From my lutino female and blue male I have 6 babies in the nestingbox, mum is first time

and has got the idea of sitting on eggs/babies and feeding them but nearly all of them 4-5

have splayed legs!!!!! I've hobbled two with cosmetic pads and both are increasingly improving

but I tried this method with the 4th and his legs went blue so I took them off- but I need some assurance

or advice as to what I need to do in order for the majority to live past 3 weeks

 

3rd-2 weeks

4th-8/9days

5th-6 days

6th-5days

These are the urgent ones have one other hobbled and has really worked (:

 

WHY have almost all of them got splayed legs- I need to know to stop this from happening again...

What sort of bedding do you have in the nest box? Wooden base? Plastic base? Smooth surface? Grippy surface? You should be able to see the babies trying to move, an improper base will be noticeable because babies who cannot get a proper grip tend to lean on one leg (or tuck it under them) and then "sweep" outwards with the other one. More often than not they move in circles rather than move forward like they want to. The 'sweeping' leg becomes the splayed leg as more and more it tends to stick out in an attempt to get some footing while the other foot stays under to balance.

 

In the worst cases, they just lay there on there stomach or back with both legs splayed out. Pictures? The only thing we can recommend is that you hobble/tie up all affected chicks. Its quite tricky as too tight a hobble cuts off circulation, rubs skin off or causes swelling and too loose a hobble falls off.

Besides the surface in the nestbox what calcium supplements are you using and for how long before breeding ?

What sunlight do your birds get ?

Mum and dad have been eating regular seed (stuff from woolies/coles) plus shell grit-fussy eaters but they've eaten parsley, lettuce, tomotoes, strawberries all kinds of grass so fairly healthy-hopefully small grit in seed plus calcium in shell grit has helped the babies through-room has open curtains during the day so they get the sun in the morning-bedding was originally just bran but they weren't getting much traction-so here's a little tip I use-put two regular household sponges on the floor of the box-pour a small amount (half a cup) of bran in, half a cup of porridge oats combined with seed. they are improving two eldest and one younger one

 

Anything else I should fix?????

 

*calcium was provided to parents 2-3 before they started breeding*

 

sorry 2-3 weeks beforehand

I wouldnt be giving a tip when 4 of your 5 chicks are splayed,i supply calcium in some form or another all year round.

The mistake a lot of people make is underestimating the vital need for sunlight for birds to be able to process calcium to their bodies. Inside birds should not be put down to breed without definite abundance of calcium levels reinforced by outside sunlight for quite some time, not glimpses through the curtains here and there. The fact that most of the babies have issues means you are doing something really wrong, be it breeding birds who dont get vitamin D3 from the sun and cant process calcium or you may be misunderstanding the additional calcium needs your birds have to be able to breed successfully.

Stop breeding and learn before you breed any more

 

 

article http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/factsheets/Birds/Vitamin-D:-A-Sick-Budgie-Breakthrough/6123

 

 

A girl I know kept all her budgies inside for all of the 2-3 years I knew her and then put them down to breed. She also had all kinds of trouble with calcium deficient babies with rickets.

Edited February 15, 201114 yr by **KAZ**

Hi luce, Another possibility, your hen maybe sitting too tight , that is sitting hard on the chicks which forces the legs out , I had this problem years ago when I colony bred budgies, I put too big Marbles in the nest with the chicks , it kept the hen off the babies alittle too allow them to get strength in their legs.

Matt.

I tried this method with the 4th and his legs went blue so I took them off

The holes werent quite right........a little too tight thats all.

birds indoor cant benefit the natural vit d they need as it does not penetrate through glass

a vit d supplement is needed for any indoor bird that never sees natural sun out doors

if you ring your birds

you could do what i do and use last years rings on one leg and this years on other and tie the rings with cotton

it works great

Just wanted to add not to feed breeding Birds parsley or spinach it absorbs the calcium they take in so there for no matter how much extra you give them they don't get it

 

I feed both to my non breeding birds but ONLY sparingly maybe 1-2 times a month if that but I skip giving it to my breeders I give them a different type of greens when i give out parsley or Spinach

Just wanted to add not to feed breeding Birds parsley or spinach it absorbs the calcium they take in so there for no matter how much extra you give them they don't get it

 

I feed both to my non breeding birds but ONLY sparingly maybe 1-2 times a month if that but I skip giving it to my breeders I give them a different type of greens when i give out parsley or Spinach

 

 

i am sorry k&m

i dont know where you read that or who told you but this is not true

 

i had a period where i thought it was

but have found out its incorrect

 

maybe we read same info to start with ??? as seems today all stuff i use to think befoe i was informed correctly is same as your beliefs

 

spinich is feed to my breeding hens and cocks dayly

i dont feed my birds parsley though

 

its high in iron and it does not absorb the calcium from the birds

 

splayed legs more often so than not is from rickets however here is some info on it

can be from hen sitting tight but if in more than one chick its more than that

http://www.bcv.asn.au/Splayed.html

Hello again

 

Hobbles have worked soooo well and I have 5 babies that are very cute and mischevous (:

Unfortunately one died because the mother gave up on feeding all 6 babies by herself as the dad flew away.

being the youngest baby he couldn't really look after himself and as I was at school I couldn't feed him every two hours

): But other than those two incidences everything worked out for the best

thanks for the help and advice everyone!