Feeding a baby cockatiel

Question

I have 2 adult cockatiels, one male and one female. They mated and hatched 3 eggs. The mother will continue to sit on all her eggs, and the male will sit on his bunch of eggs, but every time one hatched, the mother pushed the baby out of the nest and won't care for it no matter what I do. The first one and the third one died, so I'm caring for the second one myself. I have a nest in a box, a heat lamp and I'm feeding it every 1-2 hours with baby bird formula in a tiny dropper. It's been doing just fine for about 4 days, it's growing, getting stronger and eating the formula easier. My main concern about it is every time I feed it, it swallows a large amount of air and sits in it's crop for a little while and makes a large bubble in the crop. It says on the formula container to feed the baby till it's crop is filled with formula, but it gets half filled with air and half with formula. When it gets filled with air I'm afraid to feed it any more because I don't know how much it's little crop can hold. Is this air swallowing thing normal? Should I feed it more when it does that or keep doing what I'm doing? What should I do???

Answer 1

Anytime you get air in the crop it usually means you're not feeding the baby fast enough and it's swallowing air instead of formula, but it takes time to get the hang of it and it's better to go slower than faster so you don't end up aspirating the baby.

However, if the baby is less than a week old its crop shouldn't be stretched enough yet to allow much air because of the small amounts you should be feeding it.

When the crop is stretched enough to allow for air you can burp the baby so you can fill the crop to capacity at each feeding.  Allowing the air to stay in the crop and not filling it will result in a malnourished baby.  In order to burp the baby you just gently massage the crop downward and inward (never upward) and the air usually gets out and then you can continue feeding.  If this doesn't work gently lift the babies head up so its neck will extend a little (not too much) and that will take care of it as well.

I hope you are following the directions on the formula and feeding the baby at the correct temperature and also not forcing the crop to stretch.  The crop will stretch at its own pace as the baby grows and allow you to feed more as it grows but less often.

How old is the baby now?  You'll also want to weigh the baby first thing every morning with an empty crop to make sure it's gaining weight and record the times you feed the baby so you'll know if the crop is emptying the way it should.  Cockatiels are only 2-3 grams when they hatch but by the end of week 1 if you feed them right they should be around 10-13 grams and develop their own feeding schedule as they grow.

After the first week you should be able to thicken the formula and feed every 2-3 hours.

Also make sure the temperature in your brooder is warm enough and that the baby doesn't become too hot or too cold and watch the heat lamps carefully because the babies are extremely sensitive to light and can also get burned if the lamp is strong enough.  Small 10 gallon fish tanks with reptile heaters attached to the back work great as brooders and they don't cost that much.

Let me know if I can help any more, I have a 3 week old who was abandoned before she even hatched so I've been Mama since hatchdate and have hand fed many many baby birds from day one.

If you have problems or don't feel confident you can sustain the baby I would suggest turning it over to your avian vet or a local breeder for help.

Answer 2

I hand fed baby cockatiels and in the beginning air did end up in the crop. It does take awhile for you and the baby to figure out how to do things together.   Air isnt the worst thing that could be happening though, I would suggest that you get a new syringe and not use an eye dropper (which I think is what your using?) You can go to a pharmacy or a pet shop and they should be able to help you find something better.   Otherwise it sounds like your doing a good job!  

Answer 3

I know when i brought a baby wild bird in i fed it with popsicle stick small amounts till it seemed it didnt want any more maybe 4-5 posicle sticks worth not alot at a time but did it every hour on the hour sounds like your doing ok if its made it this long and good for you that you are helping it along its alot of work but they get attachment to you later as mom so its fun