Why is the male picking feathers from the baby chicks head?
Well, my adventures with my breeding cockatiels continue [see Questions 11 and 12]. As you may remember, I had a clutch of four eggs of which only one hatched. The baby is now nearly four weeks old and has feathered out nicely. Now, the new twist. The female has laid another egg, but now the male is picking the feathers off the baby’s head. I’m wondering if it is because it is apparently a male baby and we’re still in the middle of breeding season. I’m not sure if I should remove the baby from the cage and try to hand feed it (which I really don’t have time to do), or leave it in there for another two weeks. Or, perhaps I could put in another nest for the baby to move into? Do you think I should take the daddy out of the cage? I understand that by another two weeks he should be about weaned anyway. Hoping you can offer some advice. Thanks, TT> Dear TT, Your baby is ready to leave the nestbox now that it is 4 weeks old. They usually do so between about 4 weeks and 4 weeks and 3 days. Th
