Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 5/29/2006

Question
Right before lunch i noticed that the babies were leaving the
nest box. When I came back home about 6pm I found one of
three babies with a featherless bloody skull! The other two
remain in the box and they are two other couples in the cage
along with the paretns. It's a big patio cage, so there's enough
room.
He seemed a bit tired and I heldi n in my hand, cleaned him up
with water and he started acting more energetic. Then I fed him
some oatmeal warm with a syringe, he seemed to like it.
I did not feed him that much at all and then wapped him in a
small towel and put him in a box. I think he's still breathin...It
was all very sad I was devastated! Do you think he'll survive?
who did this and why?
Thanks a lot for your help!

Answer
Hi, Marcos.  Thanks for posting.  I'm so sorry about the baby.

Let me guess...these are budgies/parakeets?  Sounds to me like what happened was one of the nonparent females attacked this baby.  They always go for the top of the skull and head and eyes when trying to kill.  And, they usually succeed at killing the babies.  I recommend you separate the other birds that are not the parents of the babies into a separate cage.  I never recommend colony breeding for this very reason.  What happens is other females get "jealous" and kill other females' babies and sometimes even the parent female, who is usually guarding her babies.  You will most likely have to handfeed this baby.  I would not put it back in the nestbox...the female probably won't feed it.  I don't know if the baby will survive...depends on how badly s/he is hurt and if shock set in and if it eats and is kept hydrated.  Shock kills faster than anything.  You need to keep the baby warm (how warm I don't know...depends on the age of the baby).  You need to handfeed it baby parrot handfeeding formula with a handfeeding syringe if the baby is under 6 weeks of age (and a parakeet)....see my website for details on this:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Feed as often as it's crop is empty.  Give me more details about species of parrot, age, etc., and I might be able to help more.  

Come back if you need to.

Chrys