Keep in mind when viewing the weights that sometimes the crop is full and other times it is empty. This can cause the weight to vary.
© 2018 by Karen Trinkaus. May not be reprinted or used in any way without the author’s permission.
Breeding
Visual Growth Guide: Budgie
The purpose of this guide is to give beginning breeders and general idea of where their chicks should be at a certain age. It is important to notice stunting early so that it can be rectified before the chick falls too far behind.
All images are © 2004 by Karen Trinkaus unless otherwise noted and may not be reprinted or used in any way without the author’s permission.
Breeding: It’s Not Easy
A friend of mine was just lamenting all the posts she sees online that make breeding out to be a simple affair. Things like “there is nothing hard about breeding birds as long as you know you have a male and female” and “breeders are just looking for easy money.” Make no mistake, it is incredibly difficult to make a living at this.
For many of us, this is not our day job. I bought my pet Goffin from a breeder friend of mine. Her day job was a custodian. Most of the breeding I’ve done was while going to school and working as a bank teller. I’ve always operated on the level of “my birds pay for themselves, and I have a little bit leftover to reinvest/upgrade.” My breeders pay for their own upkeep. They pay for the birds that don’t quite fit in as either a pet or a breeder, but still need a decent home. They pay for the retired birds and the special needs birds. They pay for the species that no one has ever heard of- sometimes endangered, sometimes not. Aviculture is a passion, not an easy way to make money. There is nothing easy about this.
This year in particular I’ve had so many chicks reach pipping and then become trapped. Some I’ve managed to assist and they’ve gone on to develop into beautiful, happy, healthy babies. Others have died trapped inside their eggshell prison. It’s heartbreaking to see them that close to the end and find them dead. You think, “if only I’d intervened sooner maybe it would have been okay.”
People say it would be wonderful if everyone stopped breeding. It would be a catastrophic loss, both in the level of expertise and the captive gene pool. I’ve been retired for 12 years. In just that short time span, all my own cockatiels have become too old to breed. I’ve seen species that were quite common in aviculture slowly drop off the map. Kakarikis- the species in my logo, the feisty little New Zealand birds that gave my aviary its name- have become even rarer than they were back when I began working with them. I can’t even find yellow fronted kakarikis that haven’t been hybridized with their red fronted cousins. I cringe when I see very rare species kept back from breeding programs by well-meaning rescues. I feel like Indiana Jones crying out “It belongs in a museum!” These birds need qualified people working with them.
When you see a bird for sale, think of how much work went in to get to that point- pairs that may not have worked out, years of waiting for birds to mature, infertile clutches, dead chicks, disease testing, all the costs associated with keeping live animals (housing, feeding, veterinary care), the learning curve (both for the breeder and the birds- chicks, like human babies, don’t come with instruction manuals!), and TIME. Are you willing to feed a chick every 2 hours around the clock? Because I am. It takes a toll you.
Aviculture needs us all working together- pet owners, breeders, veterinarians, rescues, behaviorists. We each bring something to the table. When one group doesn’t take the time to understand or listen to the others, the birds are the ones who lose.
Cockatiel Growth Guide
Day 1
Chick doesn’t do much. It can’t hold it’s head up. Not a very strong feeding response. Down moist.
Day 2
Has figured out where the food comes from. Stronger response. Can sit and hold head up fairly well. Down dry and fluffy.
Day 3
Eyes may just begin to open.
Day 4
Eyes opening.
Day 5
Eyes opening.
Day 6
Feather tracts should be getting more apparent. Chick begins to do defense display (hissing and swaying) when woken up or when the container is moved.
Day 7
Band baby. Feather tracts beginning to bud with tiny pinfeathers
Week 2 (Days 8 – 14)
Pinfeathers grow in. Chicks get better balance, start stretching, standing up and flapping their wings.
Week 3 (Days 15 – 21)
Pinfeathers open, tail and primaries (flight feathers) first. Chicks flap their wings and preen a lot. They also begin picking at things around them (you may want to start providing food items to play with now).
Week 4 (Days 22 – 28)
Weaning is well on its way. Chicks will begin flying all over the place. It’s usually good to wait until they have fairly good control at flying before clipping the wings.
© 1997-2016 by Karen Trinkaus. May not be reprinted or used in any way without the author’s permission.
Feisty Feathers 