Lovebird parents fighting

[beak]

Hello, just need a bit of a hand here, My love birds (masked) that i thought weren't even a pair have rasied a cupple of chicks. I keep them in a cage, 2foot high, 1 foot deep, and 2 foot long. I had a nesting box in there just too keep them warm at night, but they used it to breed! My problem is the chicks are now poking their heads out of the box and look ready to leave, they seem to have all their feathers (I haven't touched them or anything) But the mum bird has started acting werid, she hangs around at the nest opening and keeps fending of the male with bitting and stuff. Today when i heard a big commotion I went out and checked them and the male has a nasty gash on his beak, it looks like shes slipped a beak tip in under where it joins his face and pulled. It bleed pretty bad, but also stopped pretty quick, when i saw it i ran around the back to grab another cage to put him in, and when i was back it had stopped bleeding. So i am undecided on what i should do. Do i remove him, or is it best to leave them together till the babies leave the nest? Is my female really over protective or is this normal?

Thanks heaps for your advice, I have never had baby birds
before.

beak

[linda040899]

Actually, momma lovebird is the one you need to remove! At this point in time, dad is taking over the feeding duties and will teach the babies to eat on their own. Mom's role is just about finished and she's probably beginning to think about having another family. That could be why she's gotten so aggressive with dad.

Pull mom and return dad. Watch to make sure he feeds the youngsters. He should. If he doesn't, you'll have to put mom back in and pray she doesn't also get aggressive with the babies.

[beak]

Thanks for the advice, I had actually read that somewhere, that the male does the feeding after they are out of the box. Things seem to have settled down now, the extra cage i have is pretty small so in the end i didn't end up removing anyone.
I have aslo read that you need to keep the nest box in there so the babies can rest their legs? How soon does the female lay the next lot of eggs? I don't want her to have another family so soon after the first babies. if i remove the nest box and she has eggs ready to be laid can she get egg bound? i guess i am asking when should i remove the box?

Thanks heaps

beak

[linda040899]

How soon momma lovebird begins her next clutch depends on the individual pair. You need to get to know your own birds. However, as soon as dad takes over, mom has more time on her wings, so to speak, and most start at that point.

Once all the youngsters are out of the box, you can remove it. They are perfectly capable of sleeping on perches or they may all go to the bottom of the cage and sleep as a group there. I've not seen that too often but it can happen.

Should you find an egg in the box within the next few days, you are pretty much going to have to let her go through her cycle. If you don't want babies, there are a few things you can do. As she lays each egg, you can replace it with a fake egg. That way she will still have something to sit on that will not hatch. If you don't have or can't get fake eggs, you can remove each egg shortly after it's laid and boil it for 2 minutes before returning it to the box. There is nothing developing in a newly laid egg so all you are doing is prevention. Adling/shaking small egg is not effective so using that method is an effort in futility.