Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 1/13/2008

Question
hi!
i have 6 parakeets and 2 mated. they ended up having 3 birds at the
end. the baby chicks are growing really fast and their parents are taking
care of them  nicely, but sometimes when i go home from school, i would
see the oldest baby bird on the bottom of the cage floor. i would put
him back in the  nestbox but about 2 days later, he would be on the
floor again. i go to school so i don't really see them alot but i caught
him trying to go out of the nestbox once. i watched him climb out of the
hole of the nestbox and drop to the floor. im afraid that if i handle
them to much by picking him up from the cage floor, the parents would
stop feeding him. hoe do i stop him from doing that?
Please answer as soon as you can! i cant handfeed him because i go to
school. i hope there is another way...


Answer
Hi again, Katelyn,

How old is this baby?  Perhaps the baby is old enough now that it is supposed to be coming out of the nesting box.  If this bird is climbing out itself, just let the bird alone...it's evidently time for the bird to leave the nesting box or it wouldn't be leaving it.  Daddy will take care of it.  Daddy has coaxed the bird to leave the box...this is how it is supposed to work!  Daddy takes over once the babies leave the nest and he teaches them how/what to eat, how to drink, how to perch, how to maneuver around in the cage, etc.  If you keep putting the baby back in the nest, the baby will never learn!

It's a myth that when a human touches a baby, the parents will abandon it.  This should not be the first time you've touched/held these babies.  You should be removing them from the nest and cleaning out the nesting box regularly so mom and the babies don't have to sit in their own feces.  Also, if you don't handle these babies daily, they will not be tame enough to handle when they are older....they will be untame.

Be careful now....as the babies start to leave the nesting box, mom will go to nest again, i.e., start laying more eggs.

Chrys