Why would a cockatiel bird eat one of its young ?

Question

They had 4 babies and now there are only 3 in the box, I have looked around the box and every ware no 4th baby

I didn’t know they ate there own.

its not like they lack for food

they get fed quite a bit

plus oyster calcium

and mixed veggies that seen to like also.

Answer 1

Make sure you check the nesting area good. I had lovebirds that I though did this and she did kill it but she buried it in the nest. Sometime birds and many other animals will do this because they may be aware of something wrong with the babies that we can not detect. The lovebirds I had, had very bad internal deformities. You could not tell by looking at it but mom knew and killed each one about the time they began to notice themselves. Their crop would not empty and they had breathing troubles but I could not tell when they were that little. I would leave your birds to do what they know is best even though it might not be what we think is best at first.

Sorry about your baby birds and good luck with the rest!

Answer 2

Sometimes a baby dies and the mother may do this just to get the dead body out of the nest. I know is sounds nasty, but she is just trying to keep the nest clean.

The other poster's point about a mother killing a non-healthy chick is also sometimes true. Although it sounds cruel, this practice ensures that food, water and resources go only to the chicks that will survive.

IF the mother continues to kill and eat the babies, you may have a problem with her. Some birds are not meant to be parents, and can develope this bad behavior. Once begun, this bad behavior is very difficult to stop. Breeders weed out these bad mothers and sell them  rather than try to keep breeding them. The normal test is that if she does this to 2 consecutive batches of chicks she must not be bred again.

Do a search on the Internet for Cockateil breeding to find more details.

Good luck

Answer 3

why wouldn't they?????????