# Our clutch of cockatiels from last year.



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

This was our second clutch of tiels from last year. From left to right: Matilda, Peanut, Tiki, and Honey


----------



## LuvAnimals (Jan 17, 2021)

Robert Seale said:


> This was our second clutch of tiels from last year. From left to right: Matilda, Peanut, Tiki, and Honey
> View attachment 93108


I just refreshed the page and I saw this! Those are some beautiful birds! The names suit them! 😁


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

Thanks LuvAnimals for your comments. I guess others on this site don't care for photos so I'll stop posting!


----------



## LuvAnimals (Jan 17, 2021)

Robert Seale said:


> Thanks LuvAnimals for your comments. I guess others on this site don't care for photos so I'll stop posting!


Aha I just went on the site and saw this again! Also, no problem. I'm sure people care about your tiel pictures, they just might not know what to reply with.


----------



## FreidaK (Feb 13, 2021)

PLEASE don't stop posting pics Robert!! I love them all, just not much of a commenter 😔 These guys and gals are BEAUTIFUL, you must be sooooo proud! 💕 I'm still waiting...my pair mate 3+ times a day and the female sits in the box all day and sometimes most of the night, but no eggs... It's depressing, especially since they are both so wild and aggressive! I want a baby I can love! I've had a lot of single cockatiels, but this is my first mated pair. They've had a number of successful clutches for their previous owner, so idk what is going on? But anyway, seeing YOUR babies cheers me up! 😃 Keep posting! I'm sure there are a lot of lurkers like me that love them too!
_Freida_


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

FreidaK said:


> PLEASE don't stop posting pics Robert!! I love them all, just not much of a commenter 😔 These guys and gals are BEAUTIFUL, you must be sooooo proud! 💕 I'm still waiting...my pair mate 3+ times a day and the female sits in the box all day and sometimes most of the night, but no eggs... It's depressing, especially since they are both so wild and aggressive! I want a baby I can love! I've had a lot of single cockatiels, but this is my first mated pair. They've had a number of successful clutches for their previous owner, so idk what is going on? But anyway, seeing YOUR babies cheers me up! 😃 Keep posting! I'm sure there are a lot of lurkers like me that love them too!
> _Freida_


Hi Freida, Thank you so much for your post! It made my day! I wish you all the success with your first clutch. It takes about 21 to 24 days after mating to see the first eggs. Have you had any experience hand feeding and raising tame babies? If not, Maybe I can be of some help. We are about to start feeding our third clutch! All four have there eyes open and are eating like horses from the parents! This is Kiwi's ( The males ) third clutch but SECOND female mate. The first one sadly passed away while feeding our first group. Our vet and friend things she aspirated some extra foo0d to feed the chicks and got an infection in her lungs! Kiwi stepped up and fed all four chicks for another week by himself until we took over to hand feed them. If there's anything else I can help you with, feel free to ask!

Robert


----------



## FreidaK (Feb 13, 2021)

Thanks so much Robert! I have raised African greys from egghood(lol) but it's been a TON of years! I'm sure I'll be calling on ya! Thanks for offering the help, I'm sure I'll need it! 😀 It's such a RELIEF to hear about the length of time before laying! I mean, I have no idea how old these two are and was beginning to think she might be just wore out and out of the desire to have anymore chicks! They sure do seem to LOVE loving tho! LOL Right now she's spending most of her time in the nest box and he joins her quite often. They feed each other and she grooms him and he sings excitedly to her every morning when she heads back to the box, but no eggs yet...I've decided to not keep peeking in every day as she hates it and rocks and hisses at me outside the box. I have finally gotten them both to eat millet from my hand when I hold it up to the outside of the cage! And he loves the apple slices I've been giving, so I have hope that we'll be friends some day 😊 This forum has been a world of help!
I'll keep ya posted if/when they finally have some eggs! Thanks again,
Freida


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

FreidaK said:


> Thanks so much Robert! I have raised African greys from egghood(lol) but it's been a TON of years! I'm sure I'll be calling on ya! Thanks for offering the help, I'm sure I'll need it! 😀 It's such a RELIEF to hear about the length of time before laying! I mean, I have no idea how old these two are and was beginning to think she might be just wore out and out of the desire to have anymore chicks! They sure do seem to LOVE loving tho! LOL Right now she's spending most of her time in the nest box and he joins her quite often. They feed each other and she grooms him and he sings excitedly to her every morning when she heads back to the box, but no eggs yet...I've decided to not keep peeking in every day as she hates it and rocks and hisses at me outside the box. I have finally gotten them both to eat millet from my hand when I hold it up to the outside of the cage! And he loves the apple slices I've been giving, so I have hope that we'll be friends some day 😊 This forum has been a world of help!
> I'll keep ya posted if/when they finally have some eggs! Thanks again,
> Freida


From the way your describing your birds actions, unless the female has some underlying health issues, I'd say you can probably expect the first egg any day! I've never had an African grey but I've been around a few. I currently have 12 grown cockatiels, 4 babies (with eyes open) in the nest box and TWO sun conures! Both are males and actually brothers! Have you ever seen or been around a Caique parrot? There about the size of a sun conure and I want one so bad I can't stand it! LOL! Sadly there expensive as I've been told there hard to breed in captivity.

Robert


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

A few from our THIRD and newest clutch of babies. The dark one MAY be a male and the one we will probably keep.


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

A few from our THIRD and newest clutch of babies. The dark one MAY be a male and the one we will probably keep.
View attachment 93130
View attachment 93131
View attachment 93132


----------



## FreidaK (Feb 13, 2021)

Robert! I was JUST going to write! Just got home and got on the forum to let you know I have two eggs! Maybe three tonight? But I got the first one the day(night) we spoke and the second two days later! I've been dying to write and let you know - so happy and they're being AMAZING parents so far!
Your babies are sooooo stinkin' CUTE! I'm in love! Lol
Been so tired from work every night that I've just fallen into bed when I got home, snow storm allowed me a welcomed day off, thank goodness! I'm in Colorado, southern, so I'm sure you saw the mess Denver was in - our snow at 8,000' pretty much melted today - love Colorado spring mudding time! Lol It looks like the Texas storm missed y'all where you're at from the way you talked? If so, glad to hear! What a mess!
Sooooo, what should I have on hand when it gets close to hatching time? Any suggestions? I've a feeling these two are old pros at this, but ya never know with new birds... plus, of course, I'm going to want them hand tamed by the time they fledge.
Congrats on your latest babies, they are too adorable! ❤
Ttys,
_freida_


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

Freida, SO glad to hear back from you and congrats on your new eggs! About all you can do now is wait and let nature take it's course. Incubation time should be 21 to 24 days before they hatch. After they hatch, let the parents do the feeding for at least two weeks or more. After that you can separate the babies into a smaller cage or box. I say box because where you live it's probably going to still be cold and they should be kept warm! Put a heating pad under the box on a low setting. AFTER you separate them from the parents, that's when you can start hand feeding and taming. This should be done three times a day. Morning noon and night. I will explain more about feeding them as they hatch. Let me backtrack a bit. While the PARENTS are still feeding MAKE SURE you give them plenty of extra food as they will eat like horses to feed the chicks! If you have them in a wooden breeding box like I do, make sure you clean it out every other day and put fresh bedding in as it will get pretty nasty. During this time, feel free to take the babies OUT and handle them. This is a good first step to getting them use to human touch. Yes, I heard all about your nasty weather as I'm sure you did ours a few weeks ago. We came out pretty good power and water wise but the temps were SO low many people in Texas got hammered. Feel free to write anytime! If you want our personal e-mail, I'll pass that along as well.

Robert


----------



## FreidaK (Feb 13, 2021)

Hi Robert 😊 Well, we're up to three eggs now, should be another tomorrow I'm thinking but it's hard to tell! They've been sharing the sitting job really well. The only 'problem' that seems to come up is that Ricky wants to sit on them more than Lucy wants him to! Lol When she gets tired of him hanging out in the nest box, she starts flapping wildly and if you can picture it, shoves him out of the box - it's hysterical to see him getting pushed out of that hole like a sausage! LMBO He always looks so shocked that it just adds to the hilarity!! 😂
Anyway, been giving them all kinds of things like baby spinach, lettuce, and carrots, as well as apples, bananas and whole grain bread. He takes to it pretty good, she's a little more hesitant but eventually tries just about everything...going to be introducing pellets this next week when they arrive. Tomorrow I'm going to add some scrambled eggs to the mix. I think they'll go for that!
So, things are moving along - they still hate me, but as long as they give me some babies they can hiss all they want! LOL After this brood hatches etc..I'll be working more with them. I don't take no for a permanent answer where this is concerned! 
I'm going to be pet sitting for my youngest this next week while they go to Utah so I'll have to rely on my son that lives with me to keep me up to date, but I should be back home before the babies start hatching. Maybe this will help the time pass more quickly! I'm beyond anxious to see these babies!
My email is freidakirkland(@) gmail.com - write anytime!
Thanks for going on this adventure with me!
_freida_


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

Well Freida, It seems like we’re in the same adventure! We are going to start hand feeding and taming ours next week! This is the second clutch for this pair ( Kiwi and Woody ) so their old hands at it. No problems here with who sits on the eggs ( or stays with the babies ) Woody the female takes the night shift and Kiwi does the honors in the day time! LOL! Your story cracked me up about the male getting shoved out of the box! LMAO! I could just picture it. If anything, Kiwi is really an overprotective dad. He barely tolerates other tiels being close to there cage but the other day, one of the SUN CONURES dropped by for a visit and Kiwi went “ape ****” ! LOL! I’m going to play **** talking my wife into letting me keep ONE of these babies as we already have 12 tiels and 2 sun conures!!! We lost a male last year that was only a month away from his first B-day! He somehow got that dreaded lung disease and within less than 24 hours the poor thing was gone. His name was Boo as he was born on Halloween day!I’m hoping the wife will let me keep at least one baby in memory of him. Tell me more about your setup. Do you have ANY other birds at this time or are you just waiting on the eggs to hatch? BTW, You may already know this from past experience but you can nearly always expect ONE dud egg out of how every many she lays. That’s happened to us with THREE clutch’s.

P.S The E-mail address you sent wouldn't work for some reason.





Take care, Robert.


----------



## FreidaK (Feb 13, 2021)

Hey Robert, hope you and your babies are doing well. It's been so hectic here this last week that I've not been on. You have to leave off the parentheses on the email address I gave - I add them so the bots and scrapers can't use my email, sorry about that, should've explained.
I'm very upset tonight. I heard my male scratching around with his beak inside the nest box tonight and it sounded very active, so I went and checked and there was only ONE egg, no sign of the other two?? I looked at the cage bottom and there's no sign of any shells or anything but then I noticed she'd laid an egg in their food bowl? Shed already lost one because she laid it while sitting at the food bowl, it just dropped onto the floor of the cage and broke 😞 I'm beside myself, I don't know what is going on!? I wish I knew their history!!
It seemed like they were doing sooooo good, I don't understand what's happened! The one egg in the box was cool to the touch so he evidently wasn't sitting on it. I don't have an incubator setup, not sure how to. But I'm thinking maybe the previous owner got rid of them because of this type of thing, I wish so much that I knew!
Anyway, this whole day has been just awful, so I will close for now...
Hope all is well with yours,
_freida_


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

HEYYYY Great to see you again! Yes, you ARE a busy person. I figured out your e-mail issue and have you in contacts! SO sorry to hear of your egg issue. The good news is.....DON'T give up just yet. Out of three clutch's I have managed to lose at least one egg myself. Two were duds and the third one Woody must have laid it while she was up high like on a perch because the next morning we found the broken egg on the bottom of the cage! Also, keep in mind the tiels normally lay just one egg per day so you MAY have more! Regarding the one egg you do have, are EITHER of the parents making any attempts to sit on it? If not, this is going to be a tuff one! You may try putting the egg(s) in a small box and put a heating pad under it covering the box with a small towel. NOW comes the hard part. *IF *they wont even sit on there own eggs your going to have to attempt to feed them within a few hours of each one hatching! Have you ever hand fed baby chicks using formula and a syringe? The way we've always done it is let the parents do the feeding for the first 3 weeks then you separate the babies from the parents and start hand feeding and taming. You have to do this THREE times a day. Morning, noon, and evening. You also want to handle them often and get them use to human touch. THAT'S how you tame cockatiels at a young age. Mine are doing good so far but it's going to be an extra few days before we can start feeding them due to going out of town. Keep me posted.


----------



## FreidaK (Feb 13, 2021)

Hi Robert, I sent you an email but I thought I'd reply here also as I've not heard back from you...spring is a busy time around here, I imagine for you also! 😊
So, to update more completely -
Ricky and Lucy are down to two eggs, one of which I found in the feed dish. They did go back to sitting pretty quickly but I'm afraid it might've still been too long, not sure. They have started eating a LOT, but that may be from the fact that I started giving them pellets the other day and Ricky literally wouldn't stop eating, it actually worried me for a bit! Lol
I found that their not being tame has caused a few problems, one is that Lucy has an almost whole empty egg shell stuck to her front and she won't let me help her whatsoever - I'm surprised that SHE can't get it off of her tummy but I guess I'm going to have to endure her ferocity and just do it for her. I even gave them a little tub to bathe in, but no go...
Anyway, I don't think there will be babies, but this next week is when they were SUPPOSED to hatch so we'll see what happens. I think _THEY_ think they are going to hatch as they are both eating quite a bit more than usual, again, might be they like pellets more? Unfortunately my son and daughter in law have to go to Utah and I'm going to be babysitting THEIR critters, so if there IS a baby coming I won't get to be here 😔 I'll only be gone a few days tho, so hopefully things go well _if _ one egg is good enough to hatch...
Anyway, getting ready to head to my son's so I will close for now.
How is the hand feeding going? Your babies are just too adorable and I wish you all the best of luck with them!
_freida _


----------



## Geartmar (Sep 1, 2017)

They are beautiful!


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

Hi Freida, Sorry to be slow at responding. Although we kinda got a late start hand feeding the newest clutch, all is going well. The ONLY thing that's a bit of a disappointment is the fact that they look almost identical to LAST years clutch!! Oh well, at least there healthy and growing! We are STILL trying to get two of our whiteface birds to mate but so far, no interest. They are bonded and cage-mates, just don't seem to be interested in kids! LOL! I really do hope you can get at least ONE baby from Ricky and Lucy if not more! TRUST ME, If they've mated once, they'll surly do it again! 

Robert


----------



## FreidaK (Feb 13, 2021)

Hi Robert! So good to hear from you 😊 I'm at my son's in Pueblo right now so I'm not sure what's going on with the little couple... I am hoping tho, still... 
I've been wondering - what do you do with the babies you don't keep? Are they going to be for sale? If so I'd be interested in coming down and picking one up? Something to think about? Let me know 😊
Glad to hear your babies are moving along well, any picture updates?
Talk to you soon!
_freida_


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

Yes, as a matter of fact three for sure are for sale. We may keep one but that's still up for debate. Sadly we got a little bit of a late start hand feeding them. They really need at least one more week for sure, two if you want one better hand tamed. Let me know what you think. As of yet, we would only be guessing as to what sex they are although since there coloring is SO identical to last years, I think I may already know the males and females to this group! We live in the small town of Dublin Texas if you want to Google it.


----------



## FreidaK (Feb 13, 2021)

Well, looks like about an 11 hour trip...hmm lol How about you send an email and let me know what you charge? 👍😃 If I can get one I'll make a mini vacation out of the trip! Lol


----------



## Robert Seale (Sep 16, 2017)

My wife and I have been talking this over. As SOON as you see this, E-mail me at [email protected]. and I'll give you details.


----------

