Baby Parakeets: Official Thread

[77horses]

Hey everyone! I decided to start this thread because right now I have 2 parakeet eggs in my "portable parakeet egg bator"(which is a box with a lamp over it)

and they are planned to hatch this week!

We had 3 but one died while developing. This is my first time attempting to raise baby parakeets. I'm going to need to feed them every 2-3 hours for the first 4 weeks, then every 6 hours and so on. Except I will be back in school in about 4 weeks, so they will have to wait 8 hours instead of 6. But I will be weighing them everyday to make sure they are gaining enough weight.

Information:

-Number of eggs: 2
-Hatch date: week of 7/2(this week)
-Supplies: Syringes, paper towels, something to weigh them with, extra cage when they get older, toothpicks, and baby bird feeding formula(which onthespot, a fellow BYCer, has kindly offered to send to me for free and will arrive in about 2-3 days, more or less)

-Parents (the eggs came from our own parakeets, but the mother abandoned them): Carla, green and yellow parakeet(mother). Stormy, gray, black, and blue parakeet(father).
___________________________________________________

I will post pics when the babies hatch and as they get older. If you have any experience with raising baby parakeets, please feel free to post your experiences.

 

[redhen]

Congrats! Do you think that mom parakeet would feed them for you? Will she take them after they hatch..could you slip them under her..maybe? it might be safer that way..

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

Hi,

Have you done anything like this before? Parent birds (parakeets) feed their babies every 15 minutes for the first couple days of their lives. I don't think feeding every 3 hours is going to work. I've done this. I fed every HOUR. For the first several days. It is going to be hard to keep the baby hydrated with feeding every 2 to three hours. Look down at your finger nail. When the babies emerge from the egg they are going to be about the size of an average pinkie finger nail. They are very, very tiny. Another thing you have to do is feed the babies on their back - just like the parents do. They can only accomodate one drop of formula at a time...for the first couple of days it needs to be fairly thin. If the babies dehydrate the formula just sits in their crop and drys up. The babies need to be a light pink - the minute they start turning red - they are dehydrating. When first hatched, baby parakeets sleep on their feet with their head hanging down between their feet with the top of their head resting on the floor of the nest box, brooder - or whatever.

Once you get past the first 3-5 days you'll notice that they are growing and you'll be able to increase the amount of feed given at each feeding and then you are able to stretch the feedings out to maybe every 2 hours. What hand feeding formula do you plan to use? Do not make your own formula. Use a formula that is esp. made for baby parrots. Be sure to make it exactly like the directions say. Go out and purchase a digital thermometer if you don't already have one. You will need it. Feed the formula at exactly the temp the directions indicate. If you feed it too hot...you'll burn a hole in the babies crop. Too cold and the formula will not move through the babies system and you'll end up with sour crop.

I'm not trying to talk you out of this. I'm just telling you I've done it. And it is very labor intensive. I raised parrots for years. Hand feeding is an art with a whole lot of science thrown in. It takes a lot of time. You have to keep everything that comes in contact with the baby very clean, warm and dry. Do not keep the baby in a round container. They need a corner to snuggle in...and will snuggle together...round containers can also cause splayed legs in the chicks. Keep us posted on your progress. I hope this helps you with the first 5 days. You can PM message me if you need to. One more thing...disposable pipettes work great...they cut down on cleaning time and they are always sterile. Use them once and throw them and any germs away. You can also fill them with formula and put them in a cup of warm water that is the correct temp to keep them warm between babies etc. I would use one per baby per feeding and throw it away. They can be found at medical supply houses. Exact is a really good food - but there are several out there. Find something that is available in your area and easy to use. Good Luck, Joni

 

[redhen]

I agree..hand feeding is very tricky. Even for people/adults with experience. I've hand fed alot of parrots and a cockatiel, but even i'd hesitate to try a parakeet.

 

[onthespot]

baby food sent. good luck.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Thanks again so much! I just wish our local pet store had some...they have baby feeding syringes, but that's it.

__________________
jojo- thanks for all the info! I never know that for the first few hours you had to feed them every 15 minutes. And yes, when our parakeets were attempting to raise their own babies, I noticed that they fed them while they were laying on their backs.
I've watched a video made by the company of the Exact brand (Kaytee products) and have learned a lot from it:

-feed formula at exactly 105*F...too low will cause sour crop, too high will cause a hole to burn in the crop. Test it with a thermometer or test on the back of your hand for comfort. (My mom has a thermometer esp. made for testing food temperature.

-Feed baby chick from LEFT side of beak, and tilt the syringe slightly to the right. This way, the formula goes down the pharynx and to the crop. If you feed from the RIGHT side, it will go down the wind pipe.

-Feed the chick with the rhythm of its head(it will bob/move it's head as it's being fed...this will make feeding easier).

-Slowly push the formula out as your feeding the chick...make sure not to push it out too hard or fast.

-After adding hot water to formula(or microwaving to warm it up), mix it thoroughly and let it sit for 1 minute.

-Feed the chick until the crop is nicely rounded.

-Weigh the chick every morning before feeding. (my mom also has a weighing scale thing at her work that they never use)

-Use a syringe to feed the chicks. (my mom is an EMT/Fire fighter, so she easily got me some saline flushes. I emptied the salt water out of them, and they will work perfectly.

-Use pure, uncontaminated water ONLY when mixing it into the Exact formula. (This is where I'm confused; we have good water, but it's chlorinated.(smells like chlorine). Would it be OK to use this water or should I buy some fresh water from the store?)

__________________________
That's mostly all I've learned from the video that I can remember. Ther supplies I have right now are:

-syringes(small and large)

-toothpicks(for feeding for the first few hours after hatching)

-paper towels

-weighing scale

-temp. food tester

-Exact baby parrot feeding formula(that is on the way right now, thanks to onthespot)

________________________
Updates:
The eggs have not hatched. I threw out 1 last night because it wasn't developing. After cracking it open, I found that my candling was correct; an emrbyo had developed, but had died at an early age.
So now 2 eggs are left. 1 is definitely alive and healthy, the other, older one is starting to make me wonder if it will make it. It has veins and I can see the chick's eye, but no movement that I can tell. Might be because it's getting ready to hatch and is too big to move much anymore? The other egg has movement inside and if all goes right, should hatch around the end of the week.

Right now the are in a wooden box with newspapers to make it nice and soft(and for easy cleaning). Fingers crossed that they hatch soon and all goes well!

I've never done this before but have seen our own parakeets attempt it three times(1st time no eggs hatched, second time 1 egg hatched but chick died from being smothered, and third time the chick got to the age where they had tiny pin feathers, but we made the mistake of leaving the other parakeets in the cage with the parents and the other females raided the nest and killed all 4 babies.

) But I've handled them before when they were a few hours old and I know how tiny they are! LOL and they make little, faint peeping noises.

 

[onthespot]

Instead of trying to make the food a certain temperature, make a mug of water the right temperature. Make the food separately. You will only need tiny amounts so you could just make it in a spoon. Add a little bit of food, then a few drops of water to mix it so it is the same thickness of ketchup. Then suck it up into the syringe and put the syringe in the warm water for a minute or less even. Then the food will be the right temp. I use tap water to make food for the babies. You could go distilled, wouldn't hurt.
I sent you two extra syringes, just 3cc normal ones. just in case you need them.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Thanks!

 

[write2caroline]

Once when we were moving....yet again....from NY to FL we had 8 parakeets (4 pairs) and due to the hurricanes we were stuck at the holiday inn for 7 weeks. Love was in the air.....the birds were in a traveling cage that was kind of like a breeding box.....All started to lay eggs. My husband was beside himself in a tisy over it. 8 was enough and we didn't need any more - One "Flash" got Broody and sat on the eggs.....Fortunately, actually, not one hatched. of the 16 eggs all but 4 were duds when candled and the other 4 Flash kept rejecting so in our case it was a good thing. All the Holiday Inn Employees were thrilled about the eggs - It was hard to live in a hotel with 1 choc lab, 2 cats, and 8 laying parakeets.
Good luck - I hear they are born nearly naked and it takes a while to feather.
Caroline
Jax FL

 

[Nyrial]

I have to agree with the difficulty of the task, we used to raise parrotlets, and they (and parakeets) are teeny tiny when they hatch. You'll have to be very careful they don't aspirate the formula, sanitize your hands, and definitely feed more than every 3 hours. I view the advice of Kaytee as sketchy at best... Maybe they've improved over the years, but it would be beneficial to you, and your birds, to find a breeder in your area that can demonstrate on their own babies/supervise the first time. Look for a bird club in the area and start calling.

I'm a newcomer here, and probably shouldn't be giving advice yet, but I've handfed several hundred of the little buggers, and it's a lot more challenging than it looks. It sounds like you have the basics, but some guided hands on instruction would no doubt be helpful, and most bird people are over eager to help.

We never even pulled our babies till they were ready to open their eyes and were on the few hours schedule and it was exhausting.

Good Luck! It's very rewarding if you can pull it off.