phfm
Newbie
Posts: 9
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Post by phfm on Dec 15, 2010 6:45:40 GMT 10
Morning all,
We are having mixed luck with the new Quarrions this year.Two breeding boxes,two hens and one hen has disguarded her eggs,BUT the other one has hatched 1 out of three eggs and has a fresh looking youngster,now about 1 week old.
From last years experience,if there appears to be something wrong the parents,both greys will squash the younster and leave it in the bottom of the box,for me to bury.I dont want this to happen this year,so what is the best way to keep the youngster alive and what do we feed it on and keep is as a house pet.
Can any one advise on the best thing,food,bedding etc,that we should do.
All suggestions will be investigated and dealt with.
Thanks for the advise in advance.I shall get a pic if I can.
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Post by vankarhi on Dec 15, 2010 7:03:12 GMT 10
so are you wanting to leave it in the nest box with the parents and you keep a close eye on it or are you planning on taking it for raising?? Cockatiels are soooooo easy to raise and such a treat too. I love the way they beg and open their wings and just PUMP for the food ;D ....... actually Rikki the alexandrine I am almost finished raising since 2 days of age was like this too......such a pleasure. I have used roudybush and kaytee exact in the past to raise my chicks on but this year I have swapped over to neocare. I can get it cheap from our local bird club and I am now happy with it. Depending on how old it is when you decide to take it from the nest will depend on how much to feed and how often.......although cockatiels love to be fed everytime they "see" you ........ their incessant calling can be annoying too at times (once again like my Rikki is at the moment lol) If you are taking or have taken it from the nest now........I would feed it enough by spoon that it's crop is nice and full but not overly full and still nice and spongy and then see how it is after 3 hours. Keeping an eye on it in between feeds to see how the crop is emptying. If the crop is empty then feed it again. Try to make the first couple of feeds more watery so it can adjust to the formula......then slowly thicken it but it must still be of runny consistancy but thicker than water....probably more like thickened cream before it gets whipped??. The chicks get their fluid from the formula and if it is too thick then they will dehydrate and they could get impacted also. Also try not to overfeed and you need to try to slowly lengthen the feeding times too. ie....start at maybe 2 hourly feeds just so you can see how it's crop is emptying and try to have it on 3 hourly feeds within a couple of days aiming for 4 -5 hourly feeds by the 2 week mark and aiming for 3 - 4 times a day by 3 weeks. This also means you will need to make sure it's crop is full (remembering not to overfill the crop which is easy to do with the tiels). I probably have made it sound so difficult  but really it isn't. I am sure someone better at explaining it than I am will come on soon ;D |
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Post by vankarhi on Dec 15, 2010 7:05:06 GMT 10
oh also the formula needs to be warm ........ I test the temp on my wrist like a baby bottle and I also used my wrist to guage the thickness of the formula too depending on how runny or not it was on my wrist. But you will work that out for yourself (the thickness that is).
Also make sure all utensils are clean and never reuse formula.
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Post by avinet on Dec 15, 2010 9:12:30 GMT 10
From last years experience,if there appears to be something wrong the parents,both greys will squash the younster and leave it in the bottom of the box,for me to bury Tracey has given you good advice about hand rearing the cockatiel - and I would also direct you to my care sheet on hand rearing at www.mooloolabapets.com.au/html/hand_rearing_baby_birds.htmlJust a comment on the above quote from your post. It is a common misconception that, when a baby is found dead and squashed in a nest box, that it has been squashed either by the parents or older siblings. In fact a baby becomes squashed after it has died from other causes, and once it is dead that can occur quickly. Parent birds are incredibly good at not squashing a baby, and those babies are tougher than they look. If a baby is found dead in the nest box and squashed then other causes of death have to be considered. It may be poor parenting - not keeping the baby warm or not feeding for instance, or even attacking the baby for some reason, but not squashing. And of course babies also die because of infection. Similarly a baby will not be squashed by it's siblings - or at least not until after it has died. It may die because much larger siblings are getting all the food, but that will only occur if the parents are poor parents. Good parents always make sure the smallest as well as the biggest are looked after. cheers, Mike |
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but really it isn't. 
