Budgies are very efficient. Unfortunately we at times don't want them to be.

 

If a hen senses trouble with her eggs, she'll through the whole lot out. Or if she feels that there is not enough food, she will desert the nest.

 

I have a hen that senses something is wrong with one of her chicks and has decided not to feed it. She has three chicks and this is a middle chick. The older one and younger one is well feed but she refuses to feed the middle one. I have seen her show affection but no food.

 

I did the normal thing and foster it to another hen with the same aged chicks but no it wouldn't be feed. That hen also knows something is wrong. Nature has picked it to go.

 

Sad isn't it. But unfortunately for nature, I don't like chicks dying with out reason. The hens won't tell me the problem so I guess the chick might have a second chance if I crop feed it.

 

Found it nearly dead yesterday morning so decided to start. It has regained it's strength and will probably make it. The only problem is it has a hard future as I can't give it full feedings. Except for Sunday. Today is Friday so it has to survive tomorrow on very little food. But it's better than leaving it to die or putting it down.

 

It is 19 days old so if it can last another 10 days it will have a chance. I'll let you know.

Budgies are very efficient. Unfortunately we at times don't want them to be.

 

If a hen senses trouble with her eggs, she'll through the whole lot out. Or if she feels that there is not enough food, she will desert the nest.

 

I have a hen that senses something is wrong with one of her chicks and has decided not to feed it. She has three chicks and this is a middle chick. The older one and younger one is well feed but she refuses to feed the middle one. I have seen her show affection but no food.

 

I did the normal thing and foster it to another hen with the same aged chicks but no it wouldn't be feed. That hen also knows something is wrong. Nature has picked it to go.

 

Sad isn't it. But unfortunately for nature, I don't like chicks dying with out reason. The hens won't tell me the problem so I guess the chick might have a second chance if I crop feed it.

 

Found it nearly dead yesterday morning so decided to start. It has regained it's strength and will probably make it. The only problem is it has a hard future as I can't give it full feedings. Except for Sunday. Today is Friday so it has to survive tomorrow on very little food. But it's better than leaving it to die or putting it down.

 

It is 19 days old so if it can last another 10 days it will have a chance. I'll let you know.

Goodluck with the little one all my best goes out to you and the little one

 

Hope it survives. but if it dies it's probably why the hens didnt feed it like you said. :mellow:

I totally agree with you about hens knowing things Daz ....apart from the odd silly hen who throws out perfectly good and fertile eggs.

I have a nest with 3 chicks so far. Two days in a row I found the middle chick thrown out of the nest into the breeder box...chick aged around 4 days. Stone cold and lifeless...I warmed it and put it back. They repeatedly threw that chick out and fed the others. I fostered it to another nest where it is doing well. Time will tell if it has issues. I leg rung the chick a couple of days ago.

Many times you see hens throw out "dud" eggs and start laying again. Its not often these eggs have chicks in them, but occasionally.

Other times, like yours hen refuse to feed what look like perfectly normal chicks and then as they develop you see things...perhaps beak issues, french moult, or splay legs....or even a chick that fails at fledging.

Interesting topic

It's moments like these where being a breeder is heartbreaking. It sure makes you wonder what the hens know and you don't about the baby... nature has a funny way of survival by natural selection... which never makes it any easier on us humans.

 

I hope all goes well and the bub survives. Poor little thing.

You all will think I’m hard, but that’s where I differ with most, I hate seeing or having birds that die, but I think that nature has more wisdom than us & can know things that we can’t know. So I believe in respecting that, sad as it is & us humans don’t seem to like to accept it, I let nature take it’s course in cased like that. I believe that if you save birds that would have died, it causes problems for the future & the bird fancy in general & is often why we have so many problems with birds that later fail to breed properly. If when a bird was saved in this fashion it was strictly just kept as a pet…okay…but in most cases later on, it will get into the breeding population.

You all will think I’m hard, but that’s where I differ with most, I hate seeing or having birds that die, but I think that nature has more wisdom than us & can know things that we can’t know. So I believe in respecting that, sad as it is & us humans don’t seem to like to accept it, I let nature take it’s course in cased like that. I believe that if you save birds that would have died, it causes problems for the future & the bird fancy in general & is often why we have so many problems with birds that later fail to breed properly. If when a bird was saved in this fashion it was strictly just kept as a pet…okay…but in most cases later on, it will get into the breeding population.

 

Norm I agree with you. nature does know best, but I hate to lose a fight. The chick is still alive. I have just feed it. 9:30pm here so it has gone 16 hours with out food. It doesn't look too good but it is a live.

 

Tomorrow I will give it a proper feed, we will see how it goes.

I have never hand feed a budgie.If I have no foster pairs,they don`t live.

Because as sure as God made little green apples,I would kill them trying to

feed them.I have crop feed,drenched,grown birds,But not babys. :hap:

I have never hand feed a budgie.If I have no foster pairs,they don`t live.

Because as sure as God made little green apples,I would kill them trying to

feed them.I have crop feed,drenched,grown birds,But not babys.

 

 

I agree with both sides of this post. I came home from work today to find one of my hens had emptied her nest box. Her three eggs were stone cold, and one was nibbled! I checked them and they were all empty, and therefor disposed of. I do believe that you should let nature take is course, and in some bizare way, she new they were empty and didn't want to waste anymore of her time attending to them. However, if I was to find a chick unfed and not doing too well... I would probably have to do what I could to give it a shot at life (within reason). It's a hard one!

The chick didn't make it. Unfortunately there was something wrong and I had to put it down.

The chick didn't make it. Unfortunately there was something wrong and I had to put it down.

 

Sorry to hear that. I guess the other hens knew there was something not quite right with him/her. At least you did all you could to give it every possible shot at life. Again, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

I'm sorry Daz . Can I just ask how did you put it down? I wouldn't know how, if I had to do it

I'll pm you Zebra. It is not a easy or gratifying decision to cease something's life. I don't do it easily or like it but it saves the suffering.