The Growth of Parakeet Chicks

Parakeets, more properly called budgerigars or budgies, are a small species of parrot that lay clutches averaging five eggs. The chicks, which hatch after 18 days, are blind, featherless and helpless at birth. Both the male and female parent budgerigars care for the young until they are fully feathered and ready to leave the nest.

  1. Hatching

    • The female budgerigar, or hen, begins brooding her eggs as soon as the first one is laid. For this reason, the chicks hatch over a period of several days instead of hatching all at once. Newly hatched chicks, weighing approximately 0.07 ounce, are incapable of moving around or even holding their heads up. They rest underneath the hen to stay warm as she incubates the other eggs. The female, but occasionally the male, feeds the hatchlings a liquid slurry of regurgitated food called budgie milk.

    Development

    • As the young hatchling grows, she gains strength and coordination, allowing her to sit up and actively beg for food. The parent birds gradually include more solid food -- in the form of seeds -- with the budgie milk, composing the chick's diet. The chick's eyes open gradually toward the end of the first week, over a period of several days. She gains weight quickly, taking only two days to double her birth weight and continuing to gain about that same amount daily over the next couple of weeks.

    Feathering

    • Young budgies have no feathers or down at hatching. Both down and flight feathers begin to appear at around the seven-day mark. Down covers the chick completely by day 11, with pin feathers poking through on the wings and tail. These juvenile feathers, which resemble adult plumage but are not as brilliantly colored, continue to develop until the age of seven weeks, at which point the chick resembles an adult and is capable of flight.

    Fledging

    • Young budgies remain in the nest for five to six weeks. During this period, they are completely reliant on their parents for food. As the chicks grow feathers, they rely less on the hen for warmth, and she leaves them alone for longer and longer periods between feedings. By the time they venture from the nest, young parakeets have already achieved their adult weight of around 1.75 ounces. Parental feedings continue on a reduced basis after fledging, until the young birds become completely self-sufficient.