what do cockatiels need in their cage to feed their young?

Hi hypnobunnie,

Thank you for your interesting question.

Parent Feeding
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww22eiv.htm

"Usually, parent birds won't feed babies until 8 to 12 hours after
hatching. This gives the baby a chance to absorb the yolk sac. I've
never had a baby with a yolk sac problem but, if this isn't absorbed,
the baby is unlikely to survive, even if handfed from day 1. If the
parent hasn't begun to feed the baby after 8 hours, I will generally
try to assist by giving the baby a drop or two of Pedialyte and then
check again in a few hours to see if the parents have started feeding.
Generally they have. If they haven't after 12 hours, I foster the baby
out to another pair, but am prepared to assume the hand feeding role
if doesn't work out. So far I've had very few times where I had to
hand feed from day 1 and the few times I did, I've had poor luck.
Babies at this age aren't much bigger than a large bumble bee and it's
so easy to aspirate them.

A lot of people see a baby laying on it's back with a full crop and
the fat abdomen and think something is wrong but it's perfectly normal
from what I've observed with mine. Parents feed the new hatchlings
this way until they are strong enough to stand and stretch while
begging for food. Generally the one that cries the loudest and
stretches the tallest will be the baby to get the majority of the
food.

If a parent pushes a baby aside from the rest, there is a good chance
it has a medical problem but, don't give up hope. You may be able to
raise the baby to weaning by hand feeding it. I have one hen that will
not feed more than 3 babies, but her babies are beautiful. So I let
her breed, but plan ahead to either foster the baby out or hand feed
it myself. I much prefer the fostering out to a 2 hours feeding
schedule around the clock.

Most people believe the parents don't feed the babies during the
night. In my experience, my birds continue feeding the babies through
the night. I'm sure of this because my breeders are in the basement
below my kitchen (which is where my computer is) and when I work late
into the night, the peeping sound that is emitted during feeding is
heard through the floor vent between the basement and my kitchen. When
I've gone to check the boxes with a flashlight at these times, the
parents were indeed feeding the babies (the food covering their beaks
and faces was proof and seeing them feeding the babies was all the
rest of the proof I've needed). My breeders feed the babies around the
clock and I've heard reports from other breeders stating theirs do
also."

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http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww22eiv.htm

"Babies that just hatch are usually not fed by the parents until they
are 8-12 hours old. The baby already has enough nutrition from
absorbing the yolk sac prior to hatching. Dehydration is the most
serious complication during this time. Some breeders will give the
babies 1 drop of warm Pedialyte every hour to help prevent
dehydration. Do not handfeed the baby with formula during this period
because the crop is so tiny. It needs to be stretched out gradually.
As the bird grows and starts to consume more food, the crop will
stretch out gradually by itself.

Both parents take turns feeding the babies. The parents need proper
nutrition so the babies can grow strong and healthy.  In addition to
your bird's regular diet of pellets (breeder's pellets while breeding)
and a small amount of seeds in their food dishes, provide them with a
nutritious, soft food diet to feed to the babies. Serve the fresh
foods in the morning and evening. Some breeders continue to provide
fresh foods throughout the day when they see that the parents are
feeding babies. Suggested foods include, fresh corn, peas, carrots,
broccoli, dark green leafy vegetables, apples, bananas, pears, cooked
sweet potatoes, cooked oatmeal, rice, pasta, whole wheat toast. Also
give your birds extra protein each day from hard boiled EGG YOLK. Do
NOT give the parents EGG WHITES. Although egg whites will not hurt the
babies, the parents can get albumin poisoning from having it in their
system for so many days. Serve eggs in a separate dish. Serve other
fresh foods to your birds in small pieces or put it through a food
processor or blender. You may also lightly steam the vegetables if
your birds prefer it this way. Provide at least 2 food dishes of
pellets/seeds for the parents and 1 dish of fresh foods so they are
never hungry and a supply of food for the babies is always available.
Take the fresh food out after 1-2 hours depending on the indoor
temperature.( Food spoils faster in hot weather). TAKE OUT the EGG
YOLK after 30 minutes. Eggs will spoil much faster than other foods.
Change your bird's drinking water a few times a day so it is always
fresh and clean. Wash dishes daily in hot soapy water and disinfect to
prevent the growth of bacteria.

Note:  Females that are laying eggs will lose calcium. Provide plenty
of additional calcium in her diet from a cuttlebone, fresh dark green
vegetables such as kale, spinach, endive, chard, parsley, beet greens,
turnip greens, mustard greens, watercress, broccoli leaves and
stalks."

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Remember to keep fresh cool water in the cage.

Best regards,
tlspiegel

it was very useful information, but there was a peice of information
missing, it's all good though because i found it easily by following
the link.