The babies are doing fabulous - but I have a huge problem. About 3-4 days ago, Dad and Mama seemed irritable. They were constantly bickering. Well, yesterday, he attacked her and her foot was bleeding. He made a small gash at her ankle. I took her out, put peroxide on it and made sure she was okay. I then removed him from the cage overnight and put him in a spare one. This morning, I put him back in. They seemed to be okay and were even sitting right next to each other. Before I knew it, I hear lots of noise and went to the cage and found him pinning her on the bottom of the cage. Thank goodness, she is okay, with a little skin tear on her cear but no bleeding anyhere. I took him back out.

 

What do I do? There are plenty of full food bowls and I can't determine what they are fighting about. The good news is that the babies ventured out of the nest and I found them in the cage this morning. They are now back in the nest, resting, as they are quite tired :hap:. So thrilling!

 

But, what I about dad? Can Mama take care of feeding them herself? One of the babies was nibbling on brocolli flowers this morning (that's where I found it when I uncovered the cage), but otherwise, they have not eaten anything other than what they are fed.

 

This is quite distressing and I just don't know what this is about.

 

Julie

I think these two need to be kept apart permanently. Budgies are capable of killing each other, and dad is certainly on the agressive to the hen. Did these budgies pair off naturally, or were they force paired?

Ether way, I would seperate permanently.

I would put it down to Dad wants to breed again and mom isn't ready. But how old is the youngest chick? When they are older almost ready or just are coming from the box it is mostly dad that is feeding them. Mum can handle it if need be, and I think this instance I would worry that dad will turn on is kids.

 

Give them some egg food or fresh food like carrot or lettuce to try and nibble on.

I separated them and put Dad in another cage. He is calling and chatting with the babies, and Mama. It was the weirdest thing. The following morning, I tried to put him back in (extremely well supervised!). The chicks were out of the nest and he was perfect. He was sitting right next to Mama, chattering away - all seemed fine. Then the babies got tired and went back in to the nest. It was like he was psycho! Within about 2 minutes, he turned on Mama, and attacked her, wrestling her to the ground. It was horrible! Of course, I instantly removed him from the cage. She is 100% fine - no injuries whatsoever.

 

I spoke to a good friend of mine (locally) who is a breeder. He told me that this is not unusual behavior (although not common), Dad wants to mate again and Mama has no interest. He wants the nest to make more chicks and when it's occupied, he is angry/frustrated/upset and turns it on Mama. He told me to wait until the chicks are out of the cage, and in another one, before trying it again.

 

Mama and Dad picked each other. I had no intention of breeding - they did :hap: Therefore, as you asked, no, they were not a forced pair. They got along instantly when they were introduced and have never had a fight before this. I was told they should be fine together again after the babies are out of there.

 

The chicks are coming out of the nest. It's so adorable! I put a small boing and a soft perch outside of the nest, and then put a small platform (about 4x6") so they can come out and play on the platform and get used to it. They are loving it. They are climbing all around that area, are learning to get from perch to perch, and even are going into the feeding station and playing with Mama's food. I added brocolli flowers, dried egg food, and grated carrots to that feeding station and the chicks are checking it out.

 

Mama is working so hard to keep the three chicks fed and satisfied. I feel so badly for her. When they cry to her for food, she is running to her bowl, eating, waiting about a minute or so, and going over to the babies and feeding them, running back to her bowl - filling up again - and repeating this until the chicks are full. Mama is eating a lot of the mineral block too. Is there anything I can do to help her? I am just hoping that this isn't too hard on her. She is a little bird and the chicks are almost as big as she is already. I'm a bit worried about her.

 

The youngest chick is 4 weeks old today and weighs 38 grams. (38/40/40 for all 3 chicks). I have noticed they are losing a bit of weight. Is that because they are so active?

 

I'll post pictures tomorrow - they are absolutely the most adorable chicks I have ever seen (prejudiced??), (Laughing out loud).

 

Julie

just a word of advice I don't think I would let them breed again, forced or not forced just because it would reoccur and as you said it is not fair to the hen. Plus with this she will need a rest. This will give you more time to read up, learn more :hap: on breeding and what do to if any other siutations may occur.

 

I am glad that mama and babies are doing find and would keep them totally separate from the male.

 

Good luck and look forward to seeing pictures.

I hope it's okay that I borrow this topic, because this was exactly the information I needed just now!

 

Hi, I'm Maria from Sweden (I hope you will understand my "Swenglish" ).

 

I had this problem this morning with a pair of my budgies in a breeding cage. Dad was stopping Mama from getting into the nest where they have four babies and one egg left to hatch! I took Dad out of the cage, but I will try to put him back tonight and see what will happen. My trouble is that the babies are still very young, do you think that Mama will have enough energy to feed them all?

 

Very grateful for all anwers!

Yes the mom should be able to handle it just keep an eye on the chicks crops to ensure they are being feed, and be ready to assist in handfeeding if necessary. I would also start your own topic, so it gets more visibility Good luck.

I would do as Lovey daid, if oyu can move the food closer to the box so she doesn't have to leave ten any longer than needed to fill up and feed them. If there is still one egg yet to hatch the mum is doing the feeding o babies herself and was only getting food from dad. They can hadle the work load alone but it mean no second clutch.

Thank you for your answers!

 

In the evening I tryed to put dad back to his family, but they started fighting emmidiately, so I took him out at once. Mom was very busy all evening to eat, feed her babies, eating again and so on. Even in the night I heard the babies begging for food.

 

I am very lucky that I have another couple breeding at the same time. This morning I took the oldest one of the fatherless babies and put him to the foster parents, to ease the feeding for the single mother. It felt very good to see him get close to his new foster siblings, to get the warmth and the security from them. From beeing the oldest, he is now the youngest in the clutch!

 

Ho it's great news that you have another cltuch you can foster to. Since they are still young the needs a few feed during the night, just like human babies. When they are older that will stop.

Good for you!...

 

Thats terrible about the dad! Do you have any pics of your set up(s), birds, and babies for us yet?

 

Kirby

Good for you!...

 

Thats terrible about the dad! Do you have any pics of your set up(s), birds, and babies for us yet? :ausb:

 

Kirby

 

Certainly! Please have a look at the topic "Your Flock"! :ausb: