my cockatiel is approximatley 9-10 weeks old and occasionally attempts to eat for itself.
the dad of the cockatiel tends to scrap it with it sometimes, if this is a problem what should i do? they still both look after and feed it when it gets fed up of trying to eat for itself its jsut the dad sometimes scraps with it
When the baby can eat by itself. If the father bird is getting nasty it must be removed or he may injure it or kill it. Let us hope this does not happen.
It depends on how serious Dad is " ; abusing "it. If he has hurt it at all, even in the most small way, it definitely needs to be away from him. Many times the male bird will harm the chicks because he is wanting to prod Mom into breeding again right away . That is not good in any case. If Mom is still feeding him, you might try moving Dad out but only temporarily. And be prepared for him and her to scream for each other because they are a bonded pair and will not put up long with being separated. If you can keep the two cages very close together, that might help with the noise and frustration levels. The only other option is to take baby out and give hand feedings for as long as necessary. It sounds like baby is old enough to not need syringe feedings and in any case, that would not be wise for you to attempt unless you are very experienced in hand feeding. Just get some baby bird weaning formula from a pet store. Kaytee Exact is a good one. Mix only a tiny amount at a time with warm water. Make it about like oatmeal. You can feed it with a plastic picnic spoon, or very clean finger tips or just put in a shallow saucer and let him eat by himself. You can also start with other warm soft and mashed foods like veggies, cooked brown rice, cooked pasta and so on. It's never to early to get them accustomed to a varied, nutritional diet. Good luck.
