BTW here are a couple of excellent resources for anyone who wants to compare their babies' development to the normal.

Susanne's 'Watch Me Grow' article: http://www.justcockatiels.net/watch-me-grow.html Don't compare your weights to hers because this was a bigger than average chick; just look at the pictures.

A youtube video on baby cockatiels' first 30 days. Warning, video contains naughty humor. It fools around for the first two minutes and then the baby development part starts.

That video is fantastic, I remember watching it again and again when it came out... it has an insane number of views. Do you know the person who shot it, Tielfan? She did a wonderful job!

No, I don't know who did it. But it's fun to watch!

enjouyed Susanne's chart and the video

Here is today's update: chick #1 at 8days 39g, chick #2 at 6days 3lg and chick #3 at 4 days 16g. They seem to be growing at the same rate per days and starting weight. I thought that chick #3 skin looked a little red on the back tonight so I will keep an eye on her/him. I will post pictures either late tonight or tomorrow.

I hope no one will be upset with me, but I have to share this about Bitsy and Roscoe. They are such good parents. I was told on another site that I should not be letting the parents out of the cage. I tried. But they have always gotten their soft foods or treats out of their cage. They would pace and squawk to get out as they always would. I would put the soft food in the cage but they didn't eat it as well. So I decided that I knew my birds better than anyone else knew them and I have let them out of the cage for soft food the last the few days. At first I would put them back in the minute they finished eating but yesterday I was busy doing something and not long after they had finished eating they had gone back to their cage and were feeding their babies without me putting them back. This is what they have done all day today. And everyone is happy. I do have some soft foods that I keep in their cage all the time so that they always have something besides seed. It continue to amaze me that nature provides. In the wild they would leave the nest to find food and return so I feel they are following their instincts. When they are out they get snuggled and kissed and everything is good.

I do feel it was right for me to keep them in their cage while they were sitting on the eggs and as they were beginning to hatch. That way I was able to make sure that they would take care of the chicks.

There's nothing wrong with letting them out of the cage, and my birds get out of the cage every day while they're breeding. In the wild, the parents would go out foraging for food so it's not natural for them to be cooped up close to the nest. Some breeding birds refuse to poop in the cage, so they need to come out for a potty break.

If you have other birds who might invade the breeding cage if the door is left open, you can let out one parent at a time and keep the door closed, then put them back after a while so they can go back to their parenting duties. I don't know why the other person thought it was bad to let them out, because I've never heard this advice before.

Thank you. I really felt bad that I was doing something wrong. It was the admin on the site. She wasn't mean was just trying to help because at that point I was not sure the babies were being fed, but I did take it to mean that I should definately not leave them out.

Smokey has not tried to go in their cage. He is the only other bird I have. Sadly he just sits on top and waits for them.

In a case where the parents aren't taking good care of the babies, I suppose that making them stay in the cage might help keep them on task, for lack of anything more interesting to do. There's no guarantee that this would work though. It's fine to let them out in a case where the parents ARE taking good care of the babies. Good parents will be frantic if you try to prevent them from doing their job.

I was just worrying and nervous at the time. They were great parents from the start.
This has been a good experience and a learning one. Thank you so much for your support.

Yesterdays weights: chick #1 9 days 43g, chick#2 7 days 35g and chick #3 5 days 20g. They are not gaining a hugh amount everyday but they are gaining and seem to be doing ok. Bitsy and Roscoe continue to be very attentive to the chicks. They wake me every morning between 7 and 7:30 to get fed. They do have seed, pellets and multi grain bread in their cage but they want their soft food! It's just like having a baby in the house. The chicks have started hissing at me when I talk to them. So cute!

Lovely video....