My male budgie sweetie has been a great dad, very attentive, feeding the mother, and (i thought) the chicks. The chicks are approximately 5-1 days old. I have three chicks. As far as I am aware, the father does not usually feed the chicks until they are a few weeks old? Today the male has been entering the nesting box, which my Pi (female budgie) has very vocally been objecting to. When I opened the breeding box sweetie was feeding the babies, with pi (the female watching). The problem is, that sweeties food was not properly digested, and the food being fed to the babies was definitely too solid. I understand the hatchlings can starve if the food is of the wrong consistency. What should I do?

 

As far as I can see it, I can either :

 

Remove the father

OR

Handrear the hatchings

 

OR

let things continue on as they are.

 

I think up until today the mother was mainly feeding the hatchlings, however the hatchlings crops are quite full of undigested food. Before today, their crop was nice and milky

 

The mother and father are being fed:

Egg and Biscuit

Bok Choy

parsley

carrot

apples

seed

spinach

grit

millet

 

any tips guys? i'm getting quite worried

Edited November 22, 200618 yr by kamz

I haven't been breeding that long but my first babies were fed by both the mother and the father from day one.They even feed both babies at the same time and take turns with each baby.Father even sat on the eggs sometimes.Good luck.

thank you hatchling this is actually my first brood, so to speak, so I'm a bit more worried than I should be i suppose. you've definitely lowered my stress levels. I've left the male in there and I'll see what happens. so far the chicks seem very healthy,gaining weight, so mum and dad must be doing a good job.

Your budgie Dad is "in touch with his feminine side " as is most of my budgie Dads. In my aviaries most of the Dads do this too. With my budgies it seems rare for a male NOT to feed his babies from day one. Some fathers even help incubate the eggs giving the hen a well needed break. I think yours will be fine. :ausb:

I would let them do their thing and keep an eye on the crop if it doesn't look full then that is when you would need to worry. Instinct takes over they know what they are doing . If you need more help or questions just ask. Bubbles is right she has breed many so trust her.

yeah it sound like all should eb fine, the babies themselves even move around the box until ma tucks them all under her again.

:ausb: My male Comet took way better care of his babies than the mother Star! :bluebudgie: