BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Birds Cockateils laying again!

The chicks are 4 weeks old now and ive just noticed another egg in the nest... <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Oh no - these birds are determined to give you a hard time - aren't they! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

At 4 weeks of age, those babies need their parents for another 3-4 weeks, but if this egg is fertile, it will hatch in 18 days. Its possible that eggs laid now will be broken and may never hatch. Its also possible that the parents will begin pecking at the first clutch of babies to chase them out to allow the 2nd clutch to hatch. You may have to remove the older babies & handfeed them to weaning if this happens or they may be injured or killed.

Its not unusual for the parents to start another clutch when the babies are 6 weeks as the older babies will be almost on their own by the time the next clutch hatches.

Hmmm well its quite possible they are being chased out already then as I found the older of the two chicks on the cage floor again earlier! Im not really worried about the oldest as he is growing and learning very fast but its the little one that im still worried about.

The only problem I have is that most days I am out all day and I guess im going to have to find a way around the chicks getting stranded on the cage floor.