breeding cockatiels?

Question

we have a male and female cockatiels and they have had thier second clutch. the first clutch the babies did well and we have sold them, but this clutch they are only 1 week old and mom and dad have both killed 2 and severly hurt the other two. can anyone please tell me why they would do this.

Answer 1

Cockatiels in captivity should only be allowed to breed once a season. The reason they are killing them is that the chicks may be defective. Also in nature they are migratory and may think that there is insufficient food to rear them.

I am in Australia and have over 200 pairs as well as at least 1000 wild tiels in the conservation area at the rear of where i live. I am the appointed ranger ( part time) for logging of new clutches and survival rates.

Cockatiels need more than pellets if you live in the States and use pellets then consider that tiles are seed eaters and this is part of their socialization ( cracking seed) Pellets are the lazy approach and totally unnatural to this specie.

They may also be lacking in greens. ( Never lettuce as it is an astingent) but cabbage, sprouts, spinach parsley are all good for them and should be available in clutch time. In the wild they like fresh millet grass and nibble on eicalyptus leaves to purge their gut and it also acts as an antibiotic. It is pretty important to supply calcium blocks or cuttle bone ( never grit) for tiels. All this adds up to healthy clutches. Your birds are possibly feeling the environment is deficient for chick survival

Join my grooup on MSN Cockatielbreeders and let me know when you join.. dennis

Answer 2

I breed cockatiels several times a year. There are many reasons why the current events are happening. First of all, no offense to the tiel breeder from Australia, but those are birds in the wild. These birds have lived in captivity all their lives.
I am not a major scale breeder, I only breed a few clutches per year. Here's some events that may be occurring that cause your current tragedy.
Are there cockatiels or noisy birds in cages nearby?
Is a child or animal aggravating the birds?
Do the birds have a proper diet of pellets like Kaytee, Zu-Preem?
Is someone disturbing the birds in the nestbox? Cockatiels do not like the chicks to be messed with. The parents will do everything that is necessary for the babies by themselves.
If the parents are young birds, too old to breed, or having clutches one after the other, then, you end up with dead chicks.
Make sure there is no trouble getting water from the water bottle or other water supply. Cover the cage if you have to. Offer chopped carrots, crushed hard boiled egg, broccoli, any fresh pepper and seeds, apple. Do not feed too much sunflower seeds.
We do not recommend any Hartz or Wal-Mart brand bird food. Wal-Mart sells other brands that are good though. Make sure there are no mice in the bird area. The tiels will abandon the chicks if mice are in the vicinity.
If you have any remaining chicks at this time, it is best to remove and hand feed with Kaytee handfeeding formula which is available at any pet store and there are sufficient directions on the container. Then remove the nest box for awhile to give the birds a rest.

Answer 3

I would take your babies out immediately! Or your parents will kill the remaining chicks. I would say that the parents are feeling that something is wrong. But I would suspect that they feel that food is the issue. Do you have egg food available to them. Millet, seed and pellets? A bowl of water that they can bath in. I know that last thing about the water is weird, but it keeps the parents busy and provides humidify in the nest box. But I have learned not to second guess the parents. If they aren't taking care of the babies, something might be wrong with the chicks. They usually don't feed the babies. But yours are attacking the babies, big difference. So your parents have other issues with the chicks.
Hope this helps you....feel free to email if you need additional help.
Good luck!

Answer 4

There could be something wrong with the chicks, or they are tired. Take the birds, chicks and parents, to the vet and get a professional reccomendation.

They may say that you need to pull the surviving chicks and handfeed, so be prepared.

Do this soon!

Answer 5

they might be unhappy if they are not getting a lot of attention, an the only way to show it is to hurt the babies. try just talking to them or putting a radio on so they have got somthing to hear so they dont get bored

Answer 6

in case you provide them avian light fixtures and performance the gentle come on at 5AM, then off at 8PM; then they're going to nevertheless imagine that it continues to be a mating season and could mate and breed. in the adventure that they are in the exterior aviary, then the mating season is over, they could nevertheless breed yet I doubt it because of the chilly climate and the daylight gentle.