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Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

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Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

Postby Pattid58 » Sun Aug 11, 2019 7:02 am

Hi everyone,
We have a pair of sun conures that have started breeding the past year or so. Gemma has laid 3 eggs each time she had layed eggs which has now been 3 times. Every single time an egg hatches, as soon as it's born, she throws it out of the nest and cares nothing about it. She has never attempted to take care of her babies. They are alive when we find them and try to hand raise them with an incubator and hand feeding. ( this is challenging for newborns )
What would make her kick every baby out every time?? She a terrible mother!!
Pattid58
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 2
Number of Birds Owned: 24
Types of Birds Owned: Macaws, quakers, cockatiels, love birds, sunconure budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

Postby Pajarita » Sun Aug 11, 2019 9:25 am

Hi, Patti and welcome to the forum. How distressing! I can't imagine how terrible it must be to find the newbors discarded like that - and, although I would also try to raise them, the cold fact is that baby birds that are never raised by their parents have behavioral and feeding issues their entire life (and that's why there are no more 'incubator parrots' as there used to be years ago) so the poor babies are actually doomed to a bad life and there is nothing you can do about it.

Now, with the information you have given us, it's pretty impossible to even begin to guess what the problem could be so, please, answer these questions so we have a clearer idea of what is going on:

- how old is your female?
- at what age did she lay her first clutch?
- was your female parent or hand-raised?
- if hand-raised, do you know at what time she was taken away from her parents and weaned?
- what is her diet? do you change it with the seasons?
- what is her light schedule?
- where is her cage located and where, in the cage, is the nest?
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

Postby Pattid58 » Sun Aug 11, 2019 10:31 am

Hi! Thankyou for responding so quickly.
gemma is about 10 years old. Her first clutch was last spring 2018. She was handraised and we got her at about 4 to 5 weeks. She was parent raised for the first couple weeks.
The birds get fresh fruits and veggies every single day and also good quality seed. I have not changed the food with yhneseasons. They are in an outdoor aviary so they have natural light. She doesn't actually have a nesting box...it a cubby that she like to sleep in at night. There is of course her mate in the aviary with her and a very sweet Quaker that doesn't bother anybody. They have their own cubbies. The cubbies are located at the top of the aviary which is about 7 ft tall. The aviary is 6' by 6'
I supposed I should tell you that we live in the Turks & Caicos islands so there is not really any season change. Average temp is 83 degrees year round.
Pattid58
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 2
Number of Birds Owned: 24
Types of Birds Owned: Macaws, quakers, cockatiels, love birds, sunconure budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

Postby Pajarita » Sun Aug 11, 2019 11:24 am

Well, it's not that her endocrine system is screwed up because you are keeping her outside so she should be following a strict solar schedule UNLESS there are street, garden or any other type of light on at night that reaches her aviary - in which case, you need to prevent this from happening.

Her diet is not the best but it's not so bad UNLESS you are free feeding a mix seed that has a lot of sunflower seeds (peanuts?) in which case you need to give her some sort of gloop for breakfast and a lower protein seed mix for dinner.

She was taken too young from her parents and you don't say if you weaned her of the breeder did but there is the distinct possibility that she was weaned too soon or not fed enough during the weaning - and there is really nothing you can do about this because the window of opportunity to fix it came and went already.

It could be the nest because they breed in deep cavities so if the cubby floor is right there, she could be throwing the babies out without actually meaning to in which case you should get a real nest for her.

And it could be the quaker which, although doesn't bother anybody it is a bird that is living right there with them in the same aviary - you don't say how big this aviary is but parrots, although highly social, do not nest one next to the other... well, quakers do because they share a communal nest but even them have 'two room'apartments' for each pair.

So, my advice to you is re-evaluate the diet and double check to see that no light reaches the aviary at night, take the nest away (you don't want her to keep on producing babies that are never going to be really normal) and let her rest for the remaining of the season, change the diet to a lower protein during the resting season (she should be going into molt soon if she is not already there), take the quaker out of the aviary (and adopt another one, quakers are never happy on their own) and, next year, start the condition feeding around the beginning of March and give her a real nest. Personally, I would strongly urge you to stop breeding them - two reasons: 1) you don't seem to have the knowledge and experience to do it and you are obviously doing something not right and 2) these birds are really not happy or healthy in captivity so breeding them for the pet trade is not a kind thing to do...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

Postby liz » Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:54 am

Buy fake eggs and swap out with hers so there will not be any more babies.

I have seen babies kicked out of nest and not cared for. One time it died. Another time a male adopted it.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

Postby Pajarita » Mon Aug 12, 2019 8:19 am

Liz, you are talking cockatiels and these are sun conures - they are different. Cockatiels take turns at incubating and feeding the babies from birth, sun conures don't.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

Postby liz » Tue Aug 13, 2019 1:18 am

I was suggesting fake eggs so it would not happen again.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Sun Conure kicking new borns out of the nest

Postby Pajarita » Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:12 am

I know, and that was a great suggestion! But, whenever giving an example of bird behavior that relates to the OP's question/problem/situation, one always needs to mention the species because they are not all alike and we might end up creating an expectation that will never come to fruition and that could end up having negative consequences. What I am trying to say is that the OP might believe that the father would take up the feeding but, although a male cockatiel might feed a very young baby on its own, it will not happen with a male sun conure.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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