What to feed?

[Mary]

Hey,
I have some newly hatched cockatiels, and i'm not sure what to feed them.
I've been giving them Arrowroot biscut with a little bit of water, but I don't think that is right.
What do I feed them?

[Smiley]

When did they come out of the egg..How many hours are they...The first thing you need to do is just feed water for the first few feeds...and if you have spark I think it is called you should be giving them that..and then start to feed once the egg yolk has been almost all gone...you should go and get a good hand rasied mix for them...feed every two hours...4 hours rest and start again...do you have them in a brooder as well...around 35 to 37 you will need to keep them at to start with..


Natalie

[pollyparrot]

hi mary have u handreared before and could i ask why u are handrearing did the parents kick the babies out as before u think of handrearing a bird for the first time its always a good idea to get a lot of info ect as there are a few things that could go wrong like sour crop crop over stretching and a number of infections pleaseee get as much info as possible from the wonderfull guys here and dont go it alone
good luck vicki

[josiedownunda]

Mary could you please explain the situation a bit more please. Are they just hatched in the nestbox with their parents looking after them or are you the mum to them?
If they are with the parents then you feed the parents what you usually do plus some soft food and greens like grain bread, sprouts, vegies......plus their usual seed and cuttlebone etc. and they will take care of the babies food requirements themselves. If you are raising them yourself then you need lots of help and urgently! Please let us know and maybe we can help you better when we know the full situation. Natalie has given you a quick rundown on handfeeding but until we know more it will be hard to assist.
Jo-Anne

[mary]

hey,
They hatched yesterday afternoon, and I've NEVER hand reared birds. (I didn't know that I had a male and female, I thought they were both male)
I want to hand rear them, because I don't think the parents are capeable of doing it themselves.
My neighbour is helping out now, because he's reared Cockatiels before. I have also rung my local vet, and he came around to check on them this morning, and hes told me what to feed them, etc.

thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it.

Mary

[Smiley]

Hi Mary,

I have beed worried about the little ones...did your bird lay on the ground?...I am so happy that you have gone and got some help.. ...Please lets us know how they get and...It must be so exciting for you to do this...Looks like you will have to put a nest box in nest time..Them the parents will feed them..


Natalie

[mary]

Hi,
The Baby cockatiels were hatched in a nest box, but are staying in my house so I can keep an eye on them.

regards,
Mary

[Zack]

Hi Mary, Did the parents get a chance to feed the babies? I would have left the babies with the parents until you could definately say that the babies weren't getting fed. You can see this easily as the babies crop stays empty.
The parents don't usually feed the babies straight after they have hatched, usually wait about 12hours I think, and the chicks get very important substances from their parents that protect them from diseases to some extent.

All the best with the babies though. Let us know how they are going

Kazz

[mary]

Hi,
No, I didn't leave the babies with the parents, for 2 reasons:
1. the male was starting to attack the babies, and I didn't want him to kill them
2. I didn't feed the parents with the feeding mix you are supposed to during the incubation period to feed the babies. I just fed them the normal seed and fruit and veg, etc.
thanks anyway, I'll try it with her next brood.

Mary

[kim1]

Mary, normal seed fruit and veg is fine, next time don't panic just give the extra when you know they have eggs/chicks, alot of tiels do fine breeding on a fairly normal diet.