• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Family planning for cockatiels

Akoni

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
3/22/12
Messages
546
Location
upstate NY
Real Name
Nicole
My sister thought she had three male cockatiels. But it's become pretty clear that the pearl baby that the pet store told her they thought was a boy months ago is actually a girl. Her grey male and pearl female have begun trying to nest everywhere; she said she caught them snuggled into a crock pot that was drying on the counter today.

I'll tell her to limit daylight hours, soft foods, rearrange the cage and prevent them from getting comfortable in any potential nesting place. She also wants to be prepared in case the female starts laying. It's best to freeze or boil eggs to prevent them from being viable- is that correct? For how long? If she does lay, supplement her diet with calcium and watch out for egg binding. Is there anything I'm forgetting? Any other suggestions or hints?

@Laurul Feather Cat @Monica
 

rocky'smom

Joyriding the Neighborhood
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/14/14
Messages
17,445
Location
minnesota
Real Name
laurie
I hard boiled Sweet Pea's eggs this way: put the eggs in cold water in the pan, bring water to full boil for 2 minutes and shut off heat. leave the eggs sit for 10 minutes and cool in a ice bath for 5 minutes. let eggs come to room temp and return.
if she has vases, crockpot, anything that they squirm into, either hide them in cupboards, or store them up side down. Dr. Barb just had female tiel in the office, stuck in a flower vase with large mouth and narrow neck bird got in but couldn't get out, even when the vase was tipped on it's side.
 
Last edited:

Monica

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/18/10
Messages
11,253
Location
Hell, NV
Real Name
Monica
This is generally what I recommend for egg-laying hens. (X-post) :)

  1. Remove Eggs
    • Rearrange the cage
    • Move the cage to a new location
    • Use a cage grate
    • Get a new cage/Use a different cage
    • 12-14 hours of complete darkness (may require as much as 16 hrs for 2 weeks - or try providing the opposite, as little as 8 hrs of sleep)
    • Full Spectrum Lighting/Better Lighting
    • Lower the indoor temperature
    • Decrease calcium and protein within the diet (if she is on a high calcium & protein diet prior to laying eggs)
    • Remove anything that could be taken as a nest
    • Remove anything that could be used as nesting material
    • Don't allow her in any dark place or enclosed area
    • IMPORTANT: save the eggs in the fridge
    • If she lays more than 3-4 eggs, put them back in the cage
  2. Leave the Eggs
    • Leave the eggs alone in the cage
    • [Optional] Replace with fake eggs (prevent eggs from breaking)
    • Increase calcium
    • Let hen sit on eggs for 3-4 weeks or until she gets bored of them
    • Once done sitting, toss



Generally speaking, there are triggers to hens laying eggs, and if you can remove the triggers, you may be able to stop the egg laying. Triggers can include toys that she can lay in, a plastic base to a cage, nesting material (i.e. cage bedding), a diet high in protein and fat, too much or not enough light, quality of light, etc. All things that should be considered. Removing the triggers to egg laying should be considered *FIRST* before any drastic measures should be taken. You never know, it could be something simple!


You might want to have your sister consider getting fake eggs so the real eggs can be switched out for fakes. :)
 

Laurul Feather Cat

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/12/10
Messages
11,162
Location
Steelton, PA, USA
Real Name
Lois
Give calcium NOW and year round so when she decides to lay an egg, she has the calcium to do it without a problem. Calcium available in the cage at all times. I practice birth control on my birds by refrigerating any fertile eggs for twelve to twenty-four hours. When you refrigerate the eggs, the cold kills the embryo and the defrost cycle takes the water out of the eggs and dehydrates it. Dehydrating the eggs makes it easy to keep the egg for reuse in flooding a nest to short circuit egg laying. Refrigerated eggs do not rot, where as hard boiled eggs will rot and stink. It is easy to do birth control by destroying eggs; all you have to do is collect them and then not allow a hen to sit on them and develop them. It is a passive, painless (for the embryo) way to manage your flock size. In addition, remember that in the wild predators often kill and eat up to 75% of newly laid eggs and newly hatched or fledgling chicks; so loss of the majority or even the entire contents of the nest is a normal happening and does not depress or have any effect on a hen and cock except for making them want to mate and lay new eggs!

 
Top