HELP! Potentially sick baby budgie

[arin]

Hello,

I checked on my budgie nest that had 3 babies inside. The wall had some vomit containing seeds on it. I am not sure who it is but I am thinking it is the second born. It used to run away from me but it actually found comfort in me and asked me for food constantly. The baby I am talking about has splayed legs and despite many trys of correcting this he/she is still the same. I also think the baby isn't being fed but I will check on him/her every 10 or 5 mintues Please help I am very scared and checking on them all the time.Thanks

P.S the budgie I am talking about is 4 weeks old but isn't growing as much as his younger sibling

[Hezz]

To have any success in fixing splayed legs you need to act in the first week to 10 days, the sooner the better.

When this chick asked for food, did you feed it? Perhaps it has been missing out all this time. Have you tried feeding it some egg and biscuit? At four weeks of age you don't need to be as concerned about getting the formula just right with regard to temperature and consistency as the chick should almost be self sufficient and cracking seed on its own. I realise that its progress is probably slower than usual, but does it have the means to try feeding itself, is there millet spray in the nest box, and have any of the chicks tried to come out of the nest yet?

[tweetiepiesmom]

Hezz maybe you can explain better about the egg and biscuit because "biscuit" means different things around the world. Is biscuit a cracker or bits of dinner roll and is it moistened? Egg is hard boiled and chopped fine. Maybe arin knows what you mean but I thought I'd ask anyway. I hope the little guy will be OK.

[destinycall]

Egg and biscuit is another term for eggfood. It is a high protein dry food that can be bought commercially or home made by mixing a cooked egg with sweet biscuits (english hard cookies).

www.fifecanary.org/egg_biscuit.htm

[Hezz]

Jul 19, 2020 4:10:51 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

Hezz maybe you can explain better about the egg and biscuit because "biscuit" means different things around the world. Is biscuit a cracker or bits of dinner roll and is it moistened? Egg is hard boiled and chopped fine. Maybe arin knows what you mean but I thought I'd ask anyway. I hope the little guy will be OK.

Anyone trying to feed young birds will know what I mean by "egg and biscuit". It is a mix of egg and cereal, a commercial product, also known sometimes as eggfood, giving a balanced diet of proteins, carbs, vitamins and minerals, able to be fed to adult breeding birds but also great for young birds just starting out on feeding for themselves. It can be used as an interim feed between the parents and feeding for themselves. Also can be used to add moisture during dry feeding times, being as you can add water to the mix as much as think needed.

[arin]

Update 1: I made a brooder but I was not contempt with the formula I made (egg and plain biscuits with some hot water). He/She ate it and filled up its crop with it but I later put him/her back in the nest with siblings. I decided to keep him/her in that nest but keep an eye on him/her if he/she doesn't get fed. If he/she doesn't get fed I will make some more homemade formula and feed him/her but put him/her back in the nest. Please tell me if this is a good idea or not.

Thanks to everybody’s advice

[tweetiepiesmom]

Thanks Hezz. I don't plan on ever breeding budgies but I'm interested in learning everything about budgies.

[Hezz]

That's about all you can do for now - keep checking to make sure the crop fills and empties, try to see if the parents are feeding it. You don't want to keep filling its crop if it isn't time for a feed and there is still food in its crop as this is how chicks develop sour crop - the crop not emptying between feeds and the food stagnates in the crop.

It is not as though this is a weak new hatchling so you do have a certain amount of leeway without needing to worry about the chick becoming too weak from lack of food. I would also offer it some millet (spray) to see whether it is interested in trying to crack seed. This is where the male should be stepping in to help out, showing the chicks how it is done. It might be a little early for that yet but no harm in trying.

[arin]

Jul 19, 2020 21:11:33 GMT Hezz said:

That's about all you can do for now - keep checking to make sure the crop fills and empties, try to see if the parents are feeding it. You don't want to keep filling its crop if it isn't time for a feed and there is still food in its crop as this is how chicks develop sour crop - the crop not emptying between feeds and the food stagnates in the crop.

It is not as though this is a weak new hatchling so you do have a certain amount of leeway without needing to worry about the chick becoming too weak from lack of food. I would also offer it some millet (spray) to see whether it is interested in trying to crack seed. This is where the male should be stepping in to help out, showing the chicks how it is done. It might be a little early for that yet but no harm in trying.

Yeah I have tried feeding some millet once and he/she has cracked a few bits. I think the mother is feeding him/her but not a lot because whenever I check there is only a little bit of food or none. Also do you think it is way too late to correct splayed legs. I tied the legs together since ages but still had no progress and it probably got worse. Have you ever heard of adult budgies slowly getting better from splayed legs, hopefully I can help him/her. He/She is always stuck on the ground while the other siblings walk and he/she tries to follow them but can barely get close enough. It breaks my heart but oh well. Things happen! Thanks for the advice

[Hezz]

I've never heard of anyone having success in fixing splayed legs after those first few weeks as the hips become fused in place. I think this is a little bird who is going to be better off as a one-on-one bird with someone who can dedicate themselves to making its life as fulfilled as possible. If it is in an aviary, would you consider bringing it inside as a full-time member of the family? It can live a happy life but it will have special needs, ladders etc to help it get around as normally as possible. Often these little disabled buds make the most delightful pets.

If you ever see this problem again, this is probably the best method for fixing splayed legs that I've seen:
budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/620/splayed-legs-make-sponge-method

[arin]

Jul 22, 2020 1:26:59 GMT Hezz said:

I've never heard of anyone having success in fixing splayed legs after those first few weeks as the hips become fused in place. I think this is a little bird who is going to be better off as a one-on-one bird with someone who can dedicate themselves to making its life as fulfilled as possible. If it is in an aviary, would you consider bringing it inside as a full-time member of the family? It can live a happy life but it will have special needs, ladders etc to help it get around as normally as possible. Often these little disabled buds make the most delightful pets.

If you ever see this problem again, this is probably the best method for fixing splayed legs that I've seen:
budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/620/splayed-legs-make-sponge-method

Yeah I know that I will have to take her/him on with me. I love him/her so much and dedicate myself fully to my birds. I wonder if anybody has slightly fixed the legs with some physio therapy. Hopefully I will find something but there is little to nothing on the internet about splayed legs. Thanks alot