Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

[Loriusgarrulus]

For those that have a large number of birds that require a lot of spray bottles of water for misting them, you might consider getting one of those one gallon sized pump up sprayers like are used for spraying plants. They work pretty well as long as you pump them up once in a while, when spraying.

Just a thought that might be useful.

It is usually a finer, steadier spray, too. Some birds react to it better. It's more natural.

I use a litre bottle plant sprayer.
For birds that pluck I add 1 teaspoon of food grade glycerin and 1 teaspoon of food grade rosewater per litre of water and mix well.
This seems to help them stop plucking in a lot of cases for some reason.

[liz]

I have to keep switching hands to spray my Tiels. They each want to be sprayed first. I thought about a gallon pump but thought it might scare them. Other than when I sit on the floor spaying is the only time they all come to me at once.

[liz]

Tweet and Jackie are still taking turns on the nest. I have not switched out the eggs. Tweet has hatched a single chick twice then threw it out of the nest. Her mother, Jackie, was concerned but all she ever did was to keep it warm. I wonder if there is something wrong with the chicks or if Tweet is retarded. Since Jackie is taking turns with Tweet I want to see what happens. I know it is cruel to the chick but the hope is that Jackie and the flock will raise it.
I still have not caught Flutter but Gimpy seems to be okay with him being out. Some others have been begging to get out. I am going to cover everything in the room to protect it then let them out in the guest room.

Rainbow and Myrtle have been in the bathroom for almost 2 months now. They are not happy there. Rainbow either spends time in the window yelling at everything in her sight or in the cardboard box that I put under the sink. Rainbow will not share the window so Myrtle has to hang upside down to look out. Myrtle has her curtain rod with hanging toys but is not happy. Her personality has changed to asking for kisses instead of the usual torment that she was. Yesterday morning when I went in she would not let Rainbow up on the counter so I picked Rainbow up and put her on the counter. Myrtle bit me and brought blood. Then when Rainbow went running backwards to rub on Myrtle I knew what was going on.
I told my son that they needed help. He found the big iron cage that Rainbow had and braced it up against the little window. It is big enough for the two parrots to perch and play with toys but will give them access to the outside for enrichment.
I expect them to be a lot happier today. Rainbow used to get into a tiny cage when I asked him if he wanted to go outside. Once out he yelled "HELLLLOOOOO" to anything that moved. Myrtle would never go into a tiny cage so she just watched from her hanging toy at the sliding glass door. This should be very exciting for her. They were both excited just to have Charles working outside the window.

This should also be enrichment for Jake the Boxer who's horse friends were taken away. I spend as much time as I can with him but her knows he is alone and lonely. My son has had fear of big dogs since he was two and his dad brought home a long legged Beatle that knocked him down all the time. Charles has been giving Bruce snacks through the fence. We had to move Jakes dogloo near Charles' trailer because Jake was spending so much time in that part of his enclosure.

Well I am facing the day hopeful. I will get back to you how it worked.

[liz]

Went to feed my cockatiels and found a piece of yellow fluff outside Tweet's nest. This is the third time she has thrown a chick out. Jackie was just watching and not caring for it. I took the eggs away and put the chick back under Tweet. I really really hope they take care of it but I called Rachel for back up.
I just don't understand. Jackie raised 2 of her own. Tweet is one of them. Do you think it could be something wrong with the chick that they can see and I can't?

The chick has been under Tweet for about an hour now. I am hoping that there is a shift change soon and Jackie sits on it. Surely maternal instincts will kick in.

[Pajarita]

Liz, you keep on tempting fate with these occasional eggs and getting the same bad result and, to be honest, I don't know what to tell you anymore...

[liz]

I had hopes that since Jackie was taking turns on the nest that she would care for the babies. But I fear their is something wrong with them is why they are being put out. If they did not take care of that baby then I will close the nest and Tweet will never get to hatch another egg. I don't want baby birds and Tweet is an unwed mother. I was really hoping that Jackie would show Tweet what to do. I do fear that there is something wrong with Tweet's babies. Max and Jackie came to me with Tweet and Retweet so I know Jackie knows what to do.
This is it. Never again.

Tammy and Shadow do not have sex so I don't worry about them. Maggie was a breeder bird who accepted Andy as a friend and no sex. She does not want any more babies. The rest are singles with only Tweet getting pregnant from Flutter. With the little I know about my little rescues, Tweet may be the only one young enough to have fertile eggs.

It won't happen again.

[liz]

I wish I had a fertile Bantam egg to give to Rainbow. She wants to be a momma and I would be able to feed it while she kept it warm.


The baby was out of the nest but someone fed him. I threw Tweet off the nest and took the eggs. I put the baby in and so far so good she is sitting on it.

When Sweetie and Shadow hatch one baby because the rest of the eggs were damaged. I named him Columbus because he came out of the nest early. He was alone in there. I had them separated from Lemone' but the cages were together. Lemone' kept trying to get to the baby. I thought to hurt it until I realized the baby was going to him. I put them all back in the big cage and Lemone' became the nanny and helped with the feedings and care.

[Pajarita]

Liz, you are projecting human behaviors on birds and that doesn't work. Birds don't 'want' to be mommas, there is no future projection of desires in their thoughts, not with things like that -they don't want to 'be married and have children' like people do. It's either they are producing sexual hormones or they are not producing them. Period. And tiels are known for not taking care of their babies when conditions are not ideal - sheesh, they even kill the babies themselves!

[liz]

I promise this will never happen again.

So far so good. Jackie and Tweet are taking turns keeping it warm and someone has been feeding it. I took the rest of her eggs. They were all fertile. It feels like baby killing but it is better that they don't hatch something is wrong that they have to be trained to feed them.

They have been feeding it though I don't know when. Baby birds make a lot of noise when being fed. I can't hear them though. This is the first time they have been behind a closed door.

[Pajarita]

Make sure they have access to nutritious soft food, warm and fresh, twice a day. And don't forget the vit D3 and calcium!