# aggressive hen



## ludanmei (Mar 9, 2013)

My pair of cockatiels have a 4 week old baby. It`s the hens very first clutch. Everything started fine until the third week. I noticed the parents rarely feed it as often as they should and have begun mating again. I`ve also noticed the hen biting at the babys pin feathers and has caused a bit of bleeding and bruising on the poor thing. Only the mother has been doing this from what I have observed and have separated her from the nest box. The father is still feeding it from time to time but I also pull it out to hand feed it.

I read up on the forums on what is causing this behavioral change in the hen and I think it could be either sodium deficiency or she wants to nest again. I gave her a bit of bread, lightly buttered, and got her back in the cage with the nest box. She jumped straight inside and was immediately hostile to the baby. I took her out again and put a divider up in the cage so she has no access to the nest box.

I`m not sure what to do from here... Should I keep her separated until the baby is ready to fledge and let the father do the looking after? Or should I just move the nest box away from them?

I was thinking of getting her salt licks for the sodium deficiency, but I`m not entirely sure if thats the right way to go...


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I don't think its sodium, I think she wants to nest again and she sees the baby as being in the way. Male tiels are more maternal anyways, so its not unusual for the hen to stop caring for the baby all together. I would leave dad and baby and nest box together and keep mom separate. Dad can handle feeding the baby on his own til it fully weans.


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## ludanmei (Mar 9, 2013)

Thanks Roxy

I thought she wanted to nest again because she`s gotten more aggressive. I`ve left the male with the baby and nest box, and the female separate.

When would she calm down?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You'll want to start reducing her hormones to help her calm down, the problem is that her hormones are really high so that's what's making her aggressive. http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330 This sticky explains how to go about doing that.


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## ludanmei (Mar 9, 2013)

Thanks for the sticky.

She`s already laid an egg but the sticky provides what to do when that happens.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The parent birds tend to start thinking of a new clutch when the oldest chick is about three weeks old, so your pair is right on schedule. The mother tends to be the most abusive parent when the plucking is caused by the urge to breed again. I have this problem with Shodu.


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