Parents not feeding fledglings – Advice please!

[reese]

My Budgies (Lucy & Bertie) were doing well as parents until they started on their 2nd clutch; they seem to have abandoned their 4 chicks. Chick #1 came out of the nest 5 days ago, chick#2 followed the next day and chick#3 yesterday, the youngest chick is still in the nest. Bertie is not feeding any of them; he seems uncomfortable around them and flies away if they go near him. The chicks did not go to the hut I’ve placed at the bottom of the cage for them, but have stayed on the upper perches. When Lucy comes out of the nest they beg her to feed them – she doesn’t. I removed 2 eggs from the nest box to encourage Lucy to come out more, but it’s weird, sometimes she grooms them but she won’t feed them. My question is can they survive at this stage without being fed by either parent? The older two (aged 37 and 35 days old) are eating on their own quite well; I have many food containers with a variety of different foods. Chick# 3 (32 days old) eats a little and Chick#4 (28 days old) has millet in the nest box. My attempts at handfeeding to supplement have not been successful. Lucy has another egg in the nest today, I am considering bringing the youngest chick out of the nest and removing the nestbox from the cage – maybe she will focus on her chicks then? Advice appreciated! 

[OP]

Sorry I am unable to help. But I thought I would let you know that you are not being ignored. I'm sure someone will be along to give some advice. Welcome to the forum by the way.

[reese]

Thanks for the welcome.

Update to my original post: They youngest chick has left the nest box on its own just now.

[lemonade]

One of the experienced breeders should be on soon and give some advice.
I can't help myself, sorry

[BudgiesBuddy]

Mar 23, 2014 18:05:08 GMT reese said:

Thanks for the welcome.

Update to my original post: They youngest chick has left the nest box on its own just now.

That's a good news. Remove the hen and the nest box. The cock will feed them. If he doesn't do so either, at least they will learn from him. Keep an eye on the cock. If he gets aggressive towards chicks, remove him too. The younger chicks will learn from older ones and feed themselves. Holding seeds in hand and encouraging them to eat would help too.

[BudgiesBuddy]

Welcome to forum

[reese]

Thanks. I have followed your recommendation and removed the nest box and separated my hen, Lucy; she’s now in another room. She has been very stressed away from the nest box as well as her chicks and mate, it does seem cruel. Bertie, the cock, is also very distressed without her; he keeps calling for her and hasn’t fed any of the chicks, he flies away if they approach him. The youngest chick is begging for food from Bertie and its siblings; but she (I think it’s female) has eaten a little on her own. I did see Lucy feed the youngest chick once yesterday after it left the nest; maybe I should have removed Bertie and left Lucy with the chicks?

[BudgiesBuddy]

Mar 24, 2014 20:15:40 GMT reese said:

Thanks. I have followed your recommendation and removed the nest box and separated my hen, Lucy; she’s now in another room. She has been very stressed away from the nest box as well as her chicks and mate, it does seem cruel. Bertie, the cock, is also very distressed without her; he keeps calling for her and hasn’t fed any of the chicks, he flies away if they approach him. The youngest chick is begging for food from Bertie and its siblings; but she (I think it’s female) has eaten a little on her own. I did see Lucy feed the youngest chick once yesterday after it left the nest; maybe I should have removed Bertie and left Lucy with the chicks?

The hens are removed first as they are not in a good mood after the removal of the nest box, and can harm the chicks.I doubt even she will feed the chicks once the nest box is removed.

How are they doing today?

[reese]

All four chicks seem to be doing okay, they are able to eat on their own, and there is plenty of food in the cage, so I just have to hope for the best. The hen, Lucy, was not doing well caged on her own; every time I checked on her she was shaking, panting and not eating, so I placed her back in the flight cage with the others (I did this before I read your post about hens being aggressive towards chicks). There are 3 female chicks and 1 male, Lucy was fine with the females – she didn’t feed them but did groom them, but she was aggressive towards the male chick and kept flying at him. The cock, Bertie, has not been aggressive towards any of the chicks but he’s a pest constantly trying to mate with Lucy, and I think maybe because of this behavior, the female chicks have been aggressive towards him, especially the oldest chick. So for the safety of the two males I had to do something, and I have removed Lucy and Bertie and they are now together in a separate cage next to the flight cage. Lucy is calmer because she’s with Bertie, the mating behavior has ceased, and the chicks seem fine. How long do you think I should keep parents separated from the chicks? Do you think it’s possible for 4 females and 2 males to live happily together? I appreciate your advice!

[BudgiesBuddy]

The breeding pair should be given a month to regain body strength and nutrition before putting them back in the flight.

The chicks needs to be fully flying and eating before they can be placed in the flights with the adults. It takes between 2 to 4 months. depending upon different chicks.

If they have enough space, perches, food and water sources, they would happily share one flight/cage.

[BudgiesBuddy]

If you share pictures of your budgies and setup, we can pinpoint the issues, if any

[reese]

The chicks are currently living on their own in the flight cage; I don’t have a breeding cage (the nest box was attached to the flight). I will continue to keep the parents in a separate cage for a month as you advised.

I had not planned on breeding Budgies, Bertie and my previous hen (now deceased) lived together for 4 years and didn’t breed. Within a month of introducing Lucy, I was shocked to find she was laying eggs in a toy treehouse in the cage, so I attached a nest box and l placed the eggs in there to give them a chance.

Now there are 4 beautiful chicks, thankfully they are all doing well; they can all fly and are eating on their own. Thanks for all your advice!

[BudgiesBuddy]

You're welcome reese

Nice to know that they are doing great