new birds but not yet

[regenbogen bird]

hey guys sorry this is gonna be long but its kinda important got some exciting news and a few questions ok so iwas at my bfs house and his grandmother got a call it was from a friend down the road but g ma wasnt there so i took a message it was that she needed to find a home for 2 tiels they were found in one of her friends apartments (she was a landlady and the family moved out leaving the 2 tiels and a parakeet ) she already found a home for the parakeet but she needed a home for the tiels i jumped right on that i talked with g ma and she didnt want anymore pets i asked my mom about having them and she was fine with it so i called the lady back ( i told her i would after i talked things over to make sure it was ok for me to keep them) and then i arranged to see them last night theyre so beautiful! she was telling me that the orange in their cheeks had just come in and they have eggs! i saw them theres at least 3 this is their 2nd nesting the 1st round only one hatched and 2 eggs were thrown fomr the nest but this time shes leaving them alone totally they were laid about a week n 1/2 ago we are waiting for them to hatch (or watever happens) to move them but she wants them to find a new home soon so i am taking them in but i have no experience with baby birds and i have no idea how to get them into my house we want to leave them all in the cage which is huge and thorw a sheet over it and transport it to my house ( 1/2 mile away) then up 2 flights of steps to my room the main reasons for her parting with them is that she wont have her house warm enough in the winter and shes not the best bird person shes only taken them in because they needed a home fast horrible conditions like dirty laundry and diapers piled around the cage and filthy cage shees taking great are of them but with winter in ny coming and a new granddaughter life is not the fit the birds ok so when the eggs hatch or not we are going to let them fall into routine with the babies for a few days and move them to my house i know this isnt the best idea but they need to go soon we just dont want them to kil this batch of eggs or have them rack in the move she doesnt want to move them to a carrier box beacuse they would freak out in that strange environment and might abandon their babies i odnt have that much experience with moving in such fragile condidtions so could someone please help me if this isnt enough info could u ask some questions that u need to help with the situation all help is appreciated sooo much

[Tiki]

We would like to help you but can't understand your post. Please use punctuation.

[tielfan]

The short translation as I understand it is that she is adopting two tiels that are living in a temporary home after being abandoned by their previous owner. The tiels have a clutch of eggs, and she's planning to bring the birds home a few days after the chicks hatch.

It would probably be best to move the birds right now. It's very likely that this will make them abandon the eggs, but that's better than having them abandon newborn chicks. Hand-feeding baby birds is a delicate skill. If it's done wrong the results can be fatal, and a lot can go wrong if the person doing the handfeeding has no previous bird experience and doesn't have anyone available to teach them in person. The birds can lay more eggs later when they feel comfortable in their new home, but you shouldn't let them breed unless you have the knowledge to take care of the babies if the parents don't do it properly. You also need to have a realistic plan for what you're going to do with the babies when they grow up.

I don't understand the current caretaker's comment about the orange in their cheeks just coming in. The orange cheek spot isn't something that comes and goes, or that develops when the bird is older. There are some cockatiels called whitefaces who don't have the cheekspot and never will, because it isn't in their genes. The tiels that do have the cheekspot get it as babies when their feathers grow in for the very first time, and they keep it for life.

[CALVINS MOM]

Originally Posted by tielfan

It would probably be best to move the birds right now. It's very likely that this will make them abandon the eggs, but that's better than having them abandon newborn chicks. Hand-feeding baby birds is a delicate skill. If it's done wrong the results can be fatal, and a lot can go wrong if the person doing the handfeeding has no previous bird experience and doesn't have anyone available to teach them in person. The birds can lay more eggs later when they feel comfortable in their new home, but you shouldn't let them breed unless you have the knowledge to take care of the babies if the parents don't do it properly.

I agree with you about the hand feeding and it being very dangerous, but removing the birds from their eggs can possibly cause them to immediately lay another clutch, thereby risking extreme loss of calcium and egg binding, correct? Would it be better, if she is going to move them now and abandon the eggs, to have her purchase fake eggs to stop the cycle of laying? Also, if the eggs have been with the parents for more than 20 days, it is likely that the chicks are already formed and "alive" in the eggs. If that is the case, could she possibly allow the parents to rear the babies and she can merely handle them when they are old enough so they are people friendly rather than allowing the chicks to die in the eggs? This is not a debate; I am merely trying to educate myself here and I would like your input. Thanks!

[tielfan]

I'm not a bird breeder so I'm not an expert on these things. But these birds have already been moved once (from the place they were abandoned to their current caretaker) and they're still sitting on a clutch of eggs. So moving them again might not make them abandon the eggs. If the move makes them nervous enough to abandon the eggs, I would guess that they would also be too nervous to start another clutch right away, especially if you don't provide conditions that encourage breeding like a nest box or hidey hut or a super-abundance of food.

Cockatiel hens are notorious for laying eggs even in the complete absence of any other birds, so keeping the male and female in different rooms so they can't mate might not necessarily stop her, but it's worth making the effort to reduce the odds of starting another clutch. This is already their second clutch in a short period of time, and it's generally recommended that tiels shouldn't breed more than twice a year.

Since their previous owner abandoned them it's likely that they didn't have a very good diet, and the hen's calcium levels are probably depleted from egg-laying. Make sure she gets plenty of cuttlebone and/or mineral block ASAP, along with good general nutrition.

[regenbogen bird]

sorry botu the punctuation. i usually just put about 4 spaces in btween each sentence and ive done that for some time. i used to play online rp games n noone complained. but i guess ive been trting to get out so much so quickly i forgot. sorry bout that newayz. the eggs are a new clutch this is there recorded 2nd. they were not moved when they had eggs. my only plan if they hatched would be to keep them or to give them to a few friends. but i know i might grow too attached to them. they didnt have a good ddiet before but theyve been with their current caretaker for i think a few months. theyve eaten alot of their cuttle bone and are on a 2nd already. i dont kno about their nervousness because in those few months theyve had 2 clutches. they might settle right down. but when their caretaker spent too much time around them , checking on them and stuff their eggs didnt make it. it may have been lack of nutrition tho. i really wouldnt be able to care for them if the parents didnt because i dont kno that much abotu it. im sure it cant be taught by a vet in a few days either. as ive said this lady wasnt a bird lady , but when she talked of the coloration coming in i thought that since baby birds have dark beaks or lighter colors sometimes it was true she did talk of a pink coloration tho that faded to the cheek color after a while. umm.. did i miss nething? thanx ill talk to her about it. after seeing what more experienced bird people say we can possibly come to a different desicion. she seems more of a naturalist , u kno likeing nature and trees and animals. she may not liek this idea but ill try to convince her . thanx guys this helps alot!