Weaning juvenile chicks and other questions

[weelouie]

Yesterday I "inherited" a cage full of six budgies. They were left behind when a tenant moved out of an apartment on my floor. The poor things were all stuffed into a filthy cage that wasn't big enough for one budgie, much less six. When I brought them home I immediately moved them to a big flight cage (36x30x18 inches) that had been used for finches.

Three of them are juveniles, they're fully fledged but still being fed by the parents. I think the parents are trying to wean them, because often they ignore the chicks' loud pleas to be fed. Should I just let the parents wean them or do they need to be separated from the parents? 

I noticed one of the juvies seems less developed than the other two. She has trouble climbing and can't really fly. The others are nearly as agile as the adult birds. She sat on the floor of the cage for a long time after I moved them, then I had to put a ladder in to help her to climb up to join the others. Other than that she appears healthy, except her flight and tail feathers look discoloured, as if they've been wet or dirty. Could she be from a newer clutch than the other two, or is it normal for chicks in the same clutch to develop differently? 

Other than that, they all seem fine and are eating and drinking. It's fun watching them explore their new big cage, at first they stayed huddled at the top. Now three of them are busy on the same millet spray, and they're all getting better at flying around without bashing into things. 

[Hezz]

Budgie eggs are generally laid two days apart, so for a large clutch is it possible for the chicks to be two weeks apart in age - that is an age in budgie development. So it is quite possible that the 'under developed chick' is simply that much younger than the other two and still catching up. If she is not yet perching on her own, place something like a tissue box upside down on the floor of the cage, with a hole cut out to allow her to come and go as she pleases. Generally they will only use a hide for sleeping, and only until they can get up onto a perch for themselves.

Leave the weaning to the adults; they will know what to do and how to best go about it. If there seems to be any aggression towards the chicks from either parent, then you might need to interfere and move either parents or chicks to another cage.

A photo of the youngest chick might help, particularly of the dirty area. And good upon you for taking these orphans in. Are you going to keep them, yourself?

[weelouie]

Oct 9, 2016 0:34:45 GMT Hezz said:

Budgie eggs are generally laid two days apart, so for a large clutch is it possible for the chicks to be two weeks apart in age - that is an age in budgie development. So it is quite possible that the 'under developed chick' is simply that much younger than the other two and still catching up. If she is not yet perching on her own, place something like a tissue box upside down on the floor of the cage, with a hole cut out to allow her to come and go as she pleases. Generally they will only use a hide for sleeping, and only until they can get up onto a perch for themselves.

Leave the weaning to the adults; they will know what to do and how to best go about it. If there seems to be any aggression towards the chicks from either parent, then you might need to interfere and move either parents or chicks to another cage.

A photo of the youngest chick might help, particularly of the dirty area. And good upon you for taking these orphans in. Are you going to keep them, yourself?

I thought that the chick might be the last one laid, but I didn't know how far apart budgies lay their eggs. At first I feared she was sick, then when she started trying to get to the top of the cage, I realized it wasn't sickness but simple lack of experience and coordination. Since she got to the top she has stayed up there and moves around between perches and swings. She did try to fly once and landed on the bottom of the cage, but quickly climbed the three feet back up again. She seems stronger and more sure of herself since last night. I've seen her parents feeding her, which is good because at first I was worried she couldn't get to the food dish. The parents aren't aggressive towards the chicks, they just ignore them when they don't want to feed them. They'd rather peck at each other when one of them wants something the other has! Right now Mom and Dad are squabbling over a loop shaped swing. He's on top and she's hanging upside down on the bottom. 

Re the dirty feathers, it's a reddish stain like the stains you'd see beneath the eyes of a white dog. I think it could be from their old cage, which had about an inch of poop on the bottom, and she was stuck sitting in it. Her vent area is clean. Still, I can try to get a pic of it tomorrow. I'm guessing that when she moults those stained feathers will disappear. 

And yes, I'm going to keep them! I wasn't sure at first. I've lived in my building for 12 years and the super has gotten to know me as "the zoo lady" whom he calls on whenever a tenant leaves pets behind. This happens more often than most people realize. I've rounded up everything from poisonous snakes to hedgehogs. I either find a rescue to take them or occasionally keep them myself if I have the space and knowledge. I haven't kept a budgie since I was a teenager (a LONG time ago!).

I hung their cage up on the wall beside my TV, and I've been watching their antics more than the TV! I've always loved the sound a busy group of budgies makes. I'd been thinking of getting finches for the big cage, but the budgies seem pretty happy with all that space and things to explore. I don't mind that they're not tame, I have cats, and I like watching and listening to the budgies. Last night they were huddled together on a high perch, today they've been gradually exploring the whole cage, including toys and swings. When one discovers a new thing, the others converge and then they all squabble over it. 

[jellybean]

Brilliant. So pleased you've decided to keep them. Would love to see some pictures.

[weelouie]

Here you go - adults are on the left, chicks on the right. You can see a bit of the pinkish stain on the middle chick's wings and tail. Dad is the green guy on the left, the hen is at the back on the left. The blue and white guy is either an unrelated adult or could be from a previous clutch.

[jellybean]

Beautiful budgies.

[Hezz]

They are lovely.

If the cage they came out of was filthy, you might want to check the feet of the youngsters to make sure there is not a build-up of poop underneath the feet and claws especially. This can cause their feet to develop around the build-up, leading to deformaties.

[weelouie]

Oct 9, 2016 21:19:29 GMT Hezz said:

They are lovely.

If the cage they came out of was filthy, you might want to check the feet of the youngsters to make sure there is not a build-up of poop underneath the feet and claws especially. This can cause their feet to develop around the build-up, leading to deformaties.

I keep button quail, so I know how important it is to keep their feet clean otherwise they can lose toes. One of my quail cocks is missing a couple of toes because his former owner didn't do this. When I moved the budgies to their new cage by hand (since they're not tame), I checked their feet as I held them to make sure they weren't covered with dry feces. 

Next I'll be asking about their colour mutations! I was doing some research and it seems a lot of them are Pied but I'm not sure about single factor, clearwing etc. Also, the father of the chicks is a very bluish green colour that I've never seen before. Sometimes it's hard to tell if he's green or blue. One of the pied chicks has inherited patches of this colour. I'll have to take some more pics tomorrow when the daylight is brighter.