Beat Up Baby Parakeet?

[Shazoka]

I've posted on this site before, mainly for cockatiels.

Our parakeets had babies around christmas (5 weeks old) and now most of them have their full feathers. I've heard parents preening or over preening the oldest ones to get them out of the nest so they can have new babies. I found one baby (the oldest it looks like) out of the box with the back of it's head preened/balled with some blood on it's leg and cere and it's very weak. My first concern is does that it need some sort of heat still? I don't believe so since it's fully feathered, but this is my first clutch. Second, how do I try to get it to eat and drink? Offer soft fruits/veggies/millet and hope it starts eating the food or do I actually have to hand feed it to encourage it to eat?

I removed the baby from the cage away from it's parents. I'm a little concerned about the others so I keep checking them to make sure they are Ok. :/


Thank you!

[Kerry C]

Sound like mom is ready to start going back to nest and is working on driving the chicks out of her cage. PAY ATTENTION to her actions, if you do not remove them she WILL kill them. As the chicks come out of the nest box put them in a weaning cage with an older cock. He can show them were to go to eat and drink. If you don't have an extra cock use Dad.

[budgie+me]

do everything kerry said. thats great advice. my fledglings just watch what the older budgies are doing and copy them. also ,dad feeds them for about a week when there out. if the budgie is too weak to eat you might have to handfeed him.

[maxollie]

In my opinion, if I were you I would place a piece of flannel cloth on the bottom of the cage. The cloth needs to be "warm" but not hot, because the little chick could easily die from overheating the blanket. You also should put some other nesting materials such as shredded, very small pieces of wood shavings, or some sort of material that is used in bird cages that will help to soften the bottom of the cage when the baby is living there. Please go to the Pet Store that is close to you, and pick up a can of Bird Baby Formula. Kaytee Exact makes one, and there also are other brands out there. You will need to read the directions carefully. And you also will need to pick up a plastic syringe because the baby is very young as yet and personally I don't think it will survive without the formula. Try putting some very fine seed and/or millet in the bottom of the cage and also in a cup on the side of the cage and close by the perch for the chick to try to eat. I would not feed fresh veggies as yet unless they are "ground" because it is too early for the little one to be able to swallow them. As to the formula. When you feed baby birds you have to be very careful that you don't overfeed them, or that the crop gets to extended. Just feed a very little of the formula into the side of the chicks beak, and give it plenty of time to swallow it. Also, I have used a very small plastic or silver spoon, to feed it. The main goal is to be sure and not over extend its crop, but yet give it some formula. The formula is full of good nutrients so even if you can only get a couple of very small bits of the formula into the chick that is fine for starters. I also would feed about every 3-4 hours or so during the day. And of course you need to provide water in the cage also. The formula that you are feeding does have water in it so that will give the chick water too. The little feet should be plump and pink colored, and not turning blue, because then the little one is losing oxygen. Baby chicks usually enjoy being held, although they will squirm around abit. Hold the chick with a small piece of flannel like you put in the bottom of the cage, which gives warmth to the baby while you are feeding it. And encourage it to eat a little piece of millet, or seed. I have confidence that you can complete this procedure. I have only bred one unexpected clutch of budgies in my lifetime, approximately 5 years or so ago, and I had to feed one of them also. I had no idea how to do it, but after doing some on-line research and getting the formula, and doing all of the things I have written here, I ended up with a very happy and healthy little baby budgie. I had 4 chicks in all, and every one of them lived, and were as cute as a button! I found that the parents of the chicks were indeed very much in a hurry to get those babies out of the box and being on their own. That was a surprise to me because I thought the parents would want to take more time with them, but that simply was not the case. I also found that it was the last chick to hatch that didn't get the proper food and attention.

I hope this information has been of help to you.