Ready to lay?

[Brandi]

How do you know if you female budgie is ready to lay eggs?.......what happens after she lays her eggs?, Do you have to feed the babies by hand or will the mother do it, and also, ....how does she feed the babies regular seeds or a certain kind of formula?, im confused about all this and really need some help.....thanks

[Joey]

Ok first off females signs taht show she is begginging to lay will be a swollen vent and larger droppings about 10 droppings put together.She will begin to spend more and more time inside the nestbox and remain in there.Budgies will ussually lay 4 - 8 eggs some times more sometimes less my older hen has had 9 everytime!She starts to incubate the eggs right after the first one is laid.The male and female both feed teh chicks you could help feed them if there is alot of babies or there are problems such as feather plucking the babies and abandoning them thats why its good to have an extra breeding pair that is breeding at the same timeor if you want a really hand tame budgie.."HandFed" you but the formula from the petstore.This is not nessecary they will feed teh babies by them selves and you can feed them egg food or nestling food but I just fed my budgie pair Kaytee Nestling Food it works well or you could boil an egg and crush it into very small peices the parent budgies will eat this and will regurgitate it for thier young ones...help?

[Dinky]

When I've had baby birds in the nest, I offer the usual seed mix and stuff and also added (a tip from a cockatiel breeder) a multi grain natural (no preservatives) bread, about a half a slice a day, to supplement the regular diet. They seem to like this as it is soft and easy to feed and very nutritious. If you have Lots of babies, use a whole slice. I used a whole slice a day with 4 baby 'tiels and they went through the slice every day. Adjust to however much they use.

[Joey]

Dinky do you breed cockatiels?It sounds like you do?Could I email you to ask you a few questions?

[Brandi]

great, thanks for your help.........so i do not need to go out and buy formula unless i want them really tame by feeding them myself?..............THANKS AGAIN!!!!!