Peach-faced Lovebird

Question
I have 3 baby peachface lovebirds. They are about 4 weeks old. Lately, the mother has being plucking the feathers of her babies. I want to take the babies out of the nest box and feed them myself. My question is about how much and how many times a day  should I feed them . I also want to tame them. Thank you.

Answer
Coincidentally, I have 2 peach faced babies roughly the same age!  If you can keep the babies with the parents for these last couple of weeks (lovebirds usually wean anywhere from 4 - 8 weeks) that would be the best thing.  Although I recently lost their father (he passed away tragically :-( ) their mother Valentine has been doing a FABULOUS job raising them on her own.  

Sometimes mother lovebirds will pluck the feathers of the babies if the nest they're in is unkept or dirty.  Even throughout the growing and weaning phases of the babies, mom will like to keep her nest tidy at all times.  If you can, block the entrance to the nest from the parents, put the babies in a small safe cozy ventilated container and clean out the nest box.  You should be using a soft nesting material such as shredded WHITE paper towels or carefresh (available at walmart in the pet section).  Walnut shells, cedar (toxic) or corn cob bedding should be avoided at all costs.  Replace the babies in the nest and remove the blockage from the entrace to allow the parents access again.  Don't attempt to do this without blocking entrance to especially the mother, she will defend that nest fiercly.  By now you probably already know this.  

In addition to cleaning out the nest (I've cleaned out their nest about 3 or 4 times so far), shred up some white paper towels or white printer paper and lay it at the bottom of the cage.  And/or get some of those planet pleasures shreddable palm ribbon (or even their pinata toys) and place a strip at the bottom.  My lovies LOVE the planet pleasures bird brush which even the babies have started chewing on (it's on this page http://www.theperchstore.net/toys-shreddable-toys-pinatas-and-more-planet-pleasu... ) Here is what the ribbon looks like ( http://www.mybirdstore.com/PLANET_PLEASURES-SHREDDERS.html) This will give the mother something to chew up and bring back to her nest to keep it neat and tidy  If you don't currently have any type of nesting materials in the cage for her to have access to, this is likely why she's plucking the babies.  As long as she's not causing the babies to bleed or other injuries, don't separate them.  Try these things first.  If you can't clean out the nest box, then just provide her with the above for nesting materials.  You likely find that the plucking will stop.  

I've found that the best of both worlds for the babies is to be parent fed and raised AND socialized by their grammy (me!)  So, since the time they grew feathers, I've been taking them out of the nest (block mom from getting in there or she'll have your fingers) one to two times a day and holding, petting and talking to them for about 15 - 20 minutes at a time.  This has worked great!  They get all the proper nutrients and enzymes from the parents without the dangers of handfeeding AND the socializing is going very well.  Both babies will readily come to me and are not freaked out by being removed by me.  Mom freaks out a bit, but she's fine as soon as the babies are returned.  The first couple of times you return them, keep a close eye on mom's behavior for a minute or so to be sure she doesn't harm them.  It's unlikely that she will.  They're not like other animals where they'll suddenly reject a baby if it's been held by a human (they have very poor sense of smell anyway).  The only other thing I can tell you about socializing is just to be sure you're very careful when handling them.  Their little bones are hollow and can break easily.  

Another thing you should be doing right now is putting a very small bowl of pellets/seed in the nest box for the babies to start chewing on.  If you don't have the parents on a pelleted/seed diet (if they're on a seed only diet) you should go ahead and provide a pellet/seed to the babies from the very beginning.  It's in their best interests nutritionally.  I give my lovies a 50% pellet, 50% seed mixture (roudybush mini/crumble sized pellets | volkman's cockatiel w/sunflower seeds mix).  If you don't have access to Roudybush, I recommend Zupreem NATURAL pellets.  Be sure to get the appropriate size for lovebirds.  :-)  Like I said, this is right around the time the babies will start showing interest in regular food, so it's important they have access to it.

If mom is causing bleeding and you must remove them from the nest, I STRONGLY recommend that you find someone near you who can actually show you, face to face, how to hand feed.  Most breeders, avian vets or bird store owners are happy to do so as they all know that handfeeding when you've never done it can be extremely dangerous.  I won't even begin to tell you now to do it - as I'm not qualified to do so.  I've seen it done and have been around it for quite some time, but I won't ever do it unless I absolutely have to.  And if that's the case, I'll have someone show me how to do it.  There are just too many variables that have to be perfect in order not to cause harm to the babies (aspiration, crop burn, slow crop, infections, etc.).  

I hope this information helps and I wish you the very best!