Need advice regarding female & male nesting behaviors and ..

[heron]

First question—this is my first experience with budgie chicks and a pair. I have a pair of budgies who have 4 chicks in the nest box. This is their first clutch. The female will not let the male near the nest box. She chases him away to the point where I leave the cage door open whenever I’m home so he can get out and not be constantly harassed. when I do have to be out of the house I now put him in an adjacent cage. he is very curious about the chicks in the box and trys to sit on top of the box or nearby. But the hen can be relentless about chasing him away Even though the box mounts on the outside of the cage and he’s just sitting on the top. He will also try and look in the box from the hole and she won’t allow that. He’s never seen the chicks but obviously can hear them. Is this in the realm of normal hen behavior? The chicks are a 2 1/2 weeks old now. doesn’t the male help feed chicks when they are around 3-4 weeks old? What to do if the hen won’t allow the male to participate?

Second question—- the hen laid 9 eggs total—7 fertilized eggs, there was a big gap between the first 3 hatching and the next 4. I took the first 3 to a woman who hand feeds babies when they were 3 weeks old. seven was too much for my hen, this is her first clutch. She is taking very good care of the remaining 4. originally I was going to have all the chicks go to the woman who will hand feed and she wants them. But I am considering keeping 2 of the 4 and co-parenting. As the hen is doing fine with these 4, if I take 2 out am I taking a risk that the hen will abandon the remaining 2. I’ve been told that it is risky removing 2. Actually I was told removing the first 3 posed a risk of abandonment but Jade, the hen was fine ( actually seemed relieved). She’s been a superb mom.

if I keep two to co-parent I have no idea how the male will be. Obviously I’ve never done this either so I’m looking for good information about that. it was surprising that they mated as for a long while the hen barely tolerated the male and they had separate cages but spent out of cage time together. It’s only since they had eggs in a box that they’ve slept in the same cage. sometimes they choose to sleep in separate cages now too. well the hen chases the male out so he sleeps in a separate cage.

that’s a lot I know. I’m hoping for some advice from folks who have pairs and experience with babies etc... ohh both of these birds came to me as hand fed babies. the hen is about 2 yrs old and the male is about 3 months younger

[Hezz]

I wouldn’t interfere with the hen’s parenting unless the chicks are not being fed, and that is not the case. You can still handle the chicks, if the hen is at all accommodating, ensuring that they are comfortable around humans. A good time to do this is when you clean out the nest box, and it is a good idea to weigh them at the same time.

Normally the male will feed the female while she stays in the nest in the early stages, but as the chicks mature, it is usually the male who teaches the chicks to forage and crack seed. Again there is no reason why you need to exclude yourself from their lives but you also don’t need to take over for the chicks to be most comfortable around people. Hand feeding in budgies is not necessary to ensure you have “hand-tamed” chicks. Just spending time with them so they know that you are a part of their every-day lives is much more beneficial.

[Morgan]

wocal may be able to provide additional advice should you desire to try hand-feeding them. I have not tried it myself yet either, but after speaking to a few bird breeders, being a direct source of food for the chicks when they are still dependent does cause them to form a stronger bond to the human “parent” than just handling them. However, as Hezz said, feeding them is not necessary to make them “hand-tame”, and can be a bit tricky. If you are at all nervous about it I would also suggest just handling the chicks often - but not for too long out of the nest so they don’t get chilled, until they are at least three weeks of age.

[wocal]

I'm just gonna go down the list of questions and try to answer them the best I can and then tell you what I would do if I was in the same position.

I wouldn't say it is "normal" for the mom to chase the dad away. I have seen it before with budgies. Breeders have told me the female killed the dad. So, it can get ugly. it's good you have given him away out, but I would start co feeding with the mom.

I have never experienced the parents abandoning the babies when you take them out. not to be graphic, but the chicks pass away in the box sometimes when they are too weak, and the hen removes them and keeps feeding the ones who are alive. their basic instinct is to keep them alive. I think you have a higher probability of having her abandon the babies/eggs when she has to pick between her babies living or her. which she could get there if she gets tired enough. helping her feed them will give her a chance to eat and rest.

The male will be fine. I have coparented and fed babies from day 0 and the dad gets over it and enjoys the peace. I would keep the female and male separated for awhile though. They might sneak away when the hen is ready for more eggs when the babies get older and then find an egg in the box with fledgling babies still in the box.

co parenting is probably the easier out of the two. Just feed it 10% of its body weight once a day and give it back to moms. There's still a bunch of videos on it. when they start getting feathers you can hang out with them a bit and give moms a break. This comes from experience I have babies right now I cofeed and they come out nicer. Better "pets" I should say. It is not needed like Hezz is talking about, but it is not more beneficial to not do it. It depends on what YOU want. If you want a head start on training? then hand feed him. You want a bond thats deeper than just "that's the dude who give me millet?" then hand feeding is your answer. My hand fed babies come straight to me because they know I raised them. I'm like mom. co parenting is like a step down, but still give you a huge start head start from hand taming.

But if you want a bird who is more independent and need wants less of your time and just want them to breed then you want to leave it to the parents. hand taming is cool with budgies too though. it's like an in between. they can learn to like you and trust you it just is worked for more.

personally I do all of them. I breed a lot of birds though. I have parents I keep the line going for pets, but I have other birds I breed just to breed to sell as pets. Birds are as flexible as you need them to be. They can be your best friend or know you as the guy who feeds them and wants you to keep away from them as much as possible.

[heron]

Thank you for the input. I very much appreciate you all taking the time.
The mom started plucking the feathers from one of the babies. Because I had someone who would take the remaining 4 babies and hand feed them ( she breeds birds) I decided that was the best thing for these babies. The dad never participated in feeding them. This was the first time either had babies. Someone ( not on this forum) Recommended removing the mom and letting dad take over. Honestly I wasn’t comfortable with that.