Come on in and have a look around inside our nursery to see what its like raising baby companion parrots the Majestic Wings way! So go ahead.. take off your shoes, wash your hands and step inside the Nursery for a first hand look at what goes on around here.
 From pairing our birds, bonding, mating, egg laying, sitting, taking them out of the nest to hand raise, hand feeding, abundance weaning spoiling and socializing each and every last baby before he/she makes it to your home to become a part of your family!

  Each bird here is special to us. We don't just stick two birds together and call them a pair, expecting them to produce quality offspring. Before even considering them as potential mates, we make sure each bird is healthy, check them for their individual temperment, genetic backgrounds, age, experience and over all condition.  Our birds are given a proper diet apropriate for breeding condition. 



 Carefully selected adults are then paired to each other accordingly.
Once paired, they are given a seperate cage to get to know each other in. Complete with a nestbox, full spectrum lighting, toys to entertain them, daily fresh water and plenty of fresh foods available around the clock. All there is left to do is wait for nature to take it's course! 



  Every species is different in how long a successful pairing may take. Courtship could take anywhere from a day to a year. Making note of seasonal preferences, diet, lighting, humidity levels, privacy etc.
  Once the pair has decided to mate, waiting for eggs is the next step. Even if eggs are laid, they're not necessarily fertile. This all depends on how bonded the pair is, or how efficiently they mate. Hens are 'triggered' to lay in these conditions normally but that doesnt always guarantee the male is experienced in the mating process. Hopefully, the male doesn't need too long to figure things out, but sometimes a first clutch can be clear (infertile eggs) for this reason. No worries .. we let them take their time and get it right when they're ready. 

  The moment the hen lays fertile eggs, we check the egg's weight, shape and structure. We mark each one with a sharpie as it's laid to note the # egg & pair that laid it. The count down begins. Incubation usually starts after the third egg is laid in cockatiels (though some hens sit tight immediately). A clutch size is dependant on the species and genetic background/history as well. Our Blue and Gold Macaws lay 3 eggs which take approx. 28 days to hatch. Cockatiels 4-6 eggs, taking 17-21 days to hatch. Our Amazons have laid 6 eggs in one clutch, normally taking 24-26 days to hatch and so on.
  As the eggs incubate, they are often candled (a small maglight held up against the egg in a dark room) to check on the developing chicks progress. The larger birds eggs are ruitinely weighed to check humidity levels, proper growth & position. Ensuring each chick has a better chance of hatching healthy! 

Click the arrow to watch a Baby Cockatiel Hatching in our Nursery

  After the baby hatches, mom and dad make sure he's cleaned off and warm. They'll feed him by the end of the day, once he's had time to rest from his exhausting hard work it took to hatch. Babies are born with only down covering them and their eyelids sealed. They won't start to open their eyes until about 6-10 days. Depending on species. They depend soley on their parents for survival during this crucial period of development.

 

At around 6-10 days, they are ready to be banded & start to develop skin coloration where their pins (begining to feather in) will start to come in. Their pins are like straws with delicate feathers inside that the parents generally remove by preening during the chicks growth. Opening up to beautiful plumage!



Banding is IMPORTANT to keep documented track of each baby. Over the years I have heard people voice their concerns about their bird's bands needing to be removed. DONT DO THIS! A bird does NOT risk being caught up by it's band unless he's not provided with a safe environment. I have NEVER had a bird become hurt over it's band in an issue where it was safely housed. Cages & Toys must be inspected regularly to avoid ANY accidents. Bands are not responsible for injuries that the bird's owner could have prevented by keeping the bird SAFE from worn, damaged or poorly designed toys/cages.

Bands tell alot about each bird. For example.. Before 2005, I banded mine from L&M bands with the following information on them:

MWA-VA-01-04
MWA - Majestic Wings Aviary, VA- State I reside, 01- Number baby that year/series, 04- Year the baby was banded/hatched.

Since joining the National Cockatiel Society, I have been given a registered band code (K69) to replace the MWA on my previous bands.

They now read:
NCS-K69-01-08 (va) written sideways

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Once the babies are 10-14 days old (cockatiel chicks), we pull them for hand feeding. UNLESS it is the pair's first clutch. In first clutch cases, we leave the babies for as long as the pair tends to them properly. Thus enforcing their natural parental instincts to raise their own chicks in case we can't. Sometimes in cases of pulling every clutch early on, the pair realize they don't have to to care for babies much longer than two weeks or so after they've hatched and will likely begin to pluck their babies or double clutch (lay more eggs). 
We get our brooder ready for the time to pull chicks. Making sure the temperature inside is just right. 

Our brooder has an adjustable heat lamp located to one side in order to control heating for indivual birds closer or further away from the side with the light. With younger, less feathered babies closer to the heat source and fully feathered chicks to the far right. The entire brooder is kept at the minimum heat settings (75*) for developing chicks.



Babies being hand fed are given Zupreem Embrace (Plus for our macaw babies). Mixed perfectly and at the right temperature for baby. Over the next few weeks, we hand feed on a schedule dictated by our babies individually NOT a pre-written text book dictation. We only let the baby's crop empty fully overnight. This way the baby isn't going hungry, yet the crop has a chance to clear and stay functioning.



Baby will start to nibble on things in his surroundings and that's when it's time to introduce 'finger foods' such as millet, birdy bread & basically any bird friendly fresh soft foods -Scrambled eggs, steamed rice, cooked beans, sweet potatos, Pumpkin, squash, grated carrots, minced collards, etc etc. Adding more and more to his plate, the closer he gets to eating well on his own. With our tiels, we usually offer seed & Pellet mixtures in addition to the soft foods offered by around 5 weeks of age.



While the babies are growing and developing, we take time out during their feedings to take them out and play with them, introduce toys, snuggle them and expose them to new people & things. This way, when they're old enough and weaned, they'll be Healthy, Happy & ready for their new family to take them home!




Spoiling them is part of the fun in raising them!

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Questions?

Feel free to contact us by email:

Email - Kat@majesticwings.com


I am also Virginia's state coordinator for
The National Cockatiel Society
Come join us today!
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