Suddenly aggressive parents?

[pinkeldo]

Hi everyone! My two budgies Blueberry (female) and Boo (male) have had their first clutch of babies. All has been going very well and smoothly until a couple of days ago when I noticed a change with the parents, especially Boo.

This is my first time ever breeding my budgies (I have tried to research and learn as much as I could before breeding). A little background information: Blueberry used to be housed with my two older budgies (Charlie and Connie) when she was a baby, however once she hit sexual maturity she became aggressive with Connie so I removed her immediately. Before I even had Boo, Blueberry would lay infertile eggs which I have never experienced with any of my female budgies in the past (even if they were housed with males). So anyway, I assumed she was just extra-hormonal.

After being housed with Boo for over a year, I decided to install a nest box, as she was always laying eggs anyway (she even tried incubating eggs at the bottom of the cage!) and clearly wanted to be a mother. The very next day after I installed the nest box she laid an egg. Fast forward a few weeks, and two of the seven eggs hatched and produced healthy chicks. I'm not sure why the other eggs never hatched, but I think maybe once the first two eggs hatched maybe Blueberry was overwhelmed with feeding the babies and didn't do a good job incubating the rest? Well, anyway, both Cielo (female, 35 days old) and Peep (male, 31 days old) are doing very well.

The problem is that in the last 3 days I have noticed a change in Boo, the father. He has become much more protective of the nest when I come near (does a very loud squawking sound), is much more irritable in general (especially with Blueberry, they have been getting in small quarrels), and I'm worried that he is not feeding Peep, the younger baby.

At this point, I do not see Blueberry feeding the babies, which makes sense, as I have read that the father usually takes over the majority of the parenting at this point. However, Blueberry does spend most of the day in the nest box. This isn't a new development though, she spent pretty much all her time in the nest box since the beginning and is VERY protective of the babies (it's hard to take them out of the nest box without her attacking my hand). I should add that it appears Blueberry has gone out of breeding condition; her cere is now completely white.

I have been keeping a close eye on the chicks, as Cielo has left the nest box once (at 30 days old--I put her back in the nest box because it was nighttime, she was crying for food, and I didn't think that she could eat on her own yet). Peep has left the nest box twice (at 28 and 30 days old) again, I put him back in the nest box (after letting him be at the bottom of the cage for a few hours--the father did feed him). Today Cielo (35 days) fledged and was at the food bowl, so I was so excited and happy to see that--but Boo and Blueberry got in quite a fight (wings flapping, squawking), and in between this fighting, Boo was trying to mate with Cielo! (which was very unsettling). Was Blueberry trying to protect Cielo from Boo/ or was she jealous? I immediately removed Cielo from the cage (since as this was happening, Boo and Blueberry were fighting and Cielo was sometimes in the crossfire) and put her in a separate nursery cage with seed, egg food, millet, vegetables, and water. I also put Peep in, as I was worried that the parents would attack him (plus, I thought Cielo would like to have some company).

During this time, Boo and Blueberry were both peaceful. I did not see the babies eat any food while in the separate cage and after about 3 hours I started to get worried because Cielo began to chirp and Boo would contact call. So I put the two chicks back in the nest box and Boo fed them both (however, I've noticed that Boo seems to favor Cielo and give her more food than Peep).

Now, I'm at a loss; should I put Cielo and Peep back in the nursery cage (I have been putting seed and millet in their nest box for about a week now to get them used to/practice eating, however I still can't tell if they can crack the seeds or not. I see them playing/putting the seeds in their mouths though). Should I separate the mother or the father instead? I would like to take Boo out, but he seems to be the only one feeding the babies right now. Any advice would be appreciated!  

[pinkeldo]

Hi everyone, I thought I should update this post because things have significantly changed since last night:

I left the chicks in the nest box all night because the parents were feeding the babies and all was peaceful with no fighting. This morning, I woke up and saw that Cielo had just fledged, and the fighting began again between Blueberry (mom) and Boo (dad), so I took Cielo from the cage as she was being pecked as well.

After observing the parents for awhile, I saw that they were still fighting--and as Peep was being fed by Boo, Blueberry would intervene and lunge/peck at Peep. So I decided to put Blueberry in the same cage as Cielo (so Cielo/Blueberry are in one cage and Boo/Peep are in the breeder cage). Things have been extremely peaceful.

I'm still worried that Cielo is not fully weaned, as she will contact call with Boo repeatedly (and Blueberry will not feed her, although she's not aggressive with her either)--however this afternoon I took Cielo out and brought her to Boo to see if she wanted to be with him, and she really had no interest in being in that cage (Boo tried to feed her but she made an upset noise and did not take the food). So I put her back with Blueberry and all has been well, I'm just worried she might be hungry. I did see her at the food bowl picking at food, I just don't know how much she is actually eating. Boo seems to be feeding Peep and they're both doing well. 

[Hezz]

Are either chick cracking seed on their own? At four to five weeks of age, they should be and the male parent is generally the role model, but another male may take on that role if the parent isn’t going to. Do you have seed sprinkled on the floor of the cage so that the chicks can practise foraging for themselves?

I’d also take out the nest box and give the poor hen a rest. Think about doing what you can to break her egg-laying cycle. The initial things to try are longer sleeping periods - to bed earlier, keep her in the dark and quiet for over the 12 hour period, mix up her cage furniture, remove all familiar and favourite things - if she has a favourite perch or swing etc, remove it. Have her spending time away from the rest of the flock, even if only a day here and there. The idea is to put her in a state of mild stress, and that means low fat diet as well. Give her foods she isn’t so fond of. If she continues to lay despite everything you try, you may need to resort to a hormone injection. Chronic egg layers run the risk of compromising their health, depleting their bodies of calcium, mostly.

[pinkeldo]

Hi Hezz, thanks so much for responding!! I feel a lot better tonight as I saw Cielo eating from the food bowl (she also ate some millet I offered her). I have multiple places in the cage where she can access food/water, as well as on the bottom of the cage (however she doesn’t want to be at the bottom of the cage and instead has perched all day—is this normal for a 36 day old?). I’m not sure if Peep can crack seeds yet, but Boo is feeding him since I removed Cielo and Blueberry (I have had millet and seeds in the nest box since the chicks were 3 weeks old).

The nest box will definitely be removed as soon as Peep is fledged. I didn’t mean Blueberry any harm and hope that I haven’t hurt her health long-term in any way! As I mentioned in my first post, her cere turned white a couple days ago, and she is not interested in raising another clutch (I think it’s Boo who wants to entirely and that’s why he was trying to mate with Cielo). I’ll definitely keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t start laying eggs, since moving her to the other cage with Cielo this morning she seems much less on edge.

[Hezz]

Good to hear all of the above. Once a chick can perch, and at five weeks that is perfectly normal, they aren’t interested in being on the ground. Breeders will usually have a low perch in the cage for the fledglings, because as soon as they can, that’s where the chicks will be, and gives the breeders a good indication of the chicks’ development.

Am I right in understanding that Peep is still in the nest box? And with Dad? Has he shown any interest in coming out at all? He’s only a few days behind his sibling, so not unexpected for him to be out and foraging around on the floor of the cage, with Dad teaching him how to crack seed. Of course, they don’t all develop at the same rate, but I would be encouraging him towards a bit more independence.

[pinkeldo]

Thanks again for your response! Yes, Peep is still in the nest box. He does stick his head out quite often, and he also has come out twice (once when he was 28 days old, and again when he was 30 days old). However, I put him back in the nest box after a few hours because he wasn’t eating on his own and I was worried that he would get cold. This was probably a mistake though. The father is still feeding him, and Peep seems to be practicing eating the millet that I have been putting in the nest box, so I’m hoping he will fledge and be ready to eat mostly by himself by this weekend. Cielo and Blueberry are both doing great, they are already playing with the toys in the cage! Also, I did see Blueberry feeding Cielo a couple times today, so I’m glad to know that Blueberry will help her if she needs it. Thanks again for all your help.

[Hezz]

I’d leave him out of the nest box if he comes out again and if he still isn’t at the perching stage, you can make him a little hide out of a tissue box or something similar, placed on the floor of the cage for him to retreat to for the night. cut a little door into the side of the box, big enough for him to get through easily, and you’ll most likely find that once he is perching he won’t use the box at all.

[pinkeldo]

Thanks! He has been out of the nest box all day today and most of yesterday. He has also started perching more, so I will keep an eye on him and put in a hide out if I see him on the bottom.