# Cockatiel pair not feeding chicks!!



## cherilyn.love (Apr 12, 2017)

Last year my pair laid 4 eggs, none which hatched. They were all early dis. This year they laid 4 again. 1 was dis, 2 have hatched and the other is due to Hatch sometime tomorrow. Both chicks died, empty crops. I checked on both chicks after hatching and they both died the day after hatching  what could be the problem? They do everything else right!

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## ninfatiel (Jul 22, 2016)

Do either of the parents have experience? Possible causes may be: poor hen's diet during egg laying,inbreeding,absence of experience-they warm the chicks but dont feed them.Perhaps this couple will do better with different mates-it is preffered that a first-timer should be paired with the experienced one


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## SilverSage (Oct 19, 2014)

Well that pretty much sums up what I was going to say!

Along with; how close is the food and water to the box? If you continue to breed this pair you should be prepared to feed day 1 chicks, but honestly I would switch them up.


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## cherilyn.love (Apr 12, 2017)

None have experience chick rearing. The chicks seemed healthy and strong the day of hatching but dead the next. Hand feeding is not an option as we work a minimum of 8 hours a day. I'm going to make some food for their last Hatch and see if I can't do a few feedings and place it back in the nest to see. My other female stopped sitting half way through and all her eggs were cold by the time I got to them. None of the cockatiels I have now have raised chicks. All are 2 years to 10 years old and up except Zunnie who is 4 months. How do you get them to switch mates in an aviary? My male will mate with anything that lifts her tail but this female is very set on just him.

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## SilverSage (Oct 19, 2014)

It could be that your birds need to be broken down into cages and monitored more closely. It could also be that you need to introduce some more experienced stock. Unfortunately breeding live animals is full of challenges. Perhaps you should remove all the boxes and prevent your birds from nesting until you are able to address the issues causing the deaths.


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## cherilyn.love (Apr 12, 2017)

I took down the nest boxes yesterday except for the one. It's actually really hard to find cockatiels in pet shops right now. I'm not sure why but they stopped selling. Breeders sell babies (non-experienced). I put an ad up on Craigslist for cockatiel and parakeet rehome and actually got most of my stock from people who no longer wanted their birds. I have seen aviaries do so well with breeding cockatiels. I would think natural instinct would take hold when it comes to taking care of their babies:/


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## cherilyn.love (Apr 12, 2017)

So I checked for pipping just now, also because I saw another female cockatiel coming out if the nest box, and there is a new egg in there... Freckles had been going in and out of a nest box for weeks but never laid any. She is paired with Martin. Should I put up the nest box she had chosen and move the egg...or what should I do?! 

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## cherilyn.love (Apr 12, 2017)

Freckles is actually the sister of the other female which isn't feeding their chicks. 

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## SilverSage (Oct 19, 2014)

I really don't recommend having boxes up until you are prepared to address the issues your flock is having. Some people magically have great luck and few problems, but raising baby birds takes a lot of time and effort and money. I really don't recommend continuing down this road with your current set up.


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## ninfatiel (Jul 22, 2016)

There arent many cockatiels in the pet shops exactly for that reason -breeding good quality birds is a challenge and hard work.. Consider putting breeding couples in individual (smaller) cages-they cost cheap and you will have much more control-over pairing and over their diet too. As for feeding day 1 chicks-it almost always hopeless I tried many times,but if there is smth wrong in the beginning and parents dont feed it chanses of survival are really small. I usually try to breed 2-3 couples on the same time-that way you may foster if you have to and chances of surviving are higher


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## SilverSage (Oct 19, 2014)

Fosters are very useful. I work from home and have had great success with day1 tiels and conures but if there is something wrong with the chick other than the parents simply not feeding then you aren't likely to have success.

Producing any live animal but particularly pets is a huge responsibility with a lot of challenges. There are thousands of things to learn, hundreds of hours to be invested, and honestly it can get really expensive to responsibly care for babies when you encounter problems in the nest.

A few lucky ducks seem to have few or no problems just by the luck of the draw but most of us have to put significant effort into doing right by our birds.

It isn't impossible by any means but it does take dedication.


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

Try giving a few feeds and putting babies back into the box with mom and dad, as babies grow a bit sometimes instinct kicks in and the parents realize they need to feed the bubs as well as sit on them.


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