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Chicks sometimes wait 24 hours until chirping for food. This is because the nutrients from the egg yolk are keeping them satisfied post-egg. If, however, there is no sign of feeding after the first day, you will have to transfer the chick to another chick-rearing hen, or begin the delicate process of hand-rearing (see Feeding Budgie Chicks, below).
The cock will feed the hen while she’s sitting, and the feeding of the chicks is down to her, until they leave the nest at five to six weeks old. The cock may then join in the chick-feeding, but often the hen will do the weaning single-handedly.
Once the chicks have all hatched, droppings will start to accumulate rapidly. You need to clean out the nest box at least once a week, with clean hands. Remove as much of the soiled wood shavings as you can, but don’t shove the chicks around too much as you endeavour to clean their nest. If older chicks develop dirty feet, clean them as described in Cleaning Budgie Feet, above.
The chicks should not be handled before they are two weeks old. After this, however, you can gently lift them from the nest when you're cleaning it. They will still need handling with care, as all baby birds are very fragile. Don't worry about the parent bird panicking and abandoning their chick after handling - this very rarely happens with captive budgerigars.
If you start handling the budgies at two weeks old, they will be relatively hand-tame by the time they fledge. This will make it easy to finger-train them in later life.
A two-day-old budgie chick
Budgie second clutch
After the chicks have been weaned, the budgie pair will usually go for a second round of mating and egg-laying. This second clutch should be fine - as long as you have room for it. However, the birds often have an urge for yet another clutch of eggs after that. This is not a good idea, as the female will be exhausted by then, and may die on the nest. Remove the nestbox and other mating stimulations, and separate the pair for a few weeks.
A five-week-old budgie
If your budgies have had two clutches during the season, you should also keep them egg-free for a whole year if you want them to be fully fit for breeding again.
Comments
Mari, 29 January 2024
Budgie lover and always looking for tips and ideas in training my budgies.
Janell, 6 December 2022
My baby parakeets are 7 days old. Growing quickly. Mom and the 2 chicks are alone in a big cage. The chicks are safe in a box where mom takes care of them. I have 2 male’s one is the papa. When can I put the 2 males back with momma and chicks
An Omleteer, 10 November 2021
if you touch a newborn parakeet without gloves the mom will kill it.
Tamika, 29 October 2021
Hi, just wondering how much time a mama budgie should be with a newly hatched baby. I made the mistake of bringing my 2 aviary budgies inside due to bad weather. When I set them and their breeding box up in a flight cage inside I realised their is a newly hatched baby in the box. Mama bird is spending majority of her time out of the box and I can hear the baby crying out but mama doesn't seem concerned. I'm worried because I have moved them she isn't tending to the baby properly. How much time should mama spend in the box with her baby?
Iwona, 24 August 2021
Linda, bring back the male, he is essential for feeding the mum during egg sitting and later on.