Cockatiel Egg and Chick Thread

[hartleybun]

missyscove wrote:

They're cute in that awkward, ugly way... a face only a mother and a forum of people who get excited about poop could love.

:yeahthat::litterhealthy: the parents have such a proud look on their beaks! im loving this thread...now goes off to do me routine poop check of bunnies outdoor litter box:biggrin:

 

[LuvaBun]

OMG :shock: I just found this thread, and I am Soooo happy for you, Shiloh. This is just awesome. And I swear Arthur is smiling in this picture

Can't wait to see the chicks grow

Jan

 

[TinysMom]

OMG - Teddy seems so TINY now....

I agree - daddy is smiling - big time. As he should...of course!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Jan, I'm glad you found the thread! The baby birds make me think of my sweet Skyler.

I'm glad everyone else likes the thread, too! And Christina, your comment made me laugh I didn't share this in the thread because I wanted to find out for sure first, but I was worrying a lot this morning that Kieran (Kiki) wasn't being fed well enough. I was SO worried and wondering if I'd have to step in to handfeed. I have been reassured by a very good breeder that both chicks look great and it's normal for baby tiels' crops to be almost empty in the mornings when they're only a couple days old. That's certainly a relief!

Here are a couple pictures of Kiki and Teddy this morning. I took them so I could show the breeder the size difference between them and so she could see a closeup of Kiki.

brand new babies have terrible balance!

I hope no one thinks I'm being mean by taking them out of the nest box for pictures. It's important for the breeder to visually inspect the chicks after they hatch and several times a day because problems with them can spring up VERY fast. If Kiki really had been having a problem, I could have saved his life by noticing so early. They weren't out of the nest box very long either, of course.

I haven't peeked in on them since 10 this morning (when Kiki had a nice, full crop after being fed), so 7 1/2 hours ago. I can hear feeding noises though! I would peek, but Arthur's in there with Poppet and the chicks and he's REALLY gung ho about protecting the chicks so I don't open it when he's in there if I can avoid it. I don't want him to trample them in his enthusiasm!

The next chick will probably start pecking his way out tomorrow. 2 eggs left to go! Talk about an exciting week, huh?

 

[TinysMom]

As a rabbit breeder - I think its VERY important they get taken out of the nestbox and inspected daily - several times per day even.....

I gotta say these two are so ugly...that they're cute somehow....in a strange way.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Aren't they, Peg? The knowledge that they WILL be cute pretty soon makes them cute now They look like old man alien dinosaurs. Also, if you look at the picture of Kiki, you can see eye slits! His eyes won't start opening for several more days, but you can see a white line across his eye that wasn't there when he hatched.

I checked the peepers again. Both babies are being fed well. I only picked up Teddy (who is now fluffy!) this time, and he pooped on me. That's pretty good, considering he just hatched! Sometimes they don't poop for 24 hours.

 

[TinysMom]

Isn't it amazing how excited we get over baby poop and pee?

Wait till they get older and poop and pee...maybe a different reaction?

 

[LuvaBun]

TinysMom wrote:

I gotta say these two are so ugly...that they're cute somehow....in a strange way.

LOL! Got to agree. Like little punk aliens (but very cute ones).

Jan

 

[SnowyShiloh]

It's funny how chickens and ducks and geese pretty much hatch adorable, but parrots do NOT. It's pretty interesting I think. Parrots are very smart animals, and birds like ducks and geese really aren't. Their babies have to hatch ready to walk around and swim and eat on their own. Parrot babies are totally helpless. Reminds me kind of how people are (supposedly, heh!) smart and it takes years and years for human children to be old enough to live on their own, but animals like dogs are ready a lot younger.

Know what's cool about Teddy? I remember candling his egg a short 15 days ago, I peeked into his egg with my little flashlight, and thought I maybe saw a tiny little speck inside. The next day, he had grown a little more and I could see his heart beating away even though he was still super tiny! And now here he is, a mere 2 weeks later, MUCH bigger (though still little for sure), identifiable as a bird, able to chirp and everything.

 

[Nela]

Awwww they are so ug... I mean adorable! Lol seriously, they are cute. I used to handfeed cockatiels a lot and I've always really enjoyed it. Glad Poppitis feeding them properly though ^_^ It will be fun to see them as they grow!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I want to ask people to think good thoughts for little Teddy. He's having some digestive issues- he's passing whole millet seeds in his poop and has since yesterday. I thought maybe it was normal, but it isn't. I'm going to get some acidophillus capsules to mix in with the parents' water so we can get some good bacteria going in his belly. This was advised by the experienced breeder I'm in contact with. I hope Teddy will be okay! He looks great other than that.

Raising babies is NERVE WRACKING.

Oh and when I had the babies out to examine them, Arthur decided he needed to investigate and ended up flying around the room when I saw him and tried to shoo him back into his cage. Kudos to Paul for jumping out of bed and running downstairs to grab him when I called for him. I was holding both babies at the time. We're going to have to do something about the rat cage because I have this fear that when the babies get flight feathers, their sudden first flight will end with them on the rat cage and they'll be killed or injured.

 

[hartleybun]

ray:

 

[LuvaBun]

Aww, hope little Teddy is OK ray:

I am beginning to think Arnold has a Death Wish - 2 flights near the "Jaws of Death":shock:

Jan

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Teddy's still hangin' in there! He looks good to me. I just got them out of the nest box a few minutes to check them over, and Teddy wouldn't poop on me The one time I want to be pooped on! I want to see how his poop is. I bought some acidophilus capsules to mix in with the parents' water, hopefully that will help him out. I hope he'll be okay!

I of course got some pictures and video of the little ones to feed everyone's baby bird addiction

Guess what kind of animal this is?!

They kinda look like big furry caterpillars...

Baby birds! Teddy on the right, Kieran on the left. You can see how much they've grown!

And the video... They were getting sleepy, I gently tickled Kieran to wake him up a bit



For the next video I'll back up a bit so the babies are clearer. They're so small that I need to get up close so you can see them though!

 

[Numbat]

oh WOW! This thread is fascinating! Congrats on the new additions!!! They look so... alien, but in a very cute way :biggrin:

Arthur and Poppet are an absolutely gorgeous couple btw Hope everything continues to go well!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I'm glad you like it, Tess!

I think the third egg may be working on hatching It's "due" tomorrow, so this is about the time I'd expect it! I can hear really quiet chirping from the nest box, in addition to the babies being fed. I don't want to interrupt when the little ones are being fed, but I will check the egg later

 

[SnowyShiloh]

YAYYY!! Baby 3 hatched!! I didn't even know he'd started yet! The super tiny chirps were from him I knew when I opened the nest box and saw the top of an egg shell- I've been removing the shells as the babies hatch.

Hooray for the third baby! Congrats to Arthur and Poppet!

Let me get my photos resized, then I'll post them He's still all wet, he just hatched!

One egg left...

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Okay, here is our newest little one! He's kind of hard to see, but he's the tiny wet one. You can see his head!

I let Paul name him, and he picked Neeja. Paul is a Star Wars geek and Neeja and Kieran are characters in his favorite book. Neeja is a male character, but it sounds kinda girly, so it'll work regardless of the baby's sex!

Welcome to the party, Neeja!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Okay, I went on and cropped the previous photo so you can see Neeja better. And you can see the 4th egg! I'm actually willing to bet it will hatch tomorrow, since Kieran hatched Monday, the egg that died probably would have hatched Tuesday, Teddy hatched Wednesday and Neeja hatched today, Thursday. Isn't it odd to think of Neeja being in a little egg just like that other one a couple hours ago? You can also see the size difference between the three. Later tonight or tomorrow I'll take a picture of all 3 chicks together so we can see the size difference.
His feathers will be all fluffy and dry then.

 

[Nela]

Wooo Shiloh! They are looking gooood. I love their names (Jeff is a bigStar Wars fan as well :wink) Not sure I quite understand what is going on with Teddy? Doesn't the mom regurgitate the food, so if he is passing millet seeds, wouldn't the others as well? Hope all will be okay!