The parents feed the babies seeds, I put soft foods such as boiled rice %26 vegetables but they don't eat it. The parents don't incubate the babies, the babies are 2 weeks old and the last one is 1 week old. When I feel the crop with my lip, it feels warm. It also feels hard (beacause of the seeds), the parents don't crush the seeds or anything, they directly feed it to the babies.
Will these things cause the babies to get any problem?
Answers:
please ignore the advice from timberwolf. cockatiels DO NOT break down the seeds. they feed them whole (but without the hulls of course). The purpose of a crop is to partially break down the seed before it goes to the stomach. If the parents are feeding the babies, that means they already hulled the seeds, and so are feeding them correctly. It is handfed babies that will have soft crops, due to the formula being mostly liquid. And yes, you have already figured out the best way to check a babies temperature--good for you! They should feel comfortably warm to your lips. Babies that are too cool will be crying and squirming around a lot. Babies that are content will sleep a lot, until they are feathered and trying to come out of the box of course, which can be as early as 3 weeks or so. But keep in mind they are not weaned yet, they will eat from their parents until about 6 weeks or so. (handfed babies usually take longer to wean, about 8-10 weeks).
yes, it is always possible, but it's not likely to have such problems with parent fed babies. If they do get sour crop, the crop will look gassy/bloated, with very little food or liquid in it, and will look transparent, as it's filled with gas from fermenting food. they may also regurgitate slimy mucus.
When parent fed, with a diet of seed and pellets, the babies crops will feel very firm, and you can see the food inside. parent fed babies do very well usually in regards to avoiding sourcrop and impactions, as the parents are also giving the babies good bacteria that helps to break down foods, when they regurgitate.
usually sourcrop and such are a problem with handfed birds, as many things can go wrong with handfeeding. sourcrop is often caused by handfeeding formula that is not at the correct temperature, and the crop slows down in emptying, makeing food sit around a long time and ferment (sour). The reason too cold of formula slows the crop is that the baby's body temp goes down, which slows digestive functioning. Also, dirty feeding utensils leading to E.coli infections are a leading cause of death to handfed babies. E.coli can be found everywhere, so always wash everything very carefully. Then of course bad bacteria in general. Also, make sure to wash your hands before handling babies (even parent fed babies), and before you do any food prep of supplemental foods you give the birds.
offering fresh foods and cooked rice and other grains is very good supplementation, but some birds will not bother with it, usually if they are used to a seed diet and have not been given fresh foods before--basically, they don't recognize it as food. If this is the case, you can offer them some 'birdy bread', which a very easy and basic recipe for this is to take a box of cornbread, make it according to the directions, but also add some frozen, canned, or fresh veggies (small pieces) to the mix. also you can add some grains, like cooked brown rice, and seeds and pellets, to make it more recognizable to the birds as food. Many seed junkie birds will often eat this bread. Just only put out a little bit at a time, and take away whatever is left over after an hour, to keep it from spoiling due to the veggies in it.
another idea is to sprout some of your own seed, and offer it to the birds. soak some bird seed in a jar of water. rinse very well everyday, and fresh water-this will prevent mold/bacteria. After 3-4 days the seeds should have small sprouts. rinse very well, and offer some in a separate dish. take away what they don't eat in a couple hours. offer fresh sprouted seed several times a day.
As of incubation time, the parents will often leave the babies alone now (2 weeks of age), as they should be staying warm enough on their own, as they should be growing feathers now. the parents will go back in and feed them though, and will probably sit with them through the night.
As long as the babies seem to be nice and warm, and their skin is a nice pink color (not dark red, that means dehydrated and/or too warm) and they don't look really scrawny-they should be fleshy, with fat abdomens (the fat ab look will start going away in the next week or so, as they start growing even more), then your birds are doing a great job as parents.
If the babies seem to be crying all the time for food, and are scrawny with a 'bug eyed' look (not just big eyed mind you lol), and have dark red, papery feeling skin, then you would need to supplement feed them, as in give them a handfeeding a couple times a day, or just completely take over feeding them--which I do not recommend you to do if you have no experience--find a breeder in the area that can help you learn.
I hope this is enough info to reassure you!
If you have a camera, you can send a picture of the babies to me, and I can tell you if they look good and healthy. my email is kmr23k@msn.com
Good Luck!
if the parents are not breaking the seeds down before regurgitation it will cause majior problems. it can deprive the birds of the nessicary nutriants and slowly starve them to death. Try to find either a breeder in your area or a vet familiar with avian pediatrics to show you how to care for these babies
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