Emergency please help...

[RIR0BCM]

Hello
my cockatiel pair abandoned thier 2 eggs right before hatching so i had to take them out to brooder ...
One of the eggs pipped in more than one spot ..and its been 2 days and the egg hasnt hatched yet ....so due to previous experineces with hatching chicken eggs ..i learned that if the egg takes too long to hatch after pipping the chick is probably dry and stuck and would not make it ..

So i candled the egg to see if there were any veins and i didnt see much so i thought this is a good sign and i started to assit the chick but half way through i noticed the egg sac was not absorbed ...i stopped and placed the egg back in the brooder ....

Now i dont know what to do ...do you think it will survive ? Is there anything i can do to help this poor chick ?

Please help id hate to see him die ...

 

[Poultrybonkers]

If its pass due odds are thats why the parents abandone them it wont survive long

 

[JaeG]

Firstly, are you positive they have abandoned their nest? Mine were getting on and off the nest even as the eggs were hatching. Some pairs can seem neglectful but still raise thriving chicks.

Cockatiel chicks can take more than 2 days to pip and unzip. I've just discovered this myself with our first time cockatiel parents. I think ours were pipped for 2 full days before they started to unzip. They definitely take longer than chickens.

They are difficult to hand rear from hatching I have read, but there's no harm in trying. You'll need some hand rearing formula pronto and follow the instructions for that particular formula. There are lots of good pages online about hand feeding, sterility of feeding instruments being one of the most important things along with the temperature of the formula. I'd use a fine eye dropper (preferably glass so it's easy to clean) to feed them at first (then a bent spoon is ideal once they are big enough) and I'd keep them in the incubator for now while they are tiny.

 

[RIR0BCM]

Firstly, are you positive they have abandoned their nest? Mine were getting on and off the nest even as the eggs were hatching. Some pairs can seem neglectful but still raise thriving chicks.

Cockatiel chicks can take more than 2 days to pip and unzip. I've just discovered this myself with our first time cockatiel parents. I think ours were pipped for 2 full days before they started to unzip. They definitely take longer than chickens.

They are difficult to hand rear from hatching I have read, but there's no harm in trying. You'll need some hand rearing formula pronto and follow the instructions for that particular formula. There are lots of good pages online about hand feeding, sterility of feeding instruments being one of the most important things along with the temperature of the formula. I'd use a fine eye dropper (preferably glass so it's easy to clean) to feed them at first (then a bent spoon is ideal once they are big enough) and I'd keep them in the incubator for now while they are tiny.

Thanks for the replys .....
Yes i am positive the parents left the nest ...i watched them for a day before taking the eggs out ....
I bought this adult bonded pair not long ago and they immediately layed eggs ...they incubated the eggs just fine ..2 chicks hatched and to my surprise the parents killed them and became super stressed and abandoned the nest ...ive been raising cockatiels for more than 10 years and ive hand fed many newly hatched chicks with no problem ...but this is the first time that i pull out a cockatiel egg to incubate myself..

I did not know that they take 2 days to unzip ..i thought with smaller birds it would be faster also because the eggs were cold in the nest i figured it affected the hatching process and that the chick was stuck


Unfortunately the chick did not make it ..


should i try to breed them again ?

 

[JaeG]

I'm sorry about the chick. I hate losing babies, even when I know the odds are stacked against them.

Maybe the move broke up their pairing in some way? They certainly don't sound like a happy couple. I'm pretty new to cockatiels but I sure do love them.

I fell in with a breeder who asked if I'd hand rear some of his not so 'show quality' chicks so they'd find good pet homes. Inevitably we ended up keeping 4 which thankfully ended up being 2 pairs. Because they are hand reared the pair that has bred has been very good about letting us handle their eggs and babies. I was amazed at how long the eggs took to hatch. I kept expecting to find a hatchling, but it would still be an egg. The second baby took just as long too.

I've had to hand rear Java finches and Bengalese finches before the cockatiels. One Bengalese nest was abandoned when another pair's chicks fledged. We still have the 2 chicks we saved. With the Javas I finally figured out that it was the male attacking his chicks - he'd nip off their toes and feet! Many died but we managed to save a few and we've kept the 2 chicks with the worst feet - Stumpy and Chippy.

Breeding birds sure comes with challenges!

 

[RIR0BCM]

I'm sorry about the chick. I hate losing babies, even when I know the odds are stacked against them.

Maybe the move broke up their pairing in some way? They certainly don't sound like a happy couple. I'm pretty new to cockatiels but I sure do love them.

I fell in with a breeder who asked if I'd hand rear some of his not so 'show quality' chicks so they'd find good pet homes. Inevitably we ended up keeping 4 which thankfully ended up being 2 pairs. Because they are hand reared the pair that has bred has been very good about letting us handle their eggs and babies. I was amazed at how long the eggs took to hatch. I kept expecting to find a hatchling, but it would still be an egg. The second baby took just as long too.

I've had to hand rear Java finches and Bengalese finches before the cockatiels. One Bengalese nest was abandoned when another pair's chicks fledged. We still have the 2 chicks we saved. With the Javas I finally figured out that it was the male attacking his chicks - he'd nip off their toes and feet! Many died but we managed to save a few and we've kept the 2 chicks with the worst feet - Stumpy and Chippy.

Breeding birds sure comes with challenges!

Yes it sure does !!!
I had a female cockatiel that used to pluck the chicks feathers .!
I also had a female budgie throwing chicks out of the nests
But i never had a female cockatiel killing her own chicks ..thats new to me!

Now i am expecting my other pair to lay eggs ..this is their first clutch ..i hope they do well ..


Two years ago i had a flock of 35 + cockatiels of all colors but sadly i lost them all except for one female ....they all died one i believe it was due infection or bacteria ..

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Ive never heard of good cockatiel parents thats been so bred out of them

 

[JaeG]

Our first time parents (who were hand reared by myself) are doing an amazing job with their two chicks. They've done everything by the book (other than their choice of nesting spot) and they keep those babies so full of food it's crazy.

They nested on the floor of the aviary in a private corner as I didn't have any nestboxes in there (we are moving house in 2 weeks)! Busy with open homes to sell our house I didn't notice until the hen was incubating (the parents always hop off the nest to come and see us). It's all worked out though and the chicks will be a month old when we move. I've moved them to a better nest on the floor just yesterday and the parents quickly worked out where their babies were and weren't fazed by their new nest.

Yes it sure does !!!
I had a female cockatiel that used to pluck the chicks feathers .!
I also had a female budgie throwing chicks out of the nests
But i never had a female cockatiel killing her own chicks ..thats new to me!

Now i am expecting my other pair to lay eggs ..this is their first clutch ..i hope they do well ..


Two years ago i had a flock of 35 + cockatiels of all colors but sadly i lost them all except for one female ....they all died one i believe it was due infection or bacteria ..

Sounds like you had an amazing flock! So sad that you lost all but one.

Hopefully your other pair do a much better job.

 

[RIR0BCM]

I hope so too the female in the other pair is the one that survived ...
This would be her first clutch ever ..
I produced this female and i also produced her father ..
I hand reared Her father since he was a day old ...he also was the only survivor of his clutch ...it was very cold and the chicks didnt make it except for him ...

I wish this female does a better job id love to have chicks from her .... wish me luck