Well, never did I think Id be making a post like this. I have in my care temporarily 2 adult tiel parents, and their 2 chicks. One about 9 days old, one about 7 days. I'll explain why they with me in a while, but I really need to get to the basics, for the tiny chicks sake. There were(before they all got to me) 3 chicks, one was attacked and by one of parents and died. 'Big chick' is doing very well, he is plump, can lift his head up, quite well covered in yellow down, and is beautiful tended too by father bird. 'Little chick' is less than half his size (Ive ordered some electronic scales, mine arnt much better than useless for monitoring the weight of such tiny beings). Daddy 'tiel pays very little attention to the tiny one, although he is feeding him sometimes, but its always the plump one that gets fed most, and more frequently.
Little chick has been to my vet with me because he has a problem with those bubbles that form under the skin. They do go down, but keep appearing. My vet says its probably because of a minor trauma, or slight infection in the airways/sacs(?) and has said if the problem dosent settle, he will try him on antibiotics. Twice now (or is it 3 times, my head is a bit boggled by the stress of such a delicate situation, and of course the responsibility of this tiny life) I have found him on his back, cold, and crop empty. He is such a weak little thing. So, I am partially helping in his rearing. He is still with us. He appears to me to have a problem with one of his legs, maybe a potential splay? I dont know, I feel so far out of my depth with this fragile situation.
When it seems desperate enough, I feed him Katee Exact. BUT! The mix advice it gives on the packet for his age seems way too thick. Ive read and read and read, many sites state a similar mix ratio of water to formula, yet I have read on others that a creamy soupy texture is fine. That seems to be the one that works in practice. Ive read on a couple of sites feed him from the RIGHT side of his mouth, on more I have read feed him from the LEFT side. Watching dad feed, it does seem to be more the left side that he goes for first, so Im copying him. Ive got thermometers for the formula, a thermometer on the side of the cage, lots of new sterile syringes and disposable plastic small bowls, trying my best to keep him free from germs and bacteria, but Im scared to death. Its such a tiny, weak little life. If I lose him, I know I'll always believe that I killed him through stupidity and ignorance and lack of experience. I know he may be dead already if I wasnt trying to help, but that dosent count anymore, I feel like his life is totally in my hands. Never in a million years did I think Id be in this position. Can anyone help me or guide me? Im terrified that he will die, and it will be my stupid ignorant fault.

I'm sorry I can't give any help or advice, but as for encouragement, I'll keep all of you in my thoughts.

Cindy

Thanks Cindy, regardless of success or failure, I hope I never have to do this again!
Here is a link showing the huge difference in size, it may help people advise me...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/annekenyon/babycockatiels001.jpg

edit to add...Ive just noticed that both parent tiels dont seem to care if they stand on the little one when they are feeding Chubby Chick. Mother dosent feed much at all, but even she will stand on the tiny one to get to the bigger one. Should I pull him altogether from the cage incase they accidently kill him? Should I carry on as I am so the little fella is at least getting a bit of parent interaction?
Jeez, I cant believe how people find this rearing enjoyable! I feel like Im being banged on the head repeatedly with something hard such is the worry. Im just not experienced to have a frail baby life in my hands; I wish they could have gone to someone better than me, poor things.

I'm with Cindy. I can't offer any useful advice, but my encouragement and moral support are all yours.

Keep in mind that you can only do the best that you can do. You are not being neglectful or intentionally harmful and you are trying to learn the most you can in a very short period of time to help this little guy. If there must be any blame, I'd wonder more about the folks who allowed the eggs to hatch without having a responsible plan in place for the care of the youngsters.

Cat

ok, am just going to ring emergency vet for guidance Mum has just bitten baby on the wing (she bit both wing ends off the other baby, the one that died) I think Im going to have to pull him from the parents. Will explain about the owner of the tiels soon as I have this sorted (she has much to learn, but genuinely isnt an incaring person, she says she will follow any advice over parenting her birds, and they are both rescues.) Will explain in a mo, must ring vet now.
Anne :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I will say a prayer for you Anne...I guess you'll have to pull the chick now. Please let us know what the vet says.

I would pull the baby, put him in alittle cage or bucket that he can not get out of put pine shavings on the bottom so he doesn't get splayed legs keep him in a warm room. If it is like a guiniepig cage you can put a blanket over the top to keep heat in. When feeding you feed from your right when he's facing you which is his left. I am no expert but this is what I was taught when I had to feed baby birds that were in the store I worked in. My boss origonally bread all parrots and worked in a vets office who speciallized with avian and she was very strict with what was to be done and this is what we did. Good luck

Well, it now looks like I am single parent to a tiny fragile little bird Oh God, now i AM scared, and praying for real. The vet on call said it is seeming like there is a high possibility of mum killing the chick, especially as she has already killed one.
Jo Ann, thankyou for the advice, its much appreciated. I have a small plastic fish tank (about 12'' by 5'') with a ventilated cover, that I bought yesterday should this awful situation arise. I have a heating pad underneath half of it. Currently I do not have any wood shavings, so I have a few layers of kitchen towel at the bottom, covered by a sheet of newspaper, which in turn is covered in soft toilet tissue. Will this suffice for now?
Another problem I have is due to him getting these bubbles, its harder to tell how full or empty his crop is at times, and I know if I over feed, I could kill him through sour crop problems, or choking, and if I underfeed I'll starve him. I hope God is on my side (or more so, the little chicks side) over this one. I feel so totally ignorant and clueless, and yet a little life is depending on me. I'll just do my very best and pray hard.

Wishfull i think youre doing a great job right now. You just need to calm down a bit. Yes a heating pad will suffice, aslong is the temperature is stable enough and wont purn the chicks, so a towel or 2 on top like you have( you dont need the tissue and newspaper, the towel is soft, being as young as they are, papertowel and newspaper and tissue can either rub off all over them or burn them from the bleached colour). The crop of the bird is on their right so feed from the left side of them to their right ( from your view thats right to left). As long as you have a thermomiter in that tank, you should be able to moniter the temperature of the heating pad. always keep the temp in sync of the youngest bird.

I found these 2 sites helpfull, Maybe they will give you some help aswell.

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Awww it's hard I know I never have had to do it on my own, only where I worked I am sure it is stressful. I would think the towels and newspaper will work mabey shred the news paper up black and white newspaper is fine don't use coloured. I just know what we did at the shop and also what I have read online when you pull babies or even in nest boxes is shredded up material for them to stand and lay on it is VERY important they are ont on wire or a flat surface for thier legs . you can also put alittle stuff toy in with it to snuggle up against we did this with the little babies aswell so they can snuggle against something like they do with mom and dad.

Here's to Tiny Tim growing big and fat like his sister, Chubby Chick (with the help of "Mother Anne"). I betcha she won't be so thrilled to be chubby when she gets older and wants to impress the boys...

I'm pulling for you, little one!

Cindy

Now to tell you about the tiels mum. She was put in touch with me by my vet, because of the problems she was having over the youngest chick, and how to care for her 'tiels. As it happened, the youngest died anyway, poor thing. Still, the mum stayed in touch with me and is eager for advice and guidance about caring for her birds. She mentioned that the mother tiel had had splashy poops for a few days, and I advised her to visit the vet asap. Fair enough, next day she was there. She asked advice over caging for her little budgie, as she'd just bought it one of those round ones and wanted to check. I said they were best avoided, so she is happily searching now for something much more suitable for her budgie (also a rescue)
She went away on a pre-holiday with her young daughter a few days ago, and sked me to care for the birds if I didnt mind, as otherwise it would have ment a neighbour just popping in to them, and she was concerned about the babies. So, thats how they came to be here, though I doubt the little one will be leaving when she returns to collect her birds. She's a lovely lady, really, and says she'll follow any advice on how to be a good carer. Anyway, thats how this whole situation came to be.....BLAME MY VET!!!!!
Lola, those links are very valuable to me, thankyou so much. Ive bookmarked them, then if theres any problem with them remaining on the post, they can be removed and I will still hjave them to hand.
Im feeling somewhat calmer now, Ive just got to get on with it, I think the anticipation (for me at least) is always 10 times worse then the actual event. Once Im in deep, I seem to cope with whatever. Anticipating it, Im a wreck.
Thankyou all for the help and support, of course I shall keep you updated and the wee ones progress.
By the way, may sound silly, but its realy important to me, Little one seems to be doing bigger poops since my feeding, and although the colour and texture seem, erm 'nice', when I sniffed it I wasnt overjoyed at the 'bouquet'. Its not vile, but just seems a bit whiffy for bird poo. Is this the formula?
Again, thanks for all your help and sorry for pestering!

not sure about the smell, i try not to sniff my birds poo. but if they are looking healthy and looks like normal poos, then it just might be the formula.

I handfed my cockatiel from age 11 days. I followed these instructions (link below) and never had any problems with him. I used Kaytee Exact and followed the mixing instructions on the can.

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From my experince with baby bird poop yup it has this yucky smell all baby's that I have fed and cleaned which by the way was about 19 cages every morning shift I worked, they all had a yucky stink. Then as they weaned onto big birdie food it was your normal bird poop smell

Get the links down, Anne. I'm going to take a couple off later today. Good luck but I got to tell you, I would be very disappointed if my vet was either that vague or just didn't help more.

Anne Good luck with the babies. I know this must be overwhelming for you. The only thing I know about baby birds is that my neighbor who I got Charlie from fed him from what I would consider my right side, which if you are looking at the bird would be his left side, and again I am not sure if this is correct, I just know thats how he fed Charlie before he had to give him to me

Charlie, all links up to this point bookmarked. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart for your pateince and leniency. Please delete as you see fit, and again, thankyou for giving me the time to save the information. x.
Up to date info on the little'un... His crop is full, and its stayed full... that, to me, is worrying. He will be seeing my vet tomorrow. Currently he is chirping, but I think he may be hungry, yet I darnt feed him as his crop is somehwat full. His nursing cage is warm, he has shredded newspaper and shavings ( I went door to door pestering neighbours and finally got those shavings) He is warm, has a teddybear to snuggle, I dont know what else I can do right now.
EDIT ok, Ive got rid of my little rant, just needed to get it off my chest!
Little'un is still with us, I popped him back in with mum and dad for a bit this morning, and to my joy dad fed him a bit, but chubby chick pushed him out of the way and got the feed himself. Im going to try and remove chubby for about 1/2 an hour, see if dad will then feed little'un without interuption. Taking the baby back to vets later as these air bubbles need sorting out.
Charlie, do you think perhaps Im not asking the right questions to my vets? I know over the w/e it wasnt my vets on call, it was another one.
Good, GREAT news! Ive just taken chubby out of cage, and the little'un has just had the best feed ever off dad! *MAYBE* im going to pull this off and little'un will survive! Oh I do hope so!

There's quite a difference in sizes there!
If you can separate them and let Mum and Dad feed them separately, like that, they could both be "parent-reared" and "human-socialized" by the time they're weaned. You're on to something, there!
This is not to say "breed them and raise them that way", but "since you already have the situation, this is possibly the best thing you can do for all concerned".

I'm so glad to hear it seems to be working out for you.

I hope you didn't see my comment as saying that person was definitely to blame, just didn't want you to think that you were to blame for anything. Sometimes it's not a matter of blame, but just a bad situation all around. The good news is that you are a miracle worker and an amazing soul, so if anyone could save that little guy, I'm sure you can.

Cat