Is it a good idea to incubate on my own?

[icebear]

I was wondering, my cockatiel pair like to lay eggs, but they get bored off and on.... and they will half incubate their eggs and then stop....

would it be advisable if i were to take the completed clutch and put them in my incubator, then raise them right from hatch?

i have never handfed that early, only after 2 weeks-- because my pair will pluck if i leave the babies in longer (Happy went from pinfeathers to bald in less than 3 hours when she was being parent-raised and her sibling didn't make it :( , it was my first taste of handrearing 'tame' birds)......

But would it be an ok idea, or maybe more than i can handle?

:shrug2:

[Shirley]

You can raise right from hatch... IF you are home or they are with you ... my brooder plugs into my car cig. lighter or into the wall outlet. 'Tiels aren't nearly as hard as a society finch, and I did it with a society finch. You say you've hand raised before... just don't drown them... easy to do... be sure of the feeding response, food temp, consistency, amount (not weight or cc, but watch the crop!) and ASK SADENNA for her opinion on this, too.

It is preferable to have the parents handraise AT LEAST a week... I'm sure they are keeping them warm -- or are they letting them die?

I will not allow plucking... sometimes the male Bourke's will pluck... and I will handraise as soon as he starts doing that, usually as the pins come in. We have one male who will do that -- the other won't.

~ Shirley

[icebear]

my breeding tiels are of unknown origin, i bought them as a pair a number of years ago and only recently they felt comfortable enough to breed.
I was amazed how quickly they plucked the babies that first time they hatched some for me. I had checked everything a few hours before and the babies were getting their crests and back pinfeathers and i checked again later when i wend to refresh the greenfood and they were bald, completely bald... so i swooped them away and got a crash course on handfeeding. One of them had been so traumatized by the plucking he died 12 hours later, and i felt like crap for it.
For the next 2 chicks i removed them before 2 weeks was up.

The parents will incubate off and on and then they won't anymore... then they will bury the eggs and lay a couple more and do the same thing. So out of 5 fertile eggs, some will get a couple days going, and then get buried and they will continue to set one or two, then get bored, bury them all and sometimes dig out the older ones. Its such a shuffle its tough to really say, but there will be partially developed chicks and then they will stop warming them.
I was hoping to maybe end up with more than one baby at a time at least....

[SadennaAndFlock]

sure you can incubator hatch you have the time to do babies from day 1 you have to be home as they will need round the clock feedings..but yes it can be done but feeding day 1 can be difficult the gal I work for when she has to do day 1 caiques she boils up long grain white rice drains it and uses the water the rice was boiled in , she offers Rice water with a bit of formula for color at least for the first week she has had great success with this..

[icebear]

I'll have to buy some more rice then, all i have is basmati and jasmine *grin*

I'll go look at the current eggs my birds are ignoring and consider setting things up depending on the conditions.

Does she cook the rice with a bit extra water, or just remove the water she needs just after the mix boils... also what is the aproximate consistency of the first feeding? it is like thin tomato soup or more like applesauce or yogurt?
i was wondering how to accomplish a substitute for the crop milk, which if i understand is comparably higher in protein and is much like colostrum in mamals. Does the rice water/avian formula mix make a good replacement for that spesifically, or does it simply have success overall?
I will look ahead into my calendar for the next 40-50 days and see if i can be sure of having consistent time to do the feeding work and time to plan ahead if i have to....
We don't have any out of state trips planned untill the end of September, so this might not be a bad time to do this. I will probably be going back to work when school starts up again, so i shouldn't wait too long i guess.

I'll

[Shirley]

I use Roudybush handfeeding formula... it's much creamier than the other brands.

I get it
here:
http://www.foryourbird.com/


(http://www.foryourbirds.com)

[icebear]

Is Kaytee Exact an acceptable brand?

Thats what i used with the other 3

its the only brand i could find in a hurry that first time i needed it and i still have a big unopend bag left. Does the Rowdybush just have a better texture or is it better nutritionally?

[icebear]

Annoyed parents:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/icebear713/tiels.jpg

[Shirley]

You can read the nutrition labels online. I prefer the texture of Roudybush, and it is very sound nutritionally, next to Higgins. I don't know how sound Kaytee is, but I've used it when I didn't have time to order Roudybush and a hand-feeder came along unexpectedly (Tucker). It's grainier.

I don't recommend changing brands when they are young... except gradually.

Roudybush mixed up is like vanilla pudding... super smooth. Kaytee is "sandy" in texture and brown, not creamy-whitish.

~ Shirley

[icebear]

Yeah, Kaytee is pretty coarse in its own way. i have to keep to a method when mixing it with water, its best to use a tad too much water at first and slowly sprinkle in the rest to thicken it up... if you use too much mix for the water at first it seems to clog the syringe easier.

I'll go ahead and see what i can find to compare nutritional info