-> Anyway, I have a couple of questions about my birds that
-> might be able to answer.
-> albino male cockatiel and female lutino cocketiel. The tiels will be
-> 2-years-old in June and the conure will be 2 in October.
-> The male tiel plucks his female's feathers, we've (once again)
-> seperated the two, by keeping one locked up while the other is out
-> (all birds are out of their cages when my mom wakes up in a.m. until
-> I go to bed at night--mother is doesn't work-usually home) The
-> female screams and screams for her mate and sometimes goes into a
-> frenzy -- at times, it's heart-breaking to keep them seperated! Is
-> their anything else that can be done? WHY does he pluck her?
I can sympathize with this problem...I've experienced this several times
over the years with birds in my flock. I've heard and read several
explanations but the most common seems to be related to stress in the
plucker vs the pluckee... I believe that certain birds are predisposed
to be pluckers and if so there is not much you can do to break them of
the habit other than to separate them from their intended and in my case
hope they don't move on to someone else.  The stress is partly due to
the fact that they wish to breed but don't have the proper environment
to do it in.  Most recently, I separated my plucker and his mate by long
distance and she filled out nicely.  To be honest I have not noticed him
doing any more plucking to others.  She on the other hand is back and
now with another mate sitting eggs as we talk...Separate them and keep
them separated until the pluckee fills out again.  Keep them out of ear
shot of one another if possible and the screams will be more tolerable.
-> Another problem with the tiels is that every couple of months
-> (sometimes sooner), they lay eggs. When their babies hatch, the
-> tiels hiss loudly and bite their young and throw them out of the
-> nestbox. Sometimes after a couple of days/weeks they'll abandon all
-> their eggs. The same guy who said he had a green tiel, told me that
Wow...I've never had this problem and I thought I've had them all.
How many times has this happened from this pair since you have been
breeding them?  Are they first time parents?  Immature parents may act
like this but I have never seen it.  Where is your cage and breeding box
located?  Inside/outside?  How big is the box?  When cockatiels hiss it
is a defensive gesture.  Make sure that there is nothing getting in the
box with them such as rats or mice...Have you also checked your birds
for mites or other bird lice...or any other type of disease that could
cause the parent to abandon their young?  If the young chick are in a
breeding box, how are you able to observe the parents biting their
young?  Are you sure that maybe you did not get too close to the babies
yourself and the parent were actually trying to bid you in defense and
nailed a baby by mistake?
-> tiels NEVER feed their babies--he says he has about 80, they started
This is utter garbage...the only problem I have ever experienced with
parents not feeding their young is with first time inexperienced
parents.  I ALWAYS allow my parents  to feed the young and I supplement
the feedings.  My birds are just a hand tamed as those who were pulled
at two weeks and mine are more the healthy for that.  Also, I don't
loose the sleep..
-> off with a pair and after hand-feeding the babies, his mother can't
-> give them away! I know this isn't 100% true, but could it be
-> possible for the cockatiels who are kept solely as pets and for
-> breeding purposes?
What would be the difference?  How does the bird know what you intend to
use them for?
-> Before buying any of these birds, I researched all of them, and I
-> knew that tiels do sometimes tend to lay eggs more often than other
-> birds -- but this really is ridiculous! I don't want my female to
-> weaken her body and die. The tiels are seperated for now.
When your tiels lay eggs and you don't want them to, I suggest a couple
of things....If you have them in a cage, change the items around so the
place where they were laying the eggs in not there.  This should stop
the activity.  You should also consider giving the birds a calcium
supplement of some kind when they lay.  You can get some in a health
store or you can grind up a cuttle bone in the food.
->
-> Will the male ever stop plucking his mate? Do the tiels need to
-> mature further in order to feed and care for their babies? -- This
I doubt it...Once a "plucker" always a "plucker"...heheheheheh My
experience has shown that like humans tiels mature at their own rate.
Some start out as good parents, others have to learn, and some never
make it.  If they are average, then they should do much better after the
first clutch...Hope I've helped to answer some of your questions...
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
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