Cockatiel Egg and Chick Thread

[TinysMom]

I'm so sorry Shiloh. I understand how hard it is to lose a young one that you've nurtured (even if in my case its been rabbits).

Hugs to you....

 

[hartleybun]

:hug2: i am so sorry xx

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Well, baby Nico is still alive! He was doing so poorly during the night, I thought he was close to death for sure. He was making this quiet trilling sound instead of crying and kept falling over. Then I took a page out of Peg's book and held him against my chest while I had a chat with him. I told him how much I love him and how I'm sorry he's suffering and apologized for making him be born and not being able to save him, and that soon he would be in heaven and feel better. I asked him to tell his brothers to watch over Phoenix and Izzy and to help them grow up big and strong, and particularly to help Izzy get better even if they have to send a petition around heaven.

After our chat, Nico started acting more normal so I gave him kisses and put him back in the brooder. This afternoon he hasn't lost anymore weight and his crop actually emptied in 11 hours, which is incredible for him. He's still very ill and I don't think he's going to survive, but it's interesting.

 

[JadeIcing]

*hugs* Wish I could do more.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Thanks, Alicia! The little ones are still hanging in there. Izzy is up 1 gram from this afternoon. I'm really hoping he starts to improve soon, he was worse today than he was a few days ago which is discouraging. Baby Nico is still hanging in there, he amazes me.

I was feeling terrible Thursday (to me it's still Thursday because I haven't been to bed yet!) and I had an offer from Shutterfly for a free 20 page 8 by 8 inch hardcover photo book. I spent about 5 hours sorting through, editing, arranging, and writing a photo book for Kieran, Teddy, Neeja and Phoenix. It felt good to make the book but was sad too, of course. I ordered it tonight so hopefully it arrives soon. I'm glad I'll have a permanent, physical record of Kieran, Teddy and Neeja. Phoenix is going to get his own photo album that I can add to!

Here is a link to the photo book if anyone would like to see. It was only $15 with the offer (had to pay since it was 38 pages instead of 20, but it would have been $40 if not for the offer) and I got free shipping, which is GOOD because Shutterfly charges ridiculous shipping rates to Alaska (think $35 shipping).

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbsWTZi0aMmbio

 

[TinysMom]

I LOVE IT.....what a great book. I should do that with some of my litters. (I may do it with Cyrano if I have enough photos of him).

I'm so glad you were able to enjoy the time you had with them - even though you lost some.

Baby Nico amazes me too....I think he must not be ready to leave you yet...I think he knows he's loved.

 

[LuvaBun]

what a lovely book - and a great way to remember the babies

Jan

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Peg, I'll tell you what the quality is like when the book gets here. You can make ones without a lot of pages if you don't have a ton of pictures of Cyrano, and you can make 1 picture take up an entire page if you want. I did that with my favorite pictures of my birdies.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Here is Izzy a few minutes ago I don't think I've ever posted photos of the chicks being fed.

The process of hand feeding is:

1) Line feeding spot with paper towels and get out 2 tiny plastic cups, q-tips, gauze pads, and food.

2) Take syringes and thermometers out of disinfecting solution and rinse them as well as the jar they were in well.

3) Put powdered formula and whatever supplements I'm adding into one of the plastic cups (supplements include brewer's yeast, a spice blend that has antibiotic effects, crushed papaya tablets, Benebac powder, baby rice cereal, gentian and capsicum).

4) Pour small amount of bottled water or electrolyte solution into jar and microwave 20 seconds. Stir into formula, mixing with thermometer probes. Add more formula or hot/cold water as necessary to reach a temperature of exactly 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes I have to put the formula cup into a bigger cup of hot water to bring the temperature up. Usually while the formula is cooling I get the babies out so they're ready to go when the formula reaches the right temperature.

5) Fill first syringe. Set baby on feeding area and hold his wings to his body with my left hand and hold his head in place with the thumb and forefinger of the same hand. Stick syringe in right left side of mouth aiming towards the right side of his throat because the esophagus is on the right side and I don't want to squirt food into his lungs. Wait until he chirps rapidly and bobs his head and flaps his wings (or tries to, my hand is holding his wings in place so he doesn't reel around everywhere), then squirt in formula. Squirt it in slow enough that food does not back up into the baby's mouth. Remove the syringe every few seconds so the baby can breathe. Repeat with other babies if necessary.

6) Pour remaining warm water from jar into other plastic cup. Add 1 drop of grapeseed extract and stir with a Q-tip. Dab excess water off q-tip with paper towel, test temperature on back of hand, and use to swab out baby's mouth. Do until mouth is clean. This is important so bacteria doesn't grow in the mouth since baby birds don't make a lot of spit or swallow often. If rest of face or body has food on it, dampen gauze pad in the water and wipe off baby.

7) Change paper towels in brooder and replace babies. Wash out container of water that's in the brooder for humidity and put it back in. Cover brooder with towel.

8) Wash all syringes and equipment used to feed babies, then make disinfecting solution and put everything in it so it will be clean for next time. Throw away dirty paper towels and Q-tips and everything.

Right now the babies are getting 2 medications 3 times a day so I have extra syringes and everything for that also. The whole process of medicating and feeding them from start to finish takes about 20-30 minutes. I do it whenever one of the babies' crops empties.

And here is Izzy waiting to be fed, his wing span is about 7 inches!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I'm pretty sure my little Nico is dying He keeps closing his eyes and is having major balance issues and isn't crying anymore. He's sooo light. I love my little Nico so much and don't want him to die.

My breeder friend is completely stumped as to what's wrong with them. Well, we know it's digestive issues, but what's causing it? We had been thinking it was probably an infection passed on from the parents, but that may not be it. Considering how little nutrition the chicks have been getting the past week, they should look very stunted and have poor feather growth and severe stress lines on their feathers, and their tail feathers should look different. But they don't! Both chicks look perfect and proportionate with appropriate feathering for their ages. No signs of stunting or malnutrition, except of course that they're very small and skinny. They're like tiny midget birds. The breeder says she's never seen anything like it and she's raised a couple THOUSAND baby cockatiels in her life.

 

[SOOOSKA]

What a Beautiful book Shiloh.

Prayers for the littles ones.ray:ray:

Susan:nurse:

 

[mistyjr]

So sorry! I hope the best! ray::hug1

 

[Nancy McClelland]

were so sorry for all your trials and tribulations. We have Zebra Finches who are really great breeders, so we also know the heartbreak of losing them when they are young. You're all in our prayers. ray:

 

[LuvaBun]

:shock:OMG How scarey is this!! Would make a great picture for Halloween!

ray: continuing for Nico

Jan

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Baby Nico died this afternoon I fell asleep for a while (didn't sleep last night) and when I checked on him after I woke up, he was dead.

 

[TinysMom]

I am so sorry for your loss - even though you saw it coming.

Could this be a genetic thing with the mama and papa? I know sometimes in rabbits....the parents can be bred to others just fine - but when bred together - they produce babies with problems. I don't know if that makes sense.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Peg, my breeder friend and I are thinking that may well be the case with these little ones. She thinks it may be on Poppet's side because she's a Lutino. What terrible luck I've been over tired and very sad because of the sick babies, but the poor little chicks are the ones who REALLY suffered here. Once everything calms down, I'm very curious to find out if Arthur or Poppet have infections they're passing to the chicks. If it turns out they're both fine, then it must be something genetic.

I know this sounds completely crazy, but now I actually really WANT to get a good, healthy pair of tiels and try my hand at breeding them. I want to experience raising healthy babies just once. I definitely have the experience and knowledge to do it now. Paul and I talked about it and we may do just that a couple of years down the road.

In any case, I feel very lucky to have Phoenix. I hope he grows up healthy! I wonder why he lived and everyone else died (except for Izzy but I don't know what will happen with him). Phoenix is a fussy little bird- most baby cockatiels LOVE their owners and want to be with them all the time, but Phoenix is kind of antisocial. He's very tame, he just doesn't really like being handled or being with us. It's weird. I make him spend time with us and handle him a lot because I do not want him to turn into some hermit of a cockatiel! I'm hopeful that he'll become more social as he grows up. I love him to death anyway and think his quirky little personality is hilarious in spite of my concerns

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Baby Izzy is 3 weeks old today. 3 weeks old and only 36 grams! That's insane! He weighs as much as a normal 5-6 day old cockatiel. He should weigh over 100 grams. When Phoenix was 3 weeks old, he was sick too and weighed 54 grams. To think I was very distressed about 54 grams, that's so much more than what Izzy weighs. He's my tiny midget baby. Seeing as his health has been stable for the past several days, I have this mental image of him being like 3 months old and 40 grams. He'd be the smallest cockatiel ever. I don't think he can keep going like this- he's either going to start gaining weight (please please please!) or he'll start getting worn down and melt away like Nico did.

 

[JadeIcing]

*hugs* You make perfect sense in wanting to still breed. *hugs*

 

[LuvaBun]

I'm sorry about Nico

Izzy could still defy all the odds - Phoenix did.

Jan