Baby sun conures

Question
1st timer. I had 2 sun conures hatched. 1 on the 5th & 1 on the 10th of Aug. 1 egg did not hatch, inferitle.The 1st baby I think that the mother bird is over feeding it. It has a grossly huge round shiny tight skined body. It looks like a stuff turkey.I don't know if it is having a problem deficating. Should I increase the fruit& vegs in the parents feeder? Should I hold back on the peanuts & hard boiled egg yoke? Please respond.I would be greatly appreciative of what infomation & / or suggestions you may have. It just doesn't look normal. Please respond.       Sincsrely Bev.  

Answer
Hi, Bev.  Thanks for posting.

Baby parrots' crops are supposed to be full like you describe.  I've never known parent birds to "overfeed" their babies...they know EXACTLY how much to feed their offspring.  Sounds to me like everything is normal.  As long as the baby's crop is emptying, it is deficating.  You should see evidence of this in the nesting box.  You can look at parrot websites on the internet and see baby's crops full like they should be.  These aren't really the best photos, but they show the different ages...see how large the crops are.  http://www.rockportroost.com/Sungrowingup.html

You should keep the parent birds well fed during this process.  They have to have enough nourishment to keep themselves well fed, as well as their babies.  I always double the amount of food I provide parent birds who are feeding babies.  Therefore, yes, I recommend you increase the amount you are feeding the parents of these babies.  

Hopefully, you are planning to pull these babies when they are about 10-14 days old for handfeeding.  See my website for more information on this if you are not aware:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Come back if you have questions.

Chrys