Handfeeding cockatiels

Things to remember

When to Pullout

If you have a choice, chicks should be pulled out at 2 weeks of age. During this period the chick should be stronger, its eyes open, it would be easier to feed, domesticate and its immune system more complete.
Pulling out a chick younger than 2 weeks old is possible though not recommended. Uno, our first handfed bird was pulled out from the nest when he was 2 days old, he is a sour crop survivor. During this period until the second week you have to feed it once every two hours constantly with a watery solution of your handfeed mix with a rubber tube and syringe.

Brooding materials and sterilization

Others use an enclosed small glass aquarium, bottom lined with wood shavings then covered with newspaper. What works best for me though is a fruit basket more like of a wicker nest. bottom covered with newspaper and another layer of crumpled paper. This makes it easier(and cheaper) for me to clean up. the crumpled paper had to be replaced when soiled before the next feeding time.

Temperature Control

The younger the chick's age the more important this is. Young chicks don't have enough feathers to regulate heat properly, they still depend on their parents for their heat source, especially in colder places. If purchasing a heater is easy in your location, lucky you. The most commonly used improvisation though is the use of a lamplight. The distance of the bulb from the brooders' floor can be adjusted to properly meet the desired temperature which should be as warm(not hot) as a humans' breadth.

Handfeeding formula/mix

There are lots of available hand feeding formulas in the market. In our locale though, it is not that easily available. And yes there are proven options if you have a similar situation as mine. Baby foods specifically those which are made of fruits, cereals and the like are possible and sometimes, specially at chicks a week old or younger, safer. I purchased a handfeeding formula that is really good except that it is still grainy (not powdery like baby's food which is finer) and I'm not sure if my formula is not watery enough, choked one of my 4 day old chicks to death. Since then I only use Cerelac (Fruits and soya) for week old or younger chicks. Upon reaching the first week though, it is better to use the more balanced specifically formulated handfeeding solutions. You can notice that they grow much faster and fatter.

Preparing chick for handfeeding

Handfeeding Schedule

Wing clipping

I will make a stand on this as others try to play safe in the middle others oppose it, but one can say that when one is handfeeding chicks, this is almost a necessity.

Sour Crop on Handfed Chicks

This is said to be typically common on cockatiel chicks. One of the common culprits is cold food. This induces the fungi Candida to grow which is one its main causes, it can also be caused by bacterial growth. It can also be due to impaction, solid foods blocking the passage, though it should be a rare cause for handfed chicks since they are fed plain handfeeding formulas. This is a RED ALERT, time is definitely against you, our first handfed chick Uno survived it.

Kinds and Mutations of Cockatiels

NORMAL GRAY:

This is the natural color of a wild cockatiel often referred to as “Wild type”. Every other color that deviates from this is a mutation. An adult gray is primarily gray in body color with white markings at the end of each wing. The gray body should be devoid of any other markings and/or coloration or it will be considered a pied, this can be seen on some markings/patches at the back of the head. They are dimorphic ( can be visually sexed). The face of the male is yellow extending up to its crest. Due to this base color, the cheek patch is often more prominent on the male specie. The female has a primarily gray face with some muted yellow and barrings apparent at the underside of its tail. The male has the same visual characteristics as the female before its first molt.
Eyes: Dark or black.

*** It is always assumed that the wild type is genetically the strongest of the species and has the near perfect immune system, with better breeding/parenting instincts. Thus to strengthen other mutations most are paired back to these original grays.


PEARL:

This is a case when the central gray pigment of the feathers is muted and the yellow/white pigment (psittacin) is replaced, resulting in a scalloped-patterned feather. Gradually, the male loses much of this pattern after its final molt which will take about a year, while the female retains them. Due to this it is easier to sex this mutation through behavior. Pearl chicks two weeks of age can be identified with spots and specks visible through its pin feathers.
Pied
The pied has lost its general pattern of color. Any spot of yellow, white or gray that shouldn’t be placed in a wild-type (or any other mutation) pattern is a pied. Due to this, it is unreliable to trust sexing through vision as the rules of pattern for dimorphism are erased. The distribution of these colors can be classified as light pied, heavy pied, reverse pied and clear pied.
Eyes: Dark

LUTINO

Identified with its missing Dark and Gray pigments allover its body.
This makes a stunning Cockatiel, made up of yellow/white body and a yellow face, the white face mutation combined with the lutino make up the commonly known "Albino" type, though it is merely a combination of two types of mutation, Albinos don't really exist in the Cockatiel.

PIED

The pied cockatiel has an irregular pattern of colors in its plumage, any dark blot, spot in a lutino cockatiel makes it PIED. There are two common forms: the regular pied and the heavy pied. The regular or normal pied has more dark feathers in its body while a heavy pied has more lighter( yellow or white) in its feathers. The prized standard is that of a balanced pattern of dark feathers between the back of the wing in a heavy pied bird.
There is absolutely no reliable sexing that can be done on a pied bird by simply looking at its plumage.

WHITEFACE

A mutation that can coexist with all other mutations except the pied. Resembles a missing cheek patch and a white face instead of yellow. When in visual existence with the Lutino, generates the pseudo Albino type.



Other High and rare mutations will be discussed individually during updates of this blogsite like the
Silver,Cinnamon& fallow, Pastelface, Platinum, olive, yellow cheek, Sable.

Nymphicus Hollandicus

KINGDOM  :  ANIMALIA
PHYLUM   :  CHORDATA
CLASS    :  AVES
ORDER    :  PSITTACIFORMES
FAMILY   :  CACATUIDAE
SUBFAMILY:  CALYPTORHYNCHINAE
GENUS    :  NYMPHICUS

SPECIES  :  NYMPHICUS HOLLANDICUS

Cockatiels are Parrots under the Cockatoo family, the smallest of these crested kind.