Scared bird mama needing reassurance!

[Elizabeth]

My cockatiel hen Lulu is nesting (not mated). My prior hen never sat on her eggs so I’ve never had a nesting bird.

Lulus nest is on the bottom of her cage and she’s sitting in the corner all hunched over incubating them. I think it’s totally normal, but I’ve been programmed to think that puffed up bird on the bottom of the cage is bad bad bad and I get so worried looking at her.

Here’s a pic. Does this look normal to you?

By the way she’s got egg food and her water right next to her and has been eating/drinking well. She’s pooping too - giant poops! Two eggs laid 3 days apart, well-calcified. She’s due for a third one tonight or early tomorrow I think.

She gets up to see my green cheek (they’re very bonded) and made a big show of “bat bird” fanning out her wings - possibly to tell me back off mom!

I’ve tried to leave the bird room quiet in general and decided my sitting there working on my laptop and worrying was not helping the situation.

Lulu is dependent on my GCC bender, really too much so. But he’s watching her almost constantly, and always gives an alarm call when anything in their room is amiss. He’s a smart little guy so after 13 years I trust him .

Think I’ll continue to leave it mostly to labor coach Bender! He’s better than me sure, and makes Lulu feel safe.

She’s generally a spazz so keeping her calm seems important. Don’t want an egg to break inside of her or something.

 

[April]

Oh bless her heart I'd be nervous as well. Let me tag a few folks that may have advice.
@Pixiebeak @Zara @Toy @Irishj9 @BrianB

 

[Pixiebeak]

Unfortunately my quaker Phoebe is sitting on an egg, she chose a food bowl . Yes she will slightly fluff as she incubates. She isn't fully dedicated while mostly broods, is quite Happy to come out grab some out of cage veggies and loves . Then remembers she has an egg and goes back to it.
I try and pretend it's not there lol wishful thinking! I don't do anything special to reduce stress here , same crazy loud morning veggies, pups barking to go outside ...I just let he choose when she wants to come and hang out with us

But yours chose her spot on the ground, and everything you shared seems like she is doing fine

 

[Elizabeth]

Unfortunately my quaker Phoebe is sitting on an egg, she chose a food bowl . Yes she will slightly fluff as she incubates. She isn't fully dedicated while mostly broods, is quite Happy to come out grab some out of cage veggies and loves . Then remembers she has an egg and goes back to it.
I try and pretend it's not there lol wishful thinking! I don't do anything special to reduce stress here , same crazy loud morning veggies, pups barking to go outside ...I just let he choose when she wants to come and hang out with us

But yours chose her spot on the ground, and everything you shared seems like she is doing fine

Appreciate it!! Yes Lulu appears to be a dedicated mama. Did not appreciate my presence, and when I tried to discourage nesting by moving her bowls around she freaked. So I guess now we wait

Now she has her water and egg food right next to her cage corner. She’ll leave for a few moments to see bender but that’s it. No mate to take a shift I guess. She is eating and drinking a lot which I read is normal.

Shes the most affectionate bird I’ve ever had, but is NOT happy to have me around right now!

In a way, watching her take such loving care of unfertilized eggs makes me sad she won’t ever be a mama, but breeding is a whole can of worms I do NOT need to open for many reasons!

 

[Pixiebeak]

Appreciate it!! Yes Lulu appears to be a dedicated mama. Did not appreciate my presence, and when I tried to discourage nesting by moving her bowls around she freaked. So I guess now we wait

Now she has her water and egg food right next to her cage corner. She’ll leave for a few moments to see bender but that’s it. No mate to take a shift I guess. She is eating and drinking a lot which I read is normal.

Shes the most affectionate bird I’ve ever had, but is NOT happy to have me around right now!

In a way, watching her take such loving care of unfertilized eggs makes me sad she won’t ever be a mama, but breeding is a whole can of worms I do NOT need to open for many reasons!

Every birdie is different. Heck there was that eagle male that was a dedicated rock dad , until they finally had a foster chick to give him , such a sweet story .

I believe cockatiel definitely have more of a chronic egg laying potential than my quaker. Tho she gave it a big effort last year

Fir yours you might want to invest in the dummy eggs

I feel ya as grandma ( almost ) to our girls ..added stress but I love my girls so much it's worth it . Plus the effort I will keep making to discourage eggs...

 

[BrianB]

She looks like a typical cockatiel hen defending her nest. When I peek into a nest box I would get the stink eye from a puffed-up hen and usually a hiss or a lunge at my face. It's pretty normal. She's doing everything right for an egg that won't ever hatch. Pixiebeak's suggestion of fake eggs will help. Replace the eggs with the same number she's laid. If you replace them with one less, she may lay another to replace the missing one. Who knows how they can tell, but they do. She will eventually get bored and abandon them. If she eats veggies, give her some dark leafy greens or broccoli to help replenish her calcium. Hopefully she only goes through this once and you can keep it from becoming a chronic problem.

 

[Aestatis]

In a way, watching her take such loving care of unfertilized eggs makes me sad she won’t ever be a mama, but breeding is a whole can of worms I do NOT need to open for many reasons!

You're not alone, I felt the same way when I saw Major taking great care of her unfertilized egg.

 

[Zara]

You are doing everything right Try not to be scared. I hope messages from other members here have given you some reassurance.

Also, you don't need the food and water too close unless you notice she is not eating or drinking enough (poops can tell you that). She can leave the "nest" for a good five, ten minutes and the eggs will be fine, so you want to encourage her to get up and move - especially once she has finished laying.

 

[Elizabeth]

Thank you everyone for reassuring me!! It’s so hard to ignore the programming of “bottom of cage hunched = dying bird!”

I took the grate off of her cage a few months ago because she seems to enjoy chicken-scratching around and it’s very hard to get her active otherwise. She’s afraid of hanging toys.

I honk that I might put the grate back when she’s done though. She’s now 3, and this is her first time to lay. She is certainly committed! I kind of expected an egg or two on year 2 but we also moved cross-country during that time.

She and my GCC are almost like quasi-mates now, and have grown closer since the move. I wonder if that encouraged it too.

A long-term goal is for her to be confident without Bender, but right now I’m sure glad he’s there to watch over her and keep her calm. He’s also smart enough to communicate trouble to the humans.

 

[Hannah!]

My bird is always wanting to lay eggs but when she does she looks like that here's a picture of her sitting on her eggs

 

[Elizabeth]

Thank you everyone for your reassurance!

She’s up to 4 eggs now! I just got her fake eggs and will replace them one by one. All of her eggs are nice and hard and she’s getting lots of calcium.

 

[Hannah!]

Thank you everyone for your reassurance!

She’s up to 4 eggs now! I just got her fake eggs and will replace them one by one. All of her eggs are nice and hard and she’s getting lots of calcium.

Actually you want to replace all at once to try and make her think she laid them all