dead chick

[bryso]

HI all,i have been keeping cockatiels for only 4 months now but as i bought the birds as a colony 2 eggs hatched within days and both chicks are thriving.another hatched 3 weeks ago and was being fed and doing well,but this morning the chick was dead(laying face down and spreadeagled)with 3 eggs lying beside it.is it possible the parents killed it to lay the eggs?.i have 6 boxes with nothing in them till this morning,now 3 have eggs in them and they laid last night as there was nothing in them yesterday and the chick was fine.how can i avoid this happening again?
really appreciate any help on this.thanks

[Norman]

hi
Normally Cockatiels will not kill their young but it could have been abandoned
if the parents got a fright through the night with a cat etc.
if its a good pair thats bred before you got them they should be ok, they could of course smothered it whilst sitting on the eggs or there might be another pair wanting that nest box and killed it.which is the only drawback about colony breeding, personally the birds do better if you can limit the pairs to two per aviary and this will cure the problem.
Also a few breeders have been losing numerous youngsters this breeding season with no stand fast reason.
Although annoying you will have to get used to that fact some may die

Hope this of some help
norman