budgie baby care

Question
hello maggie, i have several budgies but have never experienced babies. i have a budgie that is sitting on 3 eggs. she has done it before but after two or three days she would quit laying on them. this time she is determined. she has layed on them for about 8 days now. i have no experience with babies. my question is what do i do if they hatch. how does she feed them and what foods does she feed them. do i ever have to get in there and hand feed or does she do all the raising? sorry for dumb question but i just dont know. jesse

Answer
Hi Jesse,

It will take another 3 to 6 days before the eggs will hatch. If they do hatch, mom and dad should take care of the babies, but if they don't... you will need to step in and take over by keeping the chicks in a brooder and hand-feeding them (newly hatched chicks need feedings every two hours, round the clock, for the first week of life).

Mom and Dad will Regurgitate to the babies. So it is essential that mom and dad are eating a good diet with lots of protein, calcium and other essential vitamins and minerals (this means a diet with pellets and lots of veggies/fruits). Scrambled or hard-boiled eggs (crumbled up) are also a good food to feed parent birds.

I hope this helps.

-Maggie