Questions for New born Eastern Rosellas

[CyRosellas]

Hi all

I recently bought a pair of wonderful Eastern Rosellas who I keep in a nice and spacious bird house in my back yard. I have tried breeding them as per my son's request and placed a nest where they laid 6 eggs. Three of them hatched this week and out of the 3 newborns 1 is dead.
Questions:
1-Should i remove the dead from the other two?
2-How would I know if they are being feed by their mother, as she rarely comes out of the nest?
3-Is there a special diet that will help the mother feed them?

[Chantilly]

Hi and welcome
Congrats with your chicks, and I am sorry that one died.
I really dont know much as to breeding but I am quite certain that the mother is feeding the chicks--because, she does not need to leave the nest to feed them, the male actually shares his food with her (via regurgitation), and then she will share that among her chicks. You might notice the male leaving the nest to eat more than usual. Feeding their young is a natural instinct, as is incubating eggs and raising chicks, birds are very good parents and it is instinctual for them to care for their young.
I would be guessing that they would do good on a higher protein diet at this time- perhaps some cooked egg every week or two- and added calium as your female did just use a lot on her eggs but I really dont know so please do take the others more experienced advice over mine.
I Think that your rosellas will through the dead chick out on their own, my ducks do this when eggs go rotten- but than again swallows do not through out their dead chicks.
My Best wishes to you and your new babies

[Wolf]

while I don't breed my birds, because of several reasons, I can not conceive of leaving a dead bird in the nest as being healthy for either the parent bird or for the baby birds .

[Pajarita]

Yes, remove the dead baby. The mother, if everything is OK, will feed the babies but you do need to give them soft and rich food as well as calcium sources (cuttlebone is good and, as they are outside, they are getting sunshine so they can easily produce their own vit D3). I do not recommend eggs, they were the go-to food for birds in the past but we now know they are not part of any parrot's natural diet and, as they are full of fat and bad cholesterol, they are not really good for them. But you can give them gloop, cooked couscous, pastina, steel-cut oats or coarse corn meal mixed with pureed fruits and veggies, birdy bread, etc. as well as fruits, veggies and leafy greens (one of each and different each day of the week). They need a large range of produce so as to ensure that they are getting all the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients they need.

Now, I beg you to reconsider breeding these birds. I am not trying to be mean to you or your son but you won't be able to keep the babies and the parents together in the aviary because they will breed among them and incest is as bad for birds as it is for people. You also don't seem to be very knowledgeable (2 babies out of 6 eggs is a real bad ratio) and a lot of knowledge is required if you don't want to end up with dead babies and a dead mother. If you decide to keep the babies what you can do is get yourself some plastic eggs and use them to replace the real eggs as they are laid. It solves the problem of babies born with genetic defects while it allows you to keep them together.