Female Budgie Suffocating Chicks

[chillybudgie 0]

Hello all - I would very much appreciate your opinions on a problem I'm having with one of my females.

 

Earlier this year, she laid her first clutch of 5 eggs. She did not sit on them and after the alloted 21 days, we had to get rid of them.

 

In early April, she laid another clutch of 5. She started sitting after 2 days and did a wonderful job. We thought she was a bit slow on the uptake about what to do with the eggs with the first clutch, so were happy when she started sitting.

 

She successfully hatched all 5 eggs in early May (so we're talking less than 2 weeks ago). On the day the last egg hatched, we found a chick (probably about 3-4 days old) dead. It was being fed and had grown considerably, so we assumed the poor thing got out competed by the older sibilings.

 

Every 2-3 days following that, we'd lose another one. Always, they were well looked after (full crops) and several days old. The legs and arms were splayed out to the side, and the neck was oddly extended. We suspected that perhaps they were getting a blocked gizzard or something of that nature.

 

4 days ago, we had 2 chicks remaining (they appeared to be the oldest ones). We found one dead on Monday morning. This one was getting very big, full crop - appeared healthy. But it was blatantly obvious he'd been sat on and suffocated. We realised that this was the likely cause of death of the other 3 as well. We did some research and found that putting dummy eggs under the female can stop this problem. We implemented on the same day in an effort to save the oldest chick.

 

For the last two days, the female sat on the eggs and tucked the chick (now almost 2 weeks old, down growing in and a few inches long, eyes just starting to open) under her wing. We were constantly montioring and thought we'd been successful in solving the problem. This morning, to our devastation, we discovered she found out how to sit on the eggs and the chick at the same time! She'd put the chick in the hollow of the nest box floor along with the 2 eggs and sat on the lot. The poor little guy got flattened and didn't stand a chance.

 

Now we've never had this issue before. I'm wondering if there's something else you can do to prevent this happening again? Or would you even bother to breed that female again? Give her another chance to see if she works it out like she did about sitting on the eggs? Or, since she's a good egg layer, would you let her lay, then let another female hatch them? I must say, the female is an albino with a very nervous temperament. We think perhaps this had something to do with her difficulties.

 

Thanks for taking the time and I look forward to your opinions.

[PJI 0]

I know of a breeder who always places a large marble in the nest after the first chick hatches, this does two things. Firstly it keeps the hen off the chicks & if the hen leaves the nest for a period of time the marble retains warmth for the remaining eggs. Hope it helps cheers Phill

[chillybudgie 0]

Thanks Phill. If we give her another go, that's a good idea to implement from straight away.

Cheers,

Kristy

[Kaj 0]

Hi, So sorry to hear about the death of your babies. I know you are convinced that they have been suffocated by the mother but I can't help wondering if there is another possible cause here such as a genetic issue. For example if the babies died as a result of some genetic issue(or illness), the mother may still be inclined to try and keep the deceased baby under her. (some will discard) The pressure of mother's weight combined with the impact of death on the chick's body could result in a flattened outcome. I would not necessarily give up on her yet (although no doubt the heartache may make you feel that way), but you might consider breeding her with a different partner or have any future dead babies checked for by an avian vet(although this can be and expensive option and may not give a result.) That said I would use any measures that may help her have a successful clutch - false eggs/marble etc if you do decide to breed her again.

 

[chillybudgie 0]

Hmmm, you make a very interesting point Kaj. Implementing the measures to keep her up off the chicks, therefore attempting to rule out a genetic condition or illness, would be a valid reason to give her another go. We have a good avian vet, so that's a great idea, if we do have more deaths next time.

 

I think I need not to get so excited next time at any rate. This was the first time we bred the male, who we had bred from our original pair (both have now passed) - so it was a 'sentimental' clutch of sorts.

 

Cheers

[Finnie 0]

I also wonder if there may have been some other reason for the chick's deaths. A dead chick will naturally become flattened, so it is easy to assume they were squashed to death, when most likely they died first, and then got squashed.

 

My chicks are always piled on top of each other, and the youngest always seem to crawl under the older. Even if I move a hatchling to the top of the pile, it worms its way back down. It is my belief that this is natural for budgies, and they are designed to withstand being squashed my their parents and siblings.

[chillybudgie 0]

Thanks for your response Finnie. I can't for the life of me think of what might have gone wrong. Everyone was happy and healthy at the time the little ones hatched and they too seemed to be healthy and growing! We were keeping everything clean, fresh foods and water to the parents each day...so frustrating to think that something may have gotten in there and killed them all!

 

There seems to be enough doubt cast in my mind as to the babies' deaths to make me think we should give Blondie another clutch to see what happens. We'll wait till Spring now though - winter is brutally cold here and not the time to be trying to keep babies warm!

 

Thanks again