Cockatiel Egg and Chick Thread

[SnowyShiloh]

I feel so defeated. Baby Neeja passed away at some point since I fed and medicated him a couple of hours ago. I checked on him in the brooder and he was gone. He was snuggled with his stuffed bunny. Poor baby. In some ways I'm relieved because he's finally at rest, but so sad at the same time. Fly free, my feisty baby- you tried so hard to survive.

 

[Nela]

:cry4:

I'm so sorry...

 

[mistyjr]

:hug1:cry2 I am soo sorry for your loss of those babies!! I didnt know it was that hard to raise cockatiels. I had them when I was a teen. I tried to breed them and the eggs would never developed. **HUGS TO YOU**

 

[JadeIcing]

*hugs*

 

[landi]

I'm so sorry but little Pheonix looks like he's doing good

xxx

 

[hartleybun]

:hug: i am so sorry - fly free little birdray:

on a happier note i am pleased to see the lovelypic of phoenix - such a handsome little dude! stay strong and positive for his sake now.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Yes, I'm glad we still have baby Phoenix. He is 12 days old today. When I gave him his morning meds, his little crop was nearly empty. That makes it pretty obvious that his crop is emptying fine! It's normal for the parents to go several hours without feeding them at night and they're feeding him right now, so I'm only a LITTLE worried.

Phoenix is going to face some hurdles. First, my friend is coming to stay with us on Tuesday. She will be sleeping on the couch in the living room (no other place for her to sleep) which is 3 feet from the bird cage. I'm sincerely hoping Arthur and Poppet don't abandon Phoenix because of her presence. And then my friend and I are leaving on Thursday and coming back the next Tuesday, so Paul will be in charge for 4 days and 2 half days. Hopefully they don't abandon him because Paul's caring for them, which he doesn't normally do! And THEN, after my friend and I get back, our relatives who have never seen our home because they live far away will be arriving for our wedding. I actually only plan to let them peek in the door of our house quickly because I don't want a bunch of people parading through the living room right now. Final hurdle will be our honeymoon. We'll be gone 6 days and the pet sitter will be caring for the birds. Hopefully Arthur and Poppet won't abandon him then...

The plan is as follows: starting this evening, Paul will begin to share the bird chores so they get used to him digging around in the cage and nest box. I will teach him to handfeed as best as I can (wish now I'd made him watch when I fed Teddy and Neeja!) and how to do all the other important baby bird things in case they abandon him while I'm gone since he'll need to be hand raised then. As for the pet sitter, if Phoenix is still in the nest box with Arthur and Poppet, we'll have the sitter meet all 3 birds and do some bird chores before we leave so they'll hopefully be used to him. We'll keep in daily contact with the pet sitter and if it appears Phoenix begins to develop any problems while we're gone, we'll come home, get him and the handfeeding/brooding supplies, and drive back to finish our honeymoon! Where we're going is only 6 hours drive away so we can do that if we have to.

So we have some interesting times ahead of us, but hopefully everything will work out.

 

[LuvaBun]

Oh, poor little Neeja! I'm so sorry, Shiloh. This breeding thing really sucks

Jan

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Arthur and Poppet are mating right now :grumpy::grumpy: Nooooooo. I had the feeling they were thinking about laying another clutch! There will not be more babies, I can't do this again. *IF* we ever do let them have babies again, at least I will be much more prepared since I know what to look for in crops and have all the supplies on hand (particularly special syringes with soft, flexible tips to stick down into the crop and suck out the contents which is much safer than holding the chick upside down to empty them) and know how to handfeed, but I want to get Arthur and Poppet to the vet to be checked for any infections or health problems before they would ever have babies again.

If eggs are laid, I'm going to have to shake them up. Mean, yes, but the baby won't feel it- I'll do it as soon as they're laid so they won't even have begun to develop.

 

[TinysMom]

I'm so sorry. I agree with you for deciding to shake the eggs - I know its a hard decision but with all you have going on right now with your upcoming wedding, etc.

I wish I could be there to help....

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Yeah, I looked at the calendar and the first egg would hatch in the middle of our honeymoon. Not happening. I'd rather the chicks' lives never begin than them hatch and suffer and die.

Also Mr Fatty is 76 grams today and I've been given permission to discontinue his medications! He isn't showing signs of sour crop and being medicated unnecessarily is dangerous, especially to a delicate baby bird. I still have the meds on hand to treat him should he get sick. And I paid $20 shipping for those syringes with the long flexible tips to use to empty his crop if it comes down to it.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Every day I weigh Phoenix at 10:30 pm and that's his official weight for the day. Little dude managed to pack on 1 extra gram since earlier and is 77 grams. Wow! 10 grams in one day! That is not the weight gain of a sick baby. He weighs 8 grams less than his parents. EIGHT. And he's only 12 days old! 1 week ago he weighed 15 grams and was undersized because he was dehydrated when he hatched and then was being fed food inappropriate for his age so didn't grow fast. 77 grams is exactly the weight of the chick on the Watch Me grow chart at 12 days: http://justcockatiels.weebly.com/watch-me-grow.html

Only difference is Phoenix's feather growth is more advanced than that chick's and his hairdo is taller.

Speaking of hairdo...

Baby face! Also I think I spy some tiny little yellow feathers at the very front of his crest! They may be gray and just look yellow because they're tiny, but tomorrow we should have a better idea. It would be beyond cute if he had a couple yellow feathers in his hairdo!

 

[mistyjr]

Very Cute!

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Very cute indeed I am sorry for the loss of the other three chicks. I have been reading this thread for a while and just want to say THANK YOU for sharing it with us. I have learned a lot just by reading this thread. I had a cockatiel as a child, very pretty birds.

Sharon

 

[hartleybun]

:inlove:cute.

and i think you are doing the right thing with this new clutch. we bred budgies and canaries when i was a child. the same thing was done then. pheonix is doing so well now - you should be proud of all you have done so far. xx

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Okay, I found out that Phoenix will have a yellow spot on his forehead where those feathers are! It's called a diamond Just another indication of his specialness and pricelessness. Aww, I'm so sappy. Diamonds are fairly unusual for tiels to have, but it does happen. If he really is a boy, the diamond will probably disappear when he molts because his face will be yellow anyway, but if he's a girl it will be much more obvious.

 

[JadeIcing]

OMG! I let out a squeal he is so cute!!!! Thank you so much for sharing I need smiles from anywhere I can get them. So thank you so much.

 

[TinysMom]

Reminds me of the song "Baby Face....you've got the cutest little baby face...".

Yeah - I admit - he's cute....

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Oh good LORD. It is just one thing after another. Poppet has taken it upon herself to pluck poor baby Phoenix's feathers out of his little noggin. At the time of that photo, all his feathers were intact. Then I checked on him again and I could see a tiny pin prick of red on the black of his head and a reddish spot. Then I went to take pictures and can see 2 obvious holes on the back of his head where pinfeathers USED to be. Poppet? Seriously? WHYYYYYYY? This means that Poppet must be removed from the cage because she'll continue to pluck him which is very unhealthy for him. Hopefully Arthur will take care of Phoenix but I have my doubts because as protective as he is, Poppet does most of the care and undoubtedly Arthur will be freaking out over being separated from her. If he won't care for Phoenix, we will have to handfeed him.

Last night was to be my first night of uninterrupted sleep and I didn't go to sleep at all. What a waste.

I guess I should just be glad I have a healthy baby (and I am), but that doesn't stop this from being exasperating!

-says Shiloh, who is off to the pet store to buy a new cage for Miss Plucky...

 

[SOOOSKA]

Shiloh, he/she is so cute. I'm so sorry you lost the other 3, Ican't imagine how hard that is for you. You are doing such a great job with the "birdies".

I keep coming back to see updated pictures of the little guy to watch his developmentalprogress.

Try to get some sleep tonight.

Susan