Female Raising Her Babies

Question
I have two budgies a male and female and they have approx 3 babies in a nest box that are just starting to get white spiky things on them.
Today the male was vicously attacting the female when I tried to get it out they went inside the nest box and were fighting in there, I managed to get it out but im worried one of the babies might have died, I cant see inside very well because its a small hole but im also worried that the female might not be able to raise them on her own and that she wont beable to get enough food/water to survive because she is already so worn out looking.
This was the first time that the male has done anything like this he is usually so caring for the female and gets very protective of her and the babies.ATM he is in a smaller cage next to hers and he keeps chirping and trying to get closer what should I do??

Answer
Hi, Laura,

This is a difficult situation to deal with sometimes.  The "spiky" things you mention are "pin feathers."  These are the bird's feathers just starting to grow out.  These babies are probably 2-3 weeks old.

First of all, the male and female should be together if at all possible because the female cares for the offspring while the male feeds her and guards the outside of the nesting box.  However, when this isn't possible due to aggression, death of the male, etc., some females can handle the large workload of caring for the hatchlings, etc., and some can't.  It just depends on the bird involved.  You may have to assist as well by handfeeding the offspring as much as possible.  It doesn't hurt to handle the babies.  In fact, this handling will make them more tame than if you didn't handle them.  However, you have to know how to handfeed baby parrots.

Your nesting box should have a lid that you can open to access the inside of the box to see what's going on inside.  Remove any dead hatchlings.  If you find any injured babies, you may need to remove them and care for them yourself, depending on the extent of any injuries.  May need to take to an avian veterinarian, too, if you are inexperienced.  

It takes a lot out of a female to lay eggs, incubate them, and raise the offspring.  If your hen is "worn-out looking," she may not be on the proper diet/is unhealthy, is being overbred, has been bred too young, may be ill, etc.  However, some birds just look bad from a poor diet, lack of exercise, etc., but are still able to care for offspring.  You may need to give her a long rest before allowing her to lay any more eggs.  

You can try placing the male back inside the cage with the female and watch them very closely.  If they just don't get along and you have to keep them separated, I recommend you assist the female by learning how to handfeed the babies so you can take some of the load off the hen.  If these babies are about 2 weeks old, they don't have long to go before they can start to be weaned (at about 3-4 weeks of age).  I have absolutely no trouble weaning most of my keet babies when they are about this age.  

You need to look into possible reasons why the male is behaving badly toward his mate.  Are they being overbred, was something amiss that caused this to happen (since he hasn't done this before), another animal in the home, being disturbed too much, etc.

My website can offer additional information for you:  http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Chrys