Emergency Help...

[adnan]

Hi
I am breeding budgies first time.

My budgies are breeding at the moment, with 3 babies 20 days old appx.

cock stop feeding hen since morning, therefore hen stops feeding babies (feeding babies sometimes very little amount when they shout).

babies are almost at the edge of entrance hole and shouting as they looks hungry to me.

It seems like that when babies shout for food, cock try to approach the nest, but hen stops him,
and suddenly starts chasing the cock and try to take food from cock.

And some times cock feed her, and hen feeds chicks.
Hen is eating very little on its own.

I pull the chicks out of the nest and their crop looks like empty and put them back into the nest while hen shouting for babies and she also tried to stop me accessing babies by going into the nest and trying to cover babies.


Before this story everything seems normal, when cock feeding to hen and babies as well.

Now, in evening hen is again inside the nest and cock is guarding outside.

Finally, I am worried about the babies, they may not have get enough food as regular.

Is this all normal behavior or should I hand feed them or leave them as it is??

[kaylayuh]

I've never bred birds before, but I'd say if you think they're not getting enough to eat, pull them and hand feed them.

[Michael]

The Parrot Forum does not endorse discussions about breeding parrots because online discussion cannot replace experience, lessons from an experienced breeder, and good judgement. Things you do can be life and death so it is best that you seek in person help from a breeder or someone with specific experience.

People without the requisite experience should not be breeding or raising parrots.

[patdbunny]

Grab the babies 3 times a day - a.m., mid-day, evening. Look at the crop, feel the crop. If there's food in there the babies are fine. If the crops are flat and empty you need to handfeed the babies. At 20 days old you may not be able to get them to take handfeedings with a syringe or spoon and you will need to crop tube them. If you don't know how to crop tube you need to have someone show you. An avian vet or an experienced breeder can show you. If you try to crop tube yourself and you don't know what you're doing you can kill the bird instantly in your hand.

[captwest]

Is this all normal behavior or should I hand feed them or leave them as it is??

As for the first part of your question, yes this is fairly normal with young breeders , these are the types of problems you can expect.The second part, if it were me, i'd pull the chicks and handfeed.I don't know of your experience level but if going to breed birds your going to lose alot when learning what to do.If things are still going bad PM me and i'll give you a crash course in handfeeding. I hate to see baby birds die , when there might be something i can do.