Really unsure what to do. Today my female Budgie escaped and left me with four babies that are around 3 and a half weeks to four weeks old. I went out and got some baby food for them but when I got home I watched the male budgie feeding the little ones. Should I take them out of the cage and hand feed them ? I'm so confused on what to do and I can clearly see that the male is really stressed out now that his best mate is gone. Please all the advice you can give would really be appreciated. I will post some pics soon as i can of my little ones. Shoud i just take the babies out and give them a top up feed ? If I do that will the male lose interest and stop feeding them ? Also now that its getting pretty cold will they generate enough body heat if I leave them in the cage ? Maybe I can bring them in over night and put them back in in the morning ? but my male is stressed enough dont want to stress him out anymore. I would like to go get him a new little mate tomorrow morning thank you all must go im just rambling on

Edited May 28, 200816 yr by KAZ
edited for punctuation as there wasnt any and typos

If your male is feeding them I would leave him to it or the moment and go out just before dark and check whether or not he is in the box with them, he probably will be. Also add some millet sprays to the box so that they start learni9ng to feed. If he looks like he is struggling to keep them fed you could leave them with him and just supplement the feedings a couple of times a day. As long as he is in the box tonight I would leave him to it for the moment, he sounds like a good dad.

I would leave him to it. Dad's do a lot of the feeding at this age. Often the hens are beginning to look to lay a new clutch so Dad is doing a lot of child rearing and feeding. Sometimes mothers may begin to pluck the youngsters, so they are removed at this stage. Dad handles things well.

 

Keep an eye on them, but the situation you have is not that unusual.

You have been given some good advice. Do not go out and buy a new budgie at this stage.

as the others have said, Dad should do just fine - if you buy a new mate for the male, you need to wait the 30 day quarantine period before they can be put together. A New hen could also attack the babies

and new hens do not take over the mothering duties at this stage where the other hen left off

Hey there, thought I would answer your PM on here so that others can use the info in future.

 

For others: the cock has not gone into the nestbox with the chicks to keep them warm overnight. So... is it a good idea to bring the chicks inside?

 

 

I would suggest that they will need to be kept warm and it would be a good idea to keep dad with them since he is feeding them. I would bring the box AND dad inside and keep them in a warm spot. The babies will be starting to be able to maintain their body temp at that age but not if it gets really cold since I assume they are outside at the moment.

Hey there, thought I would answer your PM on here so that others can use the info in future.

 

For others: the cock has not gone into the nestbox with the chicks to keep them warm overnight. So... is it a good idea to bring the chicks inside?

 

 

I would suggest that they will need to be kept warm and it would be a good idea to keep dad with them since he is feeding them. I would bring the box AND dad inside and keep them in a warm spot. The babies will be starting to be able to maintain their body temp at that age but not if it gets really cold since I assume they are outside at the moment.

Bringing the box in as suggested will only work if it is a breeding cabinet we are talking about. Anything else would interfere and stop the Dad from doing what he is right now.

True but if the chicks will die overnight due to the cold then leaving them out in the aviary isn't going to help anything anyway. Atleast this way there is a chance he will keep feeding his babies, which is better than nothing.

Dad and the babies are outside in a cage, the cage is a little big to bring inside. But every night its always well covered with a thick blanket im hoping that it will be enough to take the chill off them fingers crossed.

 

Thank you for all your replies I really appreciate the time you have taken to put my mine at ease.

can you pop a 25-40 watt lamp in the cage? It will help keep them warm if you must keep them out side.

LEAVE THE NESTBOX WHERE IT IS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I say this because My clutch was the same age and parents go in and out when they please .... The chicks will all huddle up into the back corner and keep each other warm - if they start chirping cause they are old the dad goes in gives them another feed and check and come out and stands guard again .. that is his roll .....

 

If you move the box ( unless it's a cabinet like KAZZA said) it will compleatly ruin everything!!! the dad will stop doing what he is meant to ......

Today my female Budgie escaped and left me with four babies that are around 3 and a half weeks to four weeks old.

MB you are forgetting the age of these budgies....they are at an age nearly ready to fledge and some fully feathered and others nearly fully feathered. No parents sleep with babies at this age. They keep each other warm........no need to move anyone.

Keep an eye out for your hen. She may find her way back. Unlikely, but keep an eye out for her anyway.

At this age my Bud was still hanging out with them in the nest... But I think she was just happy with the company. If anything THEY were the ones keeping her warm.

 

It's really sad your hen flew away... Did you try some tricks to find her back? Like playing a tape of budgies singing, millet and a cage or something like that??? Some friend of mine got hers back that way! And it was a week later!

Edited May 28, 200816 yr by Michelle

I Looked for the hen all day no sign of her. But the male is doing well. My hen would sleep and hang out with the chicks all day. But day is doing well how many father do you know that can handle four screaming kids all day long

I would leave it as is. The cock does the feeding at this stage so the only change is no hen. The chicks if 3 1/2 to 4 weeks old will be okay with the cock bird. They should be fledging in a week to 2 weeks time. I would start to give the chciks about an inch or two of millet spray in the nest box so they can start to practice cracking seed.

Edited May 29, 200816 yr by Daz

I would leave it as is. The cock does the feeding at this stage so the only change is no hen. The chicks if 3 1/2 to 4 weeks old will be okay with the cock bird. They should be fledging in a week to 2 weeks time. I would start to give the chciks about an inch or two of millet spray in the nest box so they can start to practice cracking seed.

 

 

 

 

So do you mean just poor in a say half to a full cup of millet spray into the nesting box so the chicks can peck at it?

Also thank you to everyone that has given me advice I have learnt so much over the last few days I relly appreciate it.

I would leave it as is. The cock does the feeding at this stage so the only change is no hen. The chicks if 3 1/2 to 4 weeks old will be okay with the cock bird. They should be fledging in a week to 2 weeks time. I would start to give the chciks about an inch or two of millet spray in the nest box so they can start to practice cracking seed.

 

 

 

 

So do you mean just poor in a say half to a full cup of millet spray into the nesting box so the chicks can peck at it?

Also thank you to everyone that has given me advice I have learnt so much over the last few days I relly appreciate it.

No, Daz is talking about a length or piece of millet bought in stalks.

Help the male to cope with feeding as much as you can by giving soaked oats or hulled oats , soft food would be of benifit as well , regular checks by you on the wellbeing of the babies is not a bad thing as they all will become used to it and it will not phase them at all .

The more you help dad out with easy to digest , high energy food the better chances of success .

 

Bubbles