Stressing about possible babies!!

[Mare]

Chip and Jellybean have been setting on their three eggs for a couple of weeks now, I'm waiting for my informative books, should be here by Tuesday but in the mean time I've been researching on line, lots of YouTube videos and THEY got me even more stressed out!

I suppose I need to take some deep breathes and take it as it comes..breathe in..breathe out..

[Mare]

Words of wisdom will be appreciated.. :). I realize most folks don't breed birds, this will be my first venture and it scares the HELL!..out of me!!

[Mare]

..hello..?..

[LunaLovebird]

Don't know a lot about breeding. I assume you have all the stuff you need though? If they're first time parents, there's a high chance that some won't make it, or they'l get kicked out of the nest. Do you have a heat pad and hand raring stuff for if that happens? How is mamma bird eating?

[Mare]

Thank you for the comeback, Luna. No, I'm not prepared for much, not yet. I'm heading to the city tomorrow and will pick up supplies that I know/think will be needed. I have a heating pad, mama is young and I don't know how much she knows but she eats well.

[LunaLovebird]

How young is she?

[Mare]

She's around a year, which I've learned is pretty young but Daddy is several years old and between the two of them they are doing a pretty good job of taking on the egg setting patrol. They seem to be amazing parents, thus far. Jellybean will sit on them 10-12 hours, Chip will spend half that time on half the eggs and when one is out eating and stretching, the other is on the eggs! Super good parents..so far! :)

[LunaLovebird]

The risk with her being young isn't just to the babies, but to her. It can be detrimental to her health, and harmful to future breeding success (if that's your plan). 12 months isn't that bad from what I've read, but you would have been better to hold them off until she is 18 months and gone into it a little more prepared (things can go pear shaped rather quickly). H

Regardless, it's good that they seem to be doing well and have the parenting thing down pat so far. You will need to keep an eye on Jellybean and what / how much she is eating. Tiels, as I'm sure you know, are prone to binding. She'll need plenty of calcium, so if she has no mineral block that she is using, perhaps scrape some cuttlebone onto her food.

[Mare]

There was never a "plan" of breeding cockatiels, it did happen, though. I didn't know that they are prone to binding. She does love to chew on the cuttlebone bone. Thanks for the advice, Luna. I think we need more cages..!

[LunaLovebird]

Yeah, it's how it goes sometimes. Silly birds sure know how to surprise us and keep us on our toes. Cockatiels are very prone to binding, much more so than other birds. I only know this because lovies are also fairly prone to it, and it's mildly terrifying. It's very good that she's chewing the cuttlebone, though. One less thing for you to stress about until you start getting hatchlings. I do see some more cages in your near future, haha.

[spiritbird]

Mare think about having the dummy eggs on hand. It's a backup more than anything. I really understand your fear. That's why I do not give my birds a nest box. I know your girl laid the eggs before nest box in sight. Cedardave is our resident breeder.

I do know the nesting birds and babies need a quiet place. You can still have tame babies and not hand feed if mom and dad are feeding. Cockatiel are supposed to be excellent parents. Co parenting is nice too I hear. Both you and parents feed. Do you have anyone in your area that breeds birds? May be a help to you. We are here for you too.

[Robyn]

So basically you should be prepared to take over if you need to for whatever reason, keep it humid near the cage to help prevent egg binding and make sure she has lots of calcium, get a heating pad or lamp incase you need to make a brooder, syringes in case they need to be fed, scale to weigh and monitor them. If you plan to coparent don't bother feeding them just handle them often. About 15 minutes 4 times a day per baby and they will still be tame.

[Mare]

Thank you, Dianne and Robyn :). I'll be picking up supplies today. As far as coparenting goes, it does sound like a great option but Chip is SO protective of his nest and Jellybean..I don't think he will go along with me handling the babies, not while he's alive anyways :)

[Robyn]

If you choose to handfeed don't pull them for 2 weeks and again make sure to handle them for 15 minutes 4 times a day for each baby.

[spiritbird]

You may get a bite or two from Chip but handling them is important. You will have to clean the nest box so Chip will get used to your hands.

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[Casper's 2nd best friend]

You'd better put chain-mail gloves on the shopping list as well then. :)

[Cedardave]

Keep in mind that even though they may have eggs...be on eggs and tending to them,its not always a sure thing they will be viable and hatch.They may well...but often the first and second round of eggs turn out to be duds.Of course you need to let them do their parental duties by tending to them.Hopefully you have some idea of when to expect hatch time.Most birds are about 28 days from the last egg...give or take.Egg laying by the way will occur wether there is a nest box or not.If people use newspaper as play toys ...if a bird chews wood into pieces....etc..which almost every female bird will do...then if the eggs are ready to come out they will....nestbox or not.Many birds will lay them in a quiet corner on the cahe bottom.I have heard of birds that would surprise their humans with an egg in the food bowl.Similarly..the ideal scenario would be for our captive companion birds to have a quiet place to lay their eggs.In nature they seek put the quiet spots as well.Depending on location both in nature,where there can be the constant sounds of a busy city near nesting grounds...or large flocks noisy birds ,and in our homes where life just happens and everyone needs to make adjustments to new babies on the way...they will also adjust in order to procreate.That is instinctual.Its the one thing we havent taken away from these guys by keeping them as pets.You can manipulate diet to an extent to help avoid starting up the hormonal machine...but its still there ready to be started.We all do the best we can for our companions and thats what makes having them as part of our families so rewarding.

[Mare]

Thank you, Dianne! A very enlightening site! I'm hoping to be a pro by the end of this adventure and Jean-Pierre, I've bought a couple of pairs of long rubber gloves :)

[Mare]

Thanks, Dave :). I've read that this is a possibility. What do you do if this scenario happens? If the eggs don't hatch..then what? I'm figuring that if they are going to hatch, it will be somewhere's between April 11-14. Do you just snatch them from the nest box? Thank you for jumping in here, I'm needing some support :)

[wingman]

Mare no need to stress out! If i can do it you can boo and pumkin turned out fine. Hand feeding is fun and very rewarding. Get a syringe and à thermometer . mix the food formula up not thin and not to thick just follow directions and i found that the hot water that comes out is pretty close to the right temp just monitor it so its not too hot . fill the syringe and put it to the left side of the birdies mouth and go slow the bird will instinctly learn just go slow pushing the formula drops first when the crop fills the they have enough and will not want any more. The books you ordered will tell the right temp for the formula. If it gets to cool it needs to be thrown out so it wont bulk up in the crop. Always make new formula when its feeding time and i always washed the mix bowl and syring after feeding in hot water also the thermomter; wait about 2weeks so they can get the parents bacteria in thier system then put the babies in a tupperware type shoe box with a heating pad on low to keep them warm while feeding. Have paper towels they do get messy and this way you can wipe off beaks and face feathers its almost like feeding a human baby. Its fun and satifying and you can do it no doubt. Also just pet and love on them..you will love it!!!!!!!!!

[spiritbird]

Charlie these old eyes are having a hard time reading your post because of the small size.

[Mare]

Thanks, Charlie! :). I needed that!

[wingman]

Here is a hand feeding chart I used with my lovebirds

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[Mare]

Fertile cockatiel eggs should hatch 18-21 days after the parents start laying on them. The dented egg had broke and I removed it so there are two left. Today is day 22 and I can't find any info on how much longer I should let the parents set, when to take them and how?..does anyone here know?

Chip and Jellybean have been so diligent in caring for these eggs, I know it's going to be heartbreaking when I have to remove them :(.

[Lady]

Aww Mare, I think it might be hard on you too. Don't stress, let nature take it's course. I'm sure they will have no problem in trying again~

[Mare]

Thank you for the response, Alice :). The decision to ditch their eggs and nest box is a tough one. I know I can't just let them keep going. I suppose I was hoping someone had a manual for "how to"...how do you live with the guilt of being the person to dump the nest.. :(

I could probably ask Tim to do it.. I'm so sad right now

[Lady]

Well if the eggs aren't fertile then your dumping empty shells :). Maybe you can distract Chip and Jellybean so they don't see you do it?

[Mare]

Yeah.. :( Empathy is a rough one to live with, too..dang

[The Pinkertons]

Fertile cockatiel eggs should hatch 18-21 days after the parents start laying on them. The dented egg had broke and I removed it so there are two left. Today is day 22 and I can't find any info on how much longer I should let the parents set, when to take them and how?..does anyone here know?

Chip and Jellybean have been so diligent in caring for these eggs, I know it's going to be heartbreaking when I have to remove them :(. I was doing some research found some info on talk cockatiels' =some members were they had some hatch at 28 days .parents don't always start sitting/incubation right away. also depends on time of year. Maybe wait for a few more days to be sure.

[spiritbird]

You could go 30 days. They will keep mating if not separated for a while. It's not unusual for first time parents to miss. Big hug to you. Do you want them to try again?

[Mare]

Thank you, Suzanne :). I'm on a closed group, U2 forum and sounded off on my predicament, of course :) I've learned that you leave the eggs until the parents decide to abandon the nest. This makes it so much easier for me to decide.

[The Pinkertons]

Thank you, Suzanne :). I'm on a closed group, U2 forum and sounded off on my predicament, of course :) I've learned that you leave the eggs until the parents decide to abandon the nest. This makes it so much easier for me to decide. yes much better, now you wont have to feel like the home wrecker :indecisiveness:

[Mare]

Dianne, no, I'm not really looking to raise a clutch of cockatiels. If it happened, I would certainly embrace them but now I'm thinking about how to keep them from not mating, again!

[spiritbird]

I understand perfectly. Did you get dummy eggs? Since I took out the nest box I gave mine a few months ago there has been no mating behavior.

[Cedardave]

They will eventually give up on the eggs if they turn out to be duds.Often it's a few days or up to a week or so.You will see them abandon the nest or throw the eggs out of it.I think dummy eggs just disturb their natural process of giving up and can extend their commitment to a successful hatch.We stay away from those.No where in nature are dummy eggs used...and we are supposed to be giving our companions the best we can right!.If they don't hatch two weeks after you expect them to I would consider removing them.Place a light in front of them and be sure there is no one home.You will likely see either all liquid or a solid dry mass that doesn't move on one side...disgard them.You will likely see more eggs on the coming weeks though.Once they start they will often keep going.

[Mare]

Thank you, Dave! Now I'm sorta torn between getting the eggs, or not. John Langkamp, who I believe is a member on our forum, is the person that responded to my post on the U2 site. He shared this site with me and I thought it had some good info. [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] jX5vZ8OtPNSLWjPTvAKsQ3yZ6bwmPtNOxX8_vdhEADTtghembR hccqWT2AHPtJHxNpdfDzP0VHYiqWd-GyeO9w&s=1

[spiritbird]

I do not agree about the dummy eggs not being valuable. Our birds are not in the wild so their response may be different than in a more natural environment.


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[Mare]

A couple of years ago, Amigo tried to hatch a yellow plastic seed cup for many weeks! He's not too picky :). I tried to exchange it for a golf ball, thinking it might be more comfortable but, no..no..he rolled it out of his nest. Maybe he IS picky!

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I went back through my photos and this pic was taken LAST year!..May 19,2015

[spiritbird]

I remember that.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

I wouldn't have expected anything less from Amigo. He's a square peg in a round hole sort of bird. :)

[Mare]

He truly is, Jean-Pierre :)

[kendrafitz]

I remember that and loved that story. Amigo is just THE BEST!

[Mare]

I remember that and loved that story. Amigo is just THE BEST!


..or worst, Kendra. Depends on who's telling the story :)

[kendrafitz]

Lol. Well for me he is THE BEST. I have a serious crush on him. :)

[Mare]

Chip and Jellybean have finally given up on the eggs, thank you, Universe! I took the nest box, containing the two eggs, and got rid of it. I tell you what...these are now some happy, care-free birds that chirp and bounce around all day. I admire their resoluteness and determination to get this job done but it's now over and it was a sad day indeed, for me, I'm NOW.. all ok. :)

[spiritbird]

Glad the tiels are back to normal things. Maybe next Spring.