not the bones or other wing feathers) so they're not flying while you're trying to tame them. If you don't know how to clip fight feathers, then please look up how to do it the right way so you don't permanently injure your bird. You can let the flight feathers grow out again once they're tamer. They'll still be able to fly a little bit if you clip their flight feathers, but not as much unless they're swept up by some wind.

Spend a lot of time with each bird alone and bribe them with a lot of their favorite treats. You may have to try a lot of treats to see which one they really like the most. Try to make sure that they only get those favorite seeds when they're with you so they'll want to be with you.


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