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Post by a11ycat on Jul 21, 2008 12:36:47 GMT
Unfortunately we found the chick, and another one which hadn't managed to break out of its shell dead today. I don't think it was being fed enough.
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 20, 2008 9:59:18 GMT
I can still hear the chick, but mum has been sitting tight every time I've checked, so have left her alone... she's looking really tired, woke them up this morning and she seems to just want to go back to sleep... is being that tired normal? There is calcivet in the water, but am wondering whether I need to give her a direct dose... I'm also putting a little glucose powder in the water to give her more energy.
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 18, 2008 18:44:31 GMT
Here are some piccies! Chick and eggs Cockatiel chick Cockatiel chick One thing I am concerned about is that the number of eggs seems to be increasing again. There were 3 old ones which didn't hatch, then 4 new ones, and now there seems to be two more... I really wish she would stop laying eggs... its not good for her to have laid so many... Can anyone advise me on how long to wait to see if any more eggs hatch, and then I'll remove the eggs and hopefully she wil l just concentrate on the chick(s).
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 18, 2008 17:55:36 GMT
I have now seen the mum feed the baby, and there is stuff in the crop, so I think I can stop worrying so much, and just keep an eye on it!
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 18, 2008 9:37:29 GMT
She spent 3 hours off the nest last night... feeding and preening... I'm worried that she's not sure what to do with it... I have a nest cam, so I can keep an eye on her/it, but I saw her peck it a bit when she got back into the nest, before settling down. Have provided some lovely warm eggfood this morning, and will give her some boiled rice with a bit of egg mixed in tonight... Hope she figures out she needs to feed the poor thing.
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 17, 2008 18:36:26 GMT
I went up just now, and she was off the nest preening, and as I left her she was eating. The little chick was on the cool side, so I picked it up and warmed it up in my hand, and have left a bulb heater, pointed at the nest, which should provide some warmth for the chick until she comes back onto the nest. It was peeping away, and started to move around a bit more as it got warmer. It also made little clicking noises...
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 17, 2008 18:07:11 GMT
Am pleased to say, that my cockatiel Smoky has hatched out her first chick! I think that if the other 3 eggs hatch, they will hatch over the next few days, as it must be the newer eggs that are hatching, and she has sat on them continuously as she was sitting on 3 older eggs (which haven't hatched)? She still does not take eggfood... have tried it warm, cold, wet, dry, carroted etc... will try and offer a boiled egg tomorrow... am providing extra millet and hemp seed... When do I need to start thinking about intervening and assisting her feed it, and what signs should I look for? Can anyone give me any other tips? Just in case I need to give handrearing formula - I have a 10ml syringe - and I feed across from the right hand side of the chick if its facing me? I have a heating mat, which I will use to keep a container warm if I need to remove the chick for feeding - but I'm hoping that Smoky will do most of the feeding and keeping warm... I'll get pics as soon as possible... is there any risk to the chick if I disturb Smoky? She's being naturally protective of the chick and her eggs... but I do think I need to check on it, as Smoky doesn't have the father to help her.
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 7, 2008 20:21:35 GMT
No news yet, she sat really tightly until late yesterday afternoon, when she must have decided to have a bath in a water dish I'd put out for her to bathe in. She then sat outside of the nestbox, preening and feeding herself for a good while... I checked the eggs during this point, and the three eggs that I thought had chicks had the airsac at the top, but only seemed very dark red on the bottom half. I'm guessing thats not a good sign. I tried a couple of the newer eggs, and one of them was clear, but another one definitely had red lines around the outside - which I presume is the start of a chick? Quite confusing since she wasn't near the dad for about 10 days before she started laying for the 2nd time... I'll continue to keep an eye on her, but not sure what's happening...
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 4, 2008 11:32:04 GMT
She sat extremely tightly yesterday, and only came off the nest briefly in the late evening to eat... is sitting tight again this morning... just wondering if they will sit extra tight if they know that anything is going to hatch?
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 3, 2008 12:57:31 GMT
They are beautiful birds, lovely markings!
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 3, 2008 12:49:48 GMT
Thanks, I'll get some hemp seed this afternoon, and try the warm eggfood! I feel like an expectant grandparent or something... waiting to see if the eggs will hatch!
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 3, 2008 9:16:46 GMT
Thanks, you guys are way more positive than the replies I've had before. The male wasn't with her when these last 4 eggs have been laid... I was worried about taking them out in case she decided to lay more... she's laid 8 eggs over the last 3 1/2 weeks, which I think is quite a lot for any bird... there's cuttlefish, a calcium perch and I'm putting calcivet in her water to help her maintain good levels of calcium, I've been doing that once per day while she's laying, and will decrease to once every other day while she has the chicks - I don't want to overdo it.
I could really do with some help with regards to the eggfood as I don't think she's eating any I've offered... I've tried offering her EMP dried eggfood, I've mixed it with water, and grated carrot. I've also been offering her Golden Feast which is a premium eggfood, again, offered dry or mixed with water. I'm now thinking of using fresh eggs (which were offered in the past with no results)...
If things go well, I'll definitely get loads of photos of the chicks... I've got myself a tiny nestbox camera, which I'll work on setting up with live streaming, though I don't want to bother her too much with the camera.
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Post by a11ycat on Jul 2, 2008 11:50:29 GMT
Hi, Been a long time since I was on here... but I'm back now. I have two pet cockatiels; a male and female cockatiel who are coming up to two years old. They have mated on and off for over a year now, and in February, the hen lay some eggs on the cage floor. The birds didn't sit on them at all, and I decided to introduce a nest box, and moved the eggs, but again no interest. I left the nestbox on, and about 3 weeks ago, the hen started laying in the nestbox. She and the male rotated incubating duty from the start for a few days, then I had trouble with the male attacking her. I removed the male for 1 day, but was advised to reunite them, which led to a more severe attack, leaving her limping due to bites on her feet, cuts to one of her wings, and a small crack on her beak. After that I removed him again, though kept him in the same room. I've had advise suggesting that the cage they are in is too small for them to breed in, it is in my opinion a reasonably sized cage for two cockatiels, and is the biggest non-parrot cage I can get in my area. I would also normally have allowed the cockatiels out of the cage every evening and weekend to fly around the room for exercise. Having been told that the male is usually responsible for rearing the chicks, I have tried to reintroduce them, but the male has either attacked her, or on the most recent attempt, she was clearly stressed by him being in the same cage. So I have temporarily rehomed him to a friend, where a close eye will be kept on him, to make sure he is ok, and I'm keeping a close eye on the female. I wanted to move him away from the female as to stop him screaming constantly and annoying my neighbours, I had to let him out of the spare cage during the day, so he spent the day on and around her cage, and was bothering her on the few occasions she came out to eat. Two weeks ago, I noticed one of the eggs was severely cracked, so I removed it, having heard that it could cause problems for the healthy eggs. However for the last week, she has laid 3 more eggs, to add to the 3 remaining, which is something I hadn't expected. I must add that the mum is tame, and is happy for me to handle her and be around the nestbox, though I try not to disturb her and only check the eggs when she is eating. I have candled the eggs, with a bendy candler thing, so I didnt have to touch the eggs, and have watched the three original eggs, develop veins, go a red colour, and they now look very dark inside - which I presume to be the nearly full grown chicks. I've bought some handrearing formula, so I can assist feedings if necessary, but I won't be able to give round the clock feedings and raise them completely myself if she won't. I've got a heat lamp which I can put on the side of the nestbox (from the outside) which gently heats up the nestbox, and have invested in a heat mat too. I've also got a proper thermometer so I can accurately measure the temperature in the box, and the formula. The impression I have from other advice is that it is very unlikely the chicks will survive with just the mum, so my feeling is to do my best to support her and the chicks, and hope for the best but expect the worst. My priority is for the mum, (now that I know the male is in safe hands) and I'm keeping a close eye on her weight to make sure she is doing ok. If any chicks hatch, I plan to remove the new eggs, so she concentrates on the chicks. Is there any advice that anyone can give me?
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Post by a11ycat on Jan 24, 2006 16:05:13 GMT
I'm guessing it means something along the lines of Want What You Can't Have... but I'm missing a W out...
Ok, well I've come to my senses (for now!)! Thanks for replying so thoughtfully, I was a bit worried you'd all think I was being silly.
I've bought a new cockatiel, to be Sunny's friend (I hope!), he's currently in quarantine and doing well, though he eats twice as much as Sunny! He will be the last until I get my own place and a steady income! My main purpose in getting him was to keep Sunny company when I go back to England for a week or two and have to leave them! I hope it works!
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Post by a11ycat on Jan 18, 2006 13:08:32 GMT
To-date I own (or am owned by) two budgies (Sky and Storm) and a cockatiel (Sunny). I love them to bits, and am working hard to re-tame the budgies who had got a bit un-tame. Sunny unfortunately doesn't get on with the budgies too well, if they leave him alone, he's ok. But Storm is very curious about Sunny and has to go and see what this strange yellow bird is doing and I think he tries to make friends with him by attempting to 'beak' Sunny, which Sunny just sees as an attack and so lunges back.
I moved over to Northern Ireland about 18 months ago, from England and am still finding it a bit lonely over here... which may be leading to my 'addiction'... but I spend my time at work checking all the bird forums I can find to learn more about all the different types of birds and seeing whats for sale. Fortunately or not, it's quite hard to find birds for sale over in Northern Ireland except in the pet shops. So I regularly pop into my local petshop as it keeps 2 blue & gold macaws and usually a variety of other parrots, to see the parrots (always ending up buying a treat or toy for the budgies/cockatiel). Anyway they've currently got in 2 African Greys, both babies, and so I went up to them and one of them just attached itself to me, snuggling up and practically went to sleep, as if to say "Take me Home!". It was adorable... but unfortunately the pet shop is selling it for around £700 and the average price of these birds in England is £500. So, despite me finding this baby adorable, I'd feel a bit stupid paying £200 over the going rate, just because this one is so lovely!
Plus I live in a rented house (currently no housemate, but landlord is searching!), and so I'm worried that the landlord wouldn't approve of me getting a parrot aswell, not to mention that there isn't much room for another cage in my room aswell. Then I'd have to worry about it getting on with the others and vice versa.
So, I'm in a dilemma... so thinking I might give the parrot a miss until I have my own place, I'm wondering whether to add a new budgie/cockatiel to my collection as both cages will hold one more bird. I can quarantine them... but the pet shop owner suggested that a 6 month old cockatiel (which mine is), might not get on so well with a younger one... and seeing as mine doesn't like the budgies, maybe it won't and I don't think I have the room for another large cage should things go badly.
And all this because I got myself some budgies and became hooked!
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