Hi all

I own 2 budgies( a cock :hap: and a hen obviously). After mating my hen laid 4 eggs. I already know about the whole incubation thing and all that. Last night one of the eggs hatched! im not sure if it was the 1st 2nd 3rd or 4th egg she laid but one of them hatched. I'm just wondering what to do now! Do i have to do anything for the chick? when will it come out of the nest box? I've had eggs before, last year, but only one hatched but it died a few days after. I'm just a little stuck on what i have to do with the baby. i have antoher cage for it and all but i gather it wont be needing it just yet. Please give me any help you can!!

 

Sam

 

Moderator’s Message to user

edited only for your safety

Edited December 1, 200618 yr by Nerwen

Keep an eye on the chick to make sure the hen is looking after it, make sure you give the parents a range of foods- grated vegies, sprouted seed (keep it fresh), good quality seed and mineral blocks,this will make it easier on the parents to keep nutrition up to the chicks and keep them healthy for the next few weeks (although they should be fed like this all the time)

It will be 6 weeks before the chicks are weaned (approx-some take longer some are quicker). What size cage do you have them in?- that will depend on what you do with the chicks when they are older, are you keeping them or do you are good homes lined up for them?

Before taking the responsibility of bringing babies into the world please take time to read up about what is needed- this forum is great for information.

Good luck with the little ones- what colour are the parents??

Keep an eye on the chick to make sure the hen is looking after it, make sure you give the parents a range of foods- grated vegies, sprouted seed (keep it fresh), good quality seed and mineral blocks,this will make it easier on the parents to keep nutrition up to the chicks and keep them healthy for the next few weeks (although they should be fed like this all the time)

It will be 6 weeks before the chicks are weaned (approx-some take longer some are quicker). What size cage do you have them in?- that will depend on what you do with the chicks when they are older, are you keeping them or do you are good homes lined up for them?

Before taking the responsibility of bringing babies into the world please take time to read up about what is needed- this forum is great for information.

Good luck with the little ones- what colour are the parents??

 

Thank-you heaps! the mother is looking after it very well! the only thig is that only 1 has hatched and that 1 will be a week old tonight. the hen is blue and grey and the cock is green and yellow. im planning on keeping the baby i want to hand-rear it. the cage is quite big. im just estimating but about 35cmwide 40cm long and 55 cm tallish~! yeah thank you for all the help and ill let you know how it goes!

Sammy

Edited November 11, 200618 yr by Sammy94

im planning on keeping the baby i want to hand-rear it.

 

do you mean you want to remove it from the nest, and take over feeding?

Edited November 15, 200618 yr by Dingo

hand rearing is very time consuming and is usually left for the bigger parrots.

 

It is also used mostly in budgies for when the parents may abandon the babies. In my opinion I feel you should leave the mom to raise the babies. Let it be parent feed and you should handle it daily for taming purposes. O assume this is why you want to hand feed.

 

Unless you have the expertise on hand feeding and the time to feed the baby every 3 hours along with keeping it warm in an incubator it is best left to mom. Fatility rate can be pretty high will these little ones from my understanding.

 

Good Luck.

 

 

 

 

 

side note: putting it in a cage it will die if the baby is not incubated in an incubator or kept a certain tempature. Mom budgies can do just that.

if your 12 i assume you are going to school, if you plan on hand raising a chick your going to have to bring the bird to school and schools don't let you do that. in my last year of school i did that (after asking and getting no many times) i got in SO MUCH trouble, and thats in grade twelve, in grade 6-7 i don't think thats a great idea plus if you did you may be responsible for your aged but your classmate may not be and bad things can happen. and its unrealistic to ask your mom/dad to raise them when your at school, it a giant responsibility. your best bet is to play with the chicks and they will become tame in time, handfeeding does not automatically mean your baby will be tame, if not handled enough you'll get a wild baby! handfeeding should be left to experienced people its just not fun for a teen.

Yeah i wrote the wrong thing! i just want to tame it. um the baby is 11 days old now and the mother doesnt seem to be looking after it. in the last hr and a half the hen went in the nest box once for about five minutes. what do i do? its like she has lost interest in her baby. the baby is sitting in the corner of the box slightly shaking. HELP!

Definately feed it but put it back in the nest box. You should pick up some baby budgie food at the petshop, but in the mean time milk is okay, I think ,and you can use a teaspoon to feed it. Just keep feeding it for now and putting it back in the nest box. You should pm Daz or Nerwen.

 

I just pm'd them. Hopefully they will be able to help you.

Yeah i wrote the wrong thing! i just want to tame it. um the baby is 11 days old now and the mother doesnt seem to be looking after it. in the last hr and a half the hen went in the nest box once for about five minutes. what do i do? its like she has lost interest in her baby. the baby is sitting in the corner of the box slightly shaking. HELP!

 

As this post is nw two days old, how is the chick today. As the chick matures the hen will start to change the feed she is givinng it. At first she will be feeding it crop milk and day by day she will start to alter the mix to give it a thicker mix. More seed. The feeding will be larger and the time will grow between the feed. If you have a digital scale you can weigh the chick. It should be around 22 grams by now. If it is a live, I would certainly give up an idea of feeding it yourself.

 

If you want to tame it, wait until it is 21 days old. Then start to take it out of the nest for five minutes in the morning and at night. When it gets to 28 days remove it from the nest for 15 moinutes in the morning, noon and night. When it is 42 days old. Take it away from the parent for an hour at a time. This will tame your chick.

 

All the best.

Daz has given some great advise. Is the bub still okay??

yes how is everything?

Hey guys! thanks for all your help! sorry i havent replied sooner, i have been busy with school.

The chick is very well and is even trying to get out of the nest box! its so cute! i think its a boy because it looks just like its dad! The only thing i am having trouble with is giving it a name! if anyone has any suggestion please tell me! its green and yellow and when i take it out of the box he moves very quickly.

 

thanks again

Sam

so only one egg hatched? I'm glad the chick is doing well, he would be around 4 weeks now which is a great time for him to be venturing out of the box. Make sure to keep an eye on mum and dad they will be ready soon to start another round and may harm the chick. If you don't want her to have another round you can simply remove the eggs when laid (she will not be upset about this) and remove the box when the chick is old enough to sleep outside.

 

The colour of the chick doesn't tell gender. Dad just had the dominant genes of the pair. Look at the cere on the nose if it is a smooth bright pink you have a boy if it is purply/blue/white/pinkish look you have a girl.

 

Names: Sweetie, Sugar, Tweety, Lucky, Cupcake,

I believe that we need a picture of this baby!

that would be nice

 

I remember I wanted to ask before if you have been handling this bub heaps. At this age you would have nothing to fear from hurting him and the more you handle now the more tame he will be.

Hey!

 

I have been handling the baby and he is doing really well. this morning when i woke up he was sitting on a perch with his parents! but then he strated to fal asleep and nearly fell off the perch so i decided to put him back in the nest box so he could rest. he is still trying to come out but hasnt since! i have a picture to show but i dont know how to put it on the forum!

thanks for the names guys! i THINK i have a girl the cere is a pinkish colour so yeah! thank you!

 

Sam

Sounds like s/he is going well. But all chicks have pink ceres.

 

I usually sex them about 21 days old.

 

How to post photos. Hope this helps.

Sounds like s/he is going well. But all chicks have pink ceres. :bluebudgie:

 

I usually sex them about 21 days old.

 

How to post photos. Hope this helps.

 

 

she is one month old!

hey guys i have a photo for you! if it is a girl then we r thinking of calling her Candy.

 

The baby is doing well since yesterday its mother rejected it. i was handling it when she laid another egg. when i went to put it back in the box she attacked him so i decided to keep it away for awhile. i kept it in a shoebox for a couple of hours so it could sleep. when it woke, i put it back in the cage so his parents could feed him and his mother came out of the box and again attacked it. i took him out and put the shoebox in another cage and put it in there. i tried to feed him egg & biscuit mix but he didnt eat it!

this morning the mum has thrown the egg out of the box so i thought maybe she wouldnt attack him now, but she still did. he ate some seed this morning so i put some in the cage.

 

Am i doing the right thing? what can i feed him? is seed okay? he is 4 wks & 3days. please reply ASAP

 

LOVE SAM

P>S here is the picture!!http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r41/sam.../P3020059-1.jpg

Edited December 6, 200618 yr by Rainbow

I am leaning towards female from your picture. She is cute! The male takes over the feeding duties at about the 3 week mark, so as long as he is with your baby things should be fine. I wouldn't leave her alone in a cage until she has been eating on her own for about 10 days. The baby won't be allowed in the box anymore. If you need to leave her in the cage with mom and dad (if you do not want to temporarily seperate them) then watch carefully so she does not get attacked for trying to go back into the nest box. You may have to seperate mom and dad if this happens, and leave Candy with dad. I'm glad the baby is doing well.

I agree with Rainbow, It's best to let the cock raise it.

We use a BBBBB = Bruised and Battered Baby Budgie Box. It's a box that sits in the corner of the breeding cage. It has a couple of holes the same size as the holes in a nest box. For the hen or cock to kill the chick they usually gets on it's back and goes through the back of the head. This box stops that. The chick can still be feed and is not in the way of the hen. It can leave the box and feed when it feels up to it.

hey thanks for the idea, but i cant do that either! he is pecking the baby aswell & trying to mate with her. i finally got her to eat egg and biscuit mix and she is eating well. she sometimes gets cold so i wrap her in a towel to keep her warm. she is doing well so i think she should be okay.

 

thanks forr the help. Sam

hey guys!

 

i was just wondering when the chick will be able to fend for herself? when should i stop feeding her egg and biscuit? she eats seed now and she is 4 wks 5 days old.

 

if anybody has tips on tameing then please let me know, i already handle her a lot.

 

thanks

sam