4 beautiful chicks & the male wants to make more

Question
Hi Chrys, I have been marvelling at the growth of 4 budgies, recently. This is the first time I have bred them and so don't know much. The chicks vary in age from 2.5 weeks to 8 days old and the male has been very helpful, but just yesterday I saw him becoming quite aggressive in trying to mate with the female. I put him in another cage as she has lost weight, is trying ot avoid him and tend to her chicks. Is this the right thing to do? I am worried that she will exhaust herself with 2 much laying. I notice that there is another egg in the nest.
Should I remove the nest? What of the chicks, how can I tend to them and ensure their growth? What should I do with him / them / her?

I look forward to your reply.

Many thanks


Vanessa

Answer
Hi, Vanessa,

Separating the male can be a problem because the male feeds the female while she tends to the chicks.  Some females can do all on their own, but it would be very stressful and some females just can't do this by themselves.  If your female is losing weight, she isn't getting fed enough.  I would advise you to start helping her to feed her babies by handfeeding some/all of them once or twice per day.  She may also be losing weight because the male isn't in the cage to feed her.  Most female parrots will tend to their chicks regardless of their own health, so this is very important or you could lose her.  I would also recommend you remove and destroy any eggs that are laid in the box with the current offspring.  Usually, females don't lay again until at least half of the brood has left the nesting box.  She will not be able to care for eggs, babies, and feed herself.  You can't remove the nesting box with babies still in it unless you remove the babies completely and handfeed them.  Information on this is on my website as well as what you would need to buy in order to help the female feed these babies:
www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Chrys