New To Breeding

[Tiels36]

Hi all,
I am new to this website and cockatiel breeding. I have a female who has layed 3 eggs over the course of 6 days. The male will sit on the nest during the day but not at night, I have not seen the hen nest yet. So I have some questions: 1) Is it normal that the male nests only during the day. 2) what do I feed them, I have been told by the pet shop owner to cut out the spinach from their normal veggies because it impacts the ability to absorb calcium???? 3) why isn't the female showing any sign of being in the nest box or caring for the eggs. The males seems to have lost some weight though he has plenty of food. I know that they won't start incubation until all the eggs are played but I thought it was best just to ask.
Thanks,
Tiels36

 

[karen256]

I believe with cockatiels, the male and female share incubation. She may be sitting at night. Or, if this is a young pair breeding for the first time, they may simply not be doing a good job of sitting.
Normally they would start incubating after the 2nd egg.
Spinach does bind calcium. It's nutritious otherwise so it's ok in moderation, but if they will eat calcium-rich greens like collards or dandelion greens, that is much better. You want to offer a basic healthy diet, but with a little extra protein (from cooked legumes, hardboiled egg, or eggfood). Greens, veggies, sprouted seeds, also some dry seeds and pellets if they eat them. Offer a variety of fresh foods and try to offer fresh foods as often throughout the day as you can. It's especially important after the babies hatch.

 

[Tiels36]

Thanks so much karen256. It is a young pair breeding, the male is about 19-20 months old and the female is 2. They haven't bred before. I will give them a little spinach and definitely add the collards I have in the fridge. I can do the egg food and the hard boiled egg easy - do I give them the shell as well?. I have the pellets I give the budgies that I could give them. The Hen doesn't sit at night at all, what do I do about this??? I am happy to give a shot at anything I can do for the little chicks to survive. Thanks heaps.

 

[karen256]

You can give the egg shell and all if you want, but I think they absorb calcium better from other sources like mineral blocks or cuttlebone (as well as calcium-rich foods).
Sorry to say but if they are incubating during the day and leaving them at night, then they will probably not hatch. The eggs are fine at room temperature for a few days after they are laid, but once incubation starts and the embryo begins to develop, they need to be kept warm all the time. You can try candling them in a few more days to see if there are blood vessels, but it isn't unusual for younger birds to make some mistakes incubating.
I wouldn't bother trying to incubate the eggs yourself as it can be very tricky to get conditions right for proper development, and then, even if they do hatch, the parents might not accept the chicks and handfeeding day 1 babies is not something you really want to be doing. I would just let them sit on these eggs for practice (or you can substitute fake eggs), then take out the box and give them a little rest before trying again.