Remember the cockatiels of the ‘I love Aussies’ post? Well starting on 16th Oct 2010, they laid about a dozen eggs. Whatever the reason, 11 of them didn’t hatch and hope dried up of ever seeing a chick hatch. But then on 24th of Jan, joy at last - a chick hatched.
That morning, as usual, I was fetching the vegetables, the seeds and the oatmeal to prepare the feed for them. Lo and behold, the 2 of them started to scream their heads off. First I thought that they’re especially hungry or else frightened of something and kept whistling back at them to calm them down. But to no avail. When I closed in on them they chirped, danced and brought my attention to the nest ‘pot’, where to my delight, I spied the little one. Not till I had a look and whistled and talked to congratulate them did they quiet down.
The chick fledged on 24th of Feb and then there were three. Here is the nestling peeping out from the nest pot on 23rd Feb. Both the parents are dozing.
Here is the family posing for the camera on 24th Feb - the extreme right is the fledgling.
The nesting pair started occupying the nest pot almost immediately. In fact, I had quite some trouble removing the nest pot to clean it up as the three of them didn’t bother to clean up the pot during the whole month. The pair laid another clutch of eggs - 4 of them - starting on 2nd of March.
On the morning of 24th Mar I was greeted with screaming and whistling. I had learned my lesson, and this time promptly went up to the cage and started appreciating the new arrival. The next 5 days were the same as the other eggs too hatched regularly, about 18 hours apart.
:-)
It has been about 10 days now and the eldest hatchling has opened her (his?) eyes and has started to flap the featherless wings. Here is she (he?) with the brother (or sister?) being fed by the mother.
And thus, now, there are Seven. The downside? I believe that even the chicks eat as much as the parents do. Though they aren’t going to eat me out of anything, their demands on my time are growing. Time to seriously think on what to do about them!
Even the present cage, which is 4ft x 4 ft x 3ft might be too small for them.
One thing is sure I am not going to put back the nest pot. April and May are the normal breeding season for the cockatiels and I definitely do not want a situation, ‘Where there are Eleven’!
;-D
That morning, as usual, I was fetching the vegetables, the seeds and the oatmeal to prepare the feed for them. Lo and behold, the 2 of them started to scream their heads off. First I thought that they’re especially hungry or else frightened of something and kept whistling back at them to calm them down. But to no avail. When I closed in on them they chirped, danced and brought my attention to the nest ‘pot’, where to my delight, I spied the little one. Not till I had a look and whistled and talked to congratulate them did they quiet down.
The chick fledged on 24th of Feb and then there were three. Here is the nestling peeping out from the nest pot on 23rd Feb. Both the parents are dozing.
%5B4%5D.jpg "nestling_22_feb (4)")
Here is the family posing for the camera on 24th Feb - the extreme right is the fledgling.
%5B3%5D.jpg "fledgeling (7)")
The nesting pair started occupying the nest pot almost immediately. In fact, I had quite some trouble removing the nest pot to clean it up as the three of them didn’t bother to clean up the pot during the whole month. The pair laid another clutch of eggs - 4 of them - starting on 2nd of March.
On the morning of 24th Mar I was greeted with screaming and whistling. I had learned my lesson, and this time promptly went up to the cage and started appreciating the new arrival. The next 5 days were the same as the other eggs too hatched regularly, about 18 hours apart.
:-)
It has been about 10 days now and the eldest hatchling has opened her (his?) eyes and has started to flap the featherless wings. Here is she (he?) with the brother (or sister?) being fed by the mother.
And thus, now, there are Seven. The downside? I believe that even the chicks eat as much as the parents do. Though they aren’t going to eat me out of anything, their demands on my time are growing. Time to seriously think on what to do about them!
Even the present cage, which is 4ft x 4 ft x 3ft might be too small for them.
One thing is sure I am not going to put back the nest pot. April and May are the normal breeding season for the cockatiels and I definitely do not want a situation, ‘Where there are Eleven’!
;-D
Good that you did not take up hand rearing them. ROFL
ReplyDeleteu think i'm mad? the parents are doing a good job and i'd leave them at it. apart my concern now is 'how to stop them laying eggs' now. they've already started grooming each other and i'm apprehensive about the time the chicks fledge.
ReplyDelete:-D