Help with attacked baby budgies

[lucera]

Can anyone give me some advice. I have a small aviary of 5 budgies - 3 males and two females. One of the females has bred and I have two lovely young budgies about 4 weeks old. Today the other female attached them in the nest box. The older one has a bitten leg. The younger one has been severely attacked and has no feathers or skin on its head and had bled a lot. The mother has also been attacked and has bare skin and blood on her head.

i have cleaned up the young birds and the nest box but I dont know if the mother is going to abandon them or if the younger one will live.

I have removed the other female

If the baby's live what is the best thing to feed them on if the mother should reject them. I have been giving the parents Sunring Emp Superior egg food - can I give this directly to the babies or should I get them something else, and how should I feed it to them and how often.

[usamma]

I would strongly advise taking them to the vet ASAP. In the meantime, put them in a box that is well-ventillated, and put a heating pad on low under the box. Treat them with antibiotic wash (the kind meant for wounds). But really, they need to be seen by a vet. Put the mom and babies and dad together in one cage and take the other female and male out.

I have heard of parents attacking the young like this on another board. You will need to feed the babies bird formula if mom is not feeding them. Check their crops for fullness. If this is too much work for you, see if an exotic bird rescue center in your area, or even the Humane Society, can direct you to someone who can care for these babies.

please update when you can.

[lucera]

Hi Usamma and thank you for your reply. Both babies are still alive thankfully. One has 'fledged' to all intents and purposes (although a bit earlier than it should have) and despite a bitten leg is perching and being fed by mum and dad. The younger baby although it has no feathers or skin on its head and has just a big dried bloody scalp seems OK and is on the floor outside its nest box also being fed by mum and dad. It will not stay in the nest box and just jumps out each time I put it back. As mum and dad are feeding it and its in no danger on the floor I though it best to leave it there. I am bathing its head every day with antiseptic wound cleaner but I have not taken it to the vet. I do not want to put it through the trauma or upset mum and dad when it disappears for an hour. I put it back in the nest box at night where it stays till the morning when it jumps out again. It is trying to perch but is too young and weak to do it yet. Its a sorry sight - a few days ago it was a lovely pale yellow and blue baby but now it is a bloody scraggy sight. I have removed the attacking female but left the male as he is not being aggressive at all - it is all the female. There is another nest box right next to the nest box the babies were in and she used it last year but this year she seems determined to have the other nest box.

if anyone out there has a female a bit too interest in another females nest box take my advice and remove her in case she does the same thing.

[Monica]

It could have been because the nestboxes were too close, or perhaps the hen didn't have any chicks of her own.

How are the birds doing now?