One of my 3 cockatiel babies needs help!!!?

Question

When I checked on the babies this morning I noticed that the oldest ones tip of wing had something stuck to it. When I tried to remove it I saw that 2 feather tips were broken and it blead a bit. What happened? They are in the breeding box so I cant see whats happening inside. Do you think one of the younger ones bit it or did the parents bite it? The parents still feeds it so would they bite it? Every other day I will take the babies out for a minute or so to check them. The parents are used to me, but they don't let me touch them or hold them. I only have them 2 years and I don't know if this is tame or not. The oldest ones right foot also seems a little disabled. Only one foot holds my finger tight the other foots two outside fingers curl slightly inwards. What's wrong with the foot? I need serious suggestions as I can't find proper help in Taiwan.

Please read the information I gave properly. The chick with the problem is the oldest one and I said the wing was bleeding. Please give serious answers as I need to help the birds. PLEASE.

Answer 1

Your bird broke a bloodfeather. If it's still open, and your bird doesn't know well enough to pull it, he could bleed to death before it decides to clot. The spongy tissue inside of the feather shaft is a little too slick for blood cells to coagulate on, and as a result, an open bloodfeather is a little like a running faucet. As long as the follicle remains open because the feather shaft holds it open, the bleeding doesn't stop.

There are lots of quick fixes for this, but the safest fix that will work the fastest and most effectively is to gather a towel, some tweezers and some peroxide or rubbing alcohol, and a few cotton swabs or cotton balls.

Gently gain control of your bird, making sure that the towel forms a barrier between you and his beak, and also that his airway is completely open. Completely pluck out the offending feather, nice and straight, and check the follicle for remaining fragments. Once you're sure that you have them all, pat the follicle with cotton soaked in peroxide or alcohol.

Afterward, minimize the risk of infection by changing out the nestbox before you replace the bird.

Do you think that you could send me a digital image of the chick whose feet don't curl totally? What you're describing may be the totally natural acclimation to the zygodactyl stance the bird will have in adulthood (zygodactyl basically = "x-shaped"), when those two toes will both point backwards.

It could also be that his parents have preened off one of his toes. They mean well, but sometimes they do this because it appears that they don't know the power of their own beaks. It could also be that your baby has slippery nest substrate, and is developing weak leg muscles as a result. Lasly, if the humidity level is too low, the two toes could be disabled by poor blood supply because a band of very dry skin tissue is constricting them. If this is happening, the toes on those feet will appear bulbous and/or irritated. To solve that problem, use lotion and a pair of tweezers to remove the dry skin band, and the toes will return to normal if too much damage hasn't already occured.

Good luck. How old is the baby? You can ask more questions on the cockatiel bird of my favorite bird club. Here's a link to that: http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/community/forumdisplay.php?f=13

Also, there is a lady on here who has a fairly informative cockatiel group on MySpace. She may have some input too.

It could also be that you're overly cautious because you're trying to do everything right, and the bird is just left- or right-footed.

PS -- the man above me was right that if birds want to breed, they push their remaining babies away. If it's not time for your tiel to stop eating from his parents, try limiting the whole family to ten hours of light and fourteen hours a day of silence and darkness (alone, covered), to mimic wintertime. This ought to curb their libidoes a little. If they do lay eggs, just remove them until the baby is old enough to pull.

Answer 2

Your baby has broken blood feathers, and they need to be plucked out or the baby could bleed to death. A blood feather is a feather that is still growing and has blood in it. If it breaks it acts like a straw and allows the bird to bleed to death.
Your cockatiel with the bad foot, how long has the foot been like this? There are many things that it could be, including splay leg from when it was a baby, and never got treated. I'd really need more information on the bird's foot.

Answer 3

I used to be a cockatiel breeder, so I've got this. The father is probably the culprit. They do it because they want to breed again. (The horny buggers) I once had a big problem with this. If you are prepared to hand feed the babies, you can go ahead and separate them from the parents, but understand it's worse than a newborn infant. You will have to syringe feed them every two hours around the clock. You are lucky he didn't kill the babies. The males (cocks) can be incredibly viscious. Email me if you need more help. Make sure you have a stop pen handy. Their blood is thin, and can be lost quickly. Also keep the baby warm when he is stressed or injured. He'll be okay if the bleeding has stopped and he does not look stressed. Otherwise get him to a vet.

Answer 4

A new feather is totally encased in a soft like shaft. when the birds preen they slowly pull that outer shaft off.. this could have been what you were seeing on the wing... It could be someone over preened him.. do you have styptic powder?? it will quickly stop the flow of blood.. it is very very important that if your bird is bleeding.. you stop the bleeding quickly as they bleed to death fast...

As for the little one's foot.. it sounds like it could be a deformaty.. or possibly it just needs to get some exercise.. I understand they are young.. and it may take time to determine what exactly is happening...

Try to order a book on line or find one there in a pet store on the care and breeding of tiels.... it will be alot of help to you.

As for the parent's not allowing you to hold or touch them.. NO they are not tame if they won't allow you contact.. it may take time but it is very important that they have confidence in you to allow this interaction.. It will make breeding and handling the babies much easier. You definately want to be able to hold and play with the babies.. the more human contact they have the better.. it will make them much more able to go to new homes if that is what you have planned.. People will pay a MUCH higher price for a hand feed.. human acclimated tiel than for one that was only taken care of by the parent's.. also the more contact you have with them.. the less stress on the parent birds.. this is important to for them to rest up and get back into top health... especially if your going into breeding on a full time basis...

Answer 5

the baby was probably born with a foot deformaty. it probably will need to be seen by a vet to give you ways to fix it. as for the wing someone could have been feather plucking. i have heard that it is common for an older male bird to do this to a younger one.

Answer 6

Take the babies out of the box and clean the dried poop off of them, then clean the box they are in nd place pine shavings inside the box then return the babies. Clean that box every 3 days and sooner if you see the babies sitting in their own poop. Alot of people dont realise they have to clean the box the babies are in.