Okay. Okay okay okay. I didn't post news of my little birds in a while because of very very busy times around here and me being on vacation and everything... But now this is really really something and I'm confused and at loss.

 

My first four baby birds are nearly all fully fledged. They still go back to the nest but they venture out pretty often or at least stay perched at the entrance of the nest...

 

And one of 'em doing that is the pretty pretty extremely lovely birdie #3. Which I assume by behavior and current events is a gorgeous girl.

 

I didn't quite know why in the last days Pat and Bud started fighting, but then my mom noticed something and I did afterwards too... Whenever #3 ventures out of the nest, Pat immediately goes up to the nest to see her. Bud gets very mad, and a wild fight breaks out between the two parents. If I hold #3, Pat will puff himself all pretty and come see his hum... lover daughter. And it's not rare that Bud will then jump in and fight Pat wildly again. Sometimes, it's the other way around. I have Bud and happen to have #3 on the same hand and pat will crazily jump at Bud to get her away.

 

And I know it's a bad idea to hold Bud and #3 close to one another. She obviously doesn't like her daughter... But it's okay, most of the time Bud is busy with my face and not her baby gnawing at her feet.

 

Now what can I do? There's fights breaking up whenever one gets close to the nest to feed the babies! The fifth one is way too young for this, and #4 is not even 100% feathered either...

Edited July 13, 200718 yr by Michelle

:hap: Oh dear,doesn't sound like a happy place right at the moment, guess you will have to wait until one of the breeders logs on, most of them are asleep right now. :greenb:

It’s hard to say when we can’t see your birds, but seeing the oldest is over a month now, I would advise removing some of the older chick into another cage. Put plenty of seed on the floor of the cage & a largish dish of food on the floor also. And a water dish that is easy for them to see. Once fighting starts it can very easy become dangerous, you are saying it’s the parents fighting, but this is a sign of stress & could easy switch to the young & they wont be able to protect themselves like the older birds. Especially with the mother if she decides they are too old & she wants to breed again they become threats & can easily be killed. I would suggest that you remove up to #3 & then watch the other two very closely & remove at any sign of aggression, at that age it’s better for them to struggle for a couple of days than be killed. I can’t remember if you have wire cages, but if you have you can place them up against each other & if the cock wants to continue feeding them he can.

Ack... All the extra I have are two small cages... I guess they'll have to do. I wanted to keep most of the babies in the big cage...

 

I'll go ahead and prepare them. It'll be tight but I can use them to put the 3 birds out at least. I locked Pat in one of them for a few minutes because it was literally impossible for Bud to go feed the babies now. He was always in the way, sitting on the top of the nest, staring at her. Sometimes he'd be below and she would stare at him and squeal a warning at the slightest move he made...

 

#5 is starving. I think I'll give it a little food myself if Bud doesn't go feed it soon.

Ack... All the extra I have are two small cages... I guess they'll have to do. I wanted to keep most of the babies in the big cage...

 

I'll go ahead and prepare them. It'll be tight but I can use them to put the 3 birds out at least. I locked Pat in one of them for a few minutes because it was literally impossible for Bud to go feed the babies now. He was always in the way, sitting on the top of the nest, staring at her. Sometimes he'd be below and she would stare at him and squeal a warning at the slightest move he made...

 

#5 is starving. I think I'll give it a little food myself if Bud doesn't go feed it soon.

 

Michelle do you want them to go on eggs again straight away? If not maybe you should just remove the mother & let Dad stay & finish feeding the babies. Then you can put them together again later.

Oh heck no, I'm not allowing another clutch. I thought just removing the nest when the last one was out would stop that...

 

But I know Bud would be miserable out of the big cage... Both of 'em would be.

Edited July 13, 200718 yr by Michelle

Oh heck no, I'm not allowing another clutch. I thought just removing the nest when the last one was out would stop that...

 

But I know Bud would be miserable out of the big cage... Both of 'em would be.

 

I think it would be better than have her kill some of the young ones. Remove the nest & then you could put her back after a couple of days.

At the moment it sounds like you are having an issue with one bird wanting to start round two and the other not ready yet and the babies in the middle. The youngest is around 27 day's right? About half way through growing up.

 

You have three options as I see it -

 

1. Remove the older babies for the time being into the smaller cages with Dad to help with feeding and showing where to find the food. Leaving Mum with the nest box and the youngest ones in the nest to feed alone.

 

2. As Norm said remove mother and let Dad continue to feed all the babies in the box cage.

 

3. If you really don't like the thought if the other two options make a igloo for the babies to hide in if things get a bit rough for them. This can be a cardboard box, ice cream container or something else you have around that they can hid into/under.

My big problem with "removing the babies with daddy" is that... well, the smaller cages are REALLY SMALL! The biggest is (inches) 14x10x16... And the other one is a shameful 10x8x14!

 

I'm not sure I could fit dad in there too... Or even Mom! I can't believe my sister had a budgie in the smallest cage... It's such a mess to even reach in there. (She let me borrow it when I was having a problem with bud and pat many months ago.)

 

I wonder if I looked around the house if I could find SOMETHING to fit the folks in....

Edited July 13, 200718 yr by Michelle

This is part of what lots of people on here say, when you start to breed birds, you have to plan ahead a bit & having some where appropriate to put the babies after you breed them is important. They can all go in your larger cage together once the breeding has stopped. You could just try taking out the nest, putting all the young on the floor, maybe providing something for them to hide for protection, like Nerwen suggested. The problem is probably the nest, once it's removed she may settle down.

I know, I did try to fix up everything I could the best I can. I wanted to go buy material to build a new spot but looks like I have a new problem!

 

Man, I can't believe it, Pat started attacking the babies! Godzilla and #3 were out, I let Pat out of the main cage to go see them and he started a fight with Godzilla and threw #3 down on the floor and even pecked at her. I don't get it. I thought he liked her a lot. All day he followed me around whenever I held her and now he pecks her down? What is going on?

 

Now I'm in big doo doo.

:ausb: Sounds like the best thing for you, Michelle, is to go get a another, larger cage as soon as possible, good luck! :oliveb:

And then who I put in there? I can't put pat, but I just checked... Godzilla seems to know how to feed now...

That’s sort of the problem Michelle once you start to breed with birds, it’s not just your sweet little pet bird any more. It awakens their instincts, breeding is sort of like a return to the wild & with breeding it’s survival of the species. They don’t think like humans [that’s my little baby] at a certain stage they think they have done their job of breeding that batch & it’s on with the next one. Then the last batch is treated like any other budgie that comes into their territory. You have to do something positive at this stage, whether you like one bird in a small cage or not, at least temporally something must be done, it’s that or next it will be dead birds & I know that will upset you terribly. I’m sure you can work it out.

That’s sort of the problem Michelle once you start to breed with birds, it’s not just your sweet little pet bird any more. It awakens their instincts, breeding is sort of like a return to the wild & with breeding it’s survival of the species. They don’t think like humans [that’s my little baby] at a certain stage they think they have done their job of breeding that batch & it’s on with the next one. Then the last batch is treated like any other budgie that comes into their territory. You have to do something positive at this stage, whether you like one bird in a small cage or not, at least temporally something must be done, it’s that or next it will be dead birds & I know that will upset you terribly. I’m sure you can work it out.

Bud and Pat haven't lost one bit of what they were before they started breeding. Bud fighting with Pat is something regular, now it's just over the babies instead of over millet. There's just new birds in the way. And I know they will just think of them as another bird.

 

Sorry I'm a bit upset right now, but I'm starting to be fed up with this whole story. Nono, not because of you guys. But because my mother is actually against me buying a new cage. Sure it doesn't matter much since I'm very much of an adult, but see, she has the car. I don't have a license. I wanted to build a little temporary containment cage around the gym (and a bit wider) but she said I wasn't thinking one bit and that it was PLEASE BAN ME!!. It would be the less costly and easy to get rid of in the end. She says I should just shove all the babies in that other cage I have. As much as I say that's cruel, she thinks it doesn't matter since it will be for just "a week or two".

 

If I have to I'll get rid of all 5 babies in the end instead of keeping Godzilla like I wanted to. That's a shame, he's really loveable and cuddly. But it seems the odds are sorta against me right now. But it's okay. If I have to get rid of him I'll give him to my best friend. She wanted one of my chicks and he's the friendliest of the clutch.

If I hold #3, Pat will puff himself all pretty and come see his hum... lover daughter. And it's not rare that Bud will then jump in and fight Pat wildly again. Sometimes, it's the other way around. I have Bud and happen to have #3 on the same hand and pat will crazily jump at Bud to get her away.

 

And I know it's a bad idea to hold Bud and #3 close to one another. She obviously doesn't like her daughter... But it's okay, most of the time Bud is busy with my face and not her baby gnawing at her feet.

 

Michelle, take the most aggressive (or rather leave the better feeder) of the parents out and put him/her in one of your small cages. It will not hurt for a week or two especially if the alternative is losing the babies or one of the parents to a fight.

 

Once the babies are fledged and you can remove the nest box DO SO PRONTO. Then see if they will all settle back down in the big cage.

 

Good luck,

KathyW.

Edited July 14, 200718 yr by KathyW

How did you go Michelle? Did you solve the fighting? It’s only temporary, once the nest is removed & breeding finished they will all get on well together again. Don’t worry about Bud & Pat squabbling over food that’s normal for Budgies, if it’s just “keep away from my food” it's normal. If you haven’t taken away the nest yet, I would advise it, like I said before. You don’t have to worry, they have most of their feathers now & wont get cold without the nest. They will do well on the floor for a day or two & then will move up onto the perches.

Edited July 14, 200718 yr by Norm

Hi Michelle, I am with Kathy. I would remove mum and leave dad with the babies. I did that with one of my breeder cabinets and a few days later put 2 chicks from another nest in with them as their parents wanted to start a new clutch. They have all been fine and are now all eating seed and are confident flyers.

 

 

Feathers.

I did nothing. It was too late for me to do anything. Now I ponder if I go ahead and struggle to go get a cage with the bus, mother be damned.

 

The problem is I can't remove dad with the babies. He tried to bite Godzilla and #3's head off yesterday out of the blue. I dunno if it was just him getting fed up with Bud, but yeesh.

 

Godzilla can eat on his own just fine... He's just a squatter that won't leave the nest cuz it's cuddly. Even #3 can eat seeds when I leave her with spray millet. (I never checked with #2, she'd rather bite my head off in the most violent way possible... Aaah, she's just like her mother back when she was a baby. ) Would it be okay to take the first three and put them together without mommy or daddy?

Edited July 14, 200718 yr by Michelle

Would it be okay to take the first three and put them together without mommy or daddy?

 

Yep, it should be fine Michelle, just make sure that you watch number 2 to make sure it is eating. Giving them soft food as well as millet should help.

 

 

Feathers.

Gotcha, I'll go ahead and buy a new cage. Whew, won't be easy. But I'll live. (I have to go to the mall anyway. It's my friend's birthday soon and I didn't buy anything. )

 

Soft food... you mean egg food and the such??

Soft food... you mean egg food and the such??

 

yes. Egg food, finely chopped vegies, oats.

 

 

Feathers.

Oats? you mean oatmeal? Like I got for breakfast? And veggies... I read on a sheet at the petstore that celery is bad for birds cuz they can choke on the little fibres in 'em. Is that true? My birds actually like celery...

 

...And just to drift offtopic a bit, budgie vitamins taste great... I um really have to stop licking my fingers when I give 'em some...

Edited July 14, 200718 yr by Michelle

I think she means oatmeal like you have for breakfast. I haven’t heard about celery being bad for Budgie I give it to all my birds, Budgie & Cockatiels like you say they love it. I wouldn’t suck too much Budgie vitamins if I were you; they put things in pet foods that might not be good for humans. I hope you separate those birds soon, before it’s too late, when things like that happen they should be separated straight away, being in a small cage is better than them being killed. They might not wait till things are just perfect.

I think she means oatmeal like you have for breakfast. I haven’t heard about celery being bad for Budgie I give it to all my birds, Budgie & Cockatiels like you say they love it. I wouldn’t suck too much Budgie vitamins if I were you; they put things in pet foods that might not be good for humans. I hope you separate those birds soon, before it’s too late, when things like that happen they should be separated straight away, being in a small cage is better than them being killed. They might not wait till things are just perfect.

Ah! But these budgie vitamins are so good though. They remind me of pixie sticks!

 

Well I went ahead and bought that new cage... It was NOT easy to drag that huge box in a bus I can tell you that folks. 1 through 3 are now in the cage. It's not a humongous cage (26x13x21 inches) but it will do juuust fine. I really like these vision cages that you build up yourself, they are so handy and cheap.

 

They're a bit lost right now... Not moving at all and trying to get out and stuff, but I guess it's normal. I just hope they'll start eating soon...

Edited July 14, 200718 yr by Michelle