Hen incubating weirdly

[yonswac]

Hi

just wondering if this is usual, my sister has a cockatiel pair, and the hen laid the 1st egg on Friday 9 Jun,

this is the 1st time for her to breed,

she sits on her egg at night in a weird position, she doesn't fully fluff her feathers and sits on it correctly, she's just putting it underneath her vent and stand all night

what do you think guys

 

[Bokkapooh]

Looks like she is awake. Perhaps she lays properly without being disturbed.

Id advise your friend not to bug them so much.

 

[yonswac]

Maybe, i was going with the thought that she may be inexperienced, as this her 1st clutch

 

[nu2birds]

Do they, maybe, wait until they have a whole clutch before they start sitting correctly? I don't know........but I know some birds wait until all the eggs are laid before they actually get down to the business of sitting on them to hatch. But then @yonswac is also correct, it could also be inexperience. Hopefully someone else will chime in with "eggsperience"! LOL

 

[yonswac]

@nu2birds The male is actually sitting on the egg since day 1, i've read that if they didn't incubate for longer periods, the egg will mostly not hatch

 

[barry collins]

How do you know how warm the egg Is?
Chances are the birds know a bit more about caring for eggs than we do?
I would leave them well alone to get on with the mammoth 24/7 task they are undertaking and have a little faith in mother nature.

 

[yonswac]

Thank you guys.

 

[yonswac]

Just an update, she's now incubating properly since she laid the 2nd egg, it looks like that was her plan all along

 

[Cassandra.c87]

It's common for cockatiels not to sit until the second egg is laid so she seems to know what she's doing

 

[Monica]

If the hens don't start sitting immediately, it's possible for the eggs to go 2+ weeks without incubation and still be viable once incubation has began.

 

[yonswac]

She has laid a clutch of 4 eggs, all fertile, hopefully everything is going to be okay