jealous females? Will they hurt new babies?

Question
Hi Amber,
I have had parakeets since I was a kid but never had any baby birdies. When my husband died last year I went out and bought 4 parakeets; one turned out to be a male, 3 female. The males picked out a female and went nuts, and the next thing I knew she was keeping house in the finch box I bought (it fit in the cage nicely) and now is sitting on THREE eggs!!  I am so excited, I have neve had babies of any kind.  My consern is that the 2 rejected females pick on the mom, and not sit on the top of the box. I heard that females can be jealous and they might harm the baby birds when the mom leaves them to eat. Is this true? Should I remove the females to another cage? The eggs were laid between October 4 and 10th; so should they hatch around November 1st?  Also, what should I feed her besides bird seed?  
thanks a bunch
wynette

Answer
Hello Wynette!  How wonderful to have eggs! First things first, you must remove the females because other females will go inside the box and kill the chicks. I made that horrible mistake and i lost 3 babies. The eggs will hatch in about 18 days. The chicks are naked and blind and almost look like little pink squirmy mice. They are born with an egg tooth ( a small bump on top of their beak that helps them push out of the shell) that they shed a couple days later. The chicks will grow quite fast. By day 38 they will be completly feathered and they will be perching! Theres not much you have to do for the mom, she'll take care of the babies very well. The only thing is, some first time mothers may kill their first clutch of chicks only because they dont know how to take care of them. It happens a lot but it doesnt always happen to every bird. Let her lay again and by the 2nd time she should get it. You can feed her egg food, parsley, lettuce, kale, pasta, a cuttle bone, and a molting
breeding fortified treat. good luck with the eggs!