Question for a friend- What age would you place this little one at?

[Liebe]

Hi there,

How old do you think this little one is?

He/She is currently on 3 feeds a day and was estimated to be 4 weeks old however all the 4 week old babies I've seen have some feathers on their crop already?

He/She has already made flight attempts but no big movement yet, he/she can go from one perch in the cage to the other but outside of the cage relies a lot on climbing with feet to move upwards.

http://postimg.org/image/m20v01umn/

Thanks!

[linda040899]

Can you get a photo that shows the full tail feathering? Front view isn't quite enough for me to say for sure. From your description of climbing, I'm thinking older than 4 weeks. Lovebird babies don't stand/walk until they are 3.5 weeks old. Two weeks later would be some improvement but climbing bars is not part of their capability.

[Liebe]

Here's the back!

http://postimg.org/image/n7fylix8r/

If he/she is older than 4 weeks is it normal for the lack of feathers on the crop?

He/she can do light cage climbing so far.

EDIT: In the cage just after preening from the back http://postimg.org/image/ssahicz4t/

[linda040899]

Based on the length of the tail feathering, she's 5 weeks old. Four week olds can't climb bars, even light climbing, nor do they perch as well as this one appears to be perching. Lack of feathering on the crop area could indicate that the parents did a bit of overgrooming and removed the original feathering that was there. While babies won't be fully feathered there, they usually have a bit more than this baby.

Certain things happen at various ages of development and the tail feathering is the last of the feathers to be full length. That's why I asked for a back view. As hatchlings, baby lovebirds have very heavy bodies, which is why the parents feed them while they are on their backs. The ability to sit up with no support happens at 3 weeks and standing/shuffling around happens at 3.5 weeks. They have to strengthen their legs in order to support their own body weight, unlike Cockatiels who can stand almost as soon as they have hatched.

[Liebe]

Thanks for the help! (now named) Olli made her first full flight across the room yesterday.

I know she was away from her parents from about a week, is it possible this is from her own grooming? I noticed yesterday she tends to clean her chest more than the remainder of her body and some of the predominant feathers from the face on picture aren't there any-more. She has been checked out and is healthy and is not showing signs of distress. Is this just a grooming problem?