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Cockatiels laid eggs for the first time?

Erickv96

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Erick valle
i have 2 cockatiels that have started to breed and just laid some eggs. My question is should i let the parents incubate the eggs or is it best to take the eggs now and incubate them myself? It is their first time breeding and the eggs look completely fine. They have gotten very aggressive so i cant get near the box without them trying to hiss me away
Any advise?
 

sunnysmom

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Do you want to breed? You could just replace them with dummy eggs....
 

Zara

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Take all the eggs, boil them, wait for them to cool and then put them back where you found them.
Let them sit on those eggs up to 3 weeks. If they haven´t abandoned the nest before the three weeks, remove everything and switch up the cage, rearranging perches, toys, bowls. Introducing a new toy and a variety of foraging activities helps.

I say this because your birds are on an all seed diet - not good for breeder birds at all, and your bird is only 1 year old. Cockatiels do better from 18 months.
And the obvious, lack of experience and research.

If you want to breed in the future, get your birds on a better diet, and research well. You still have a good 6 months before they get to a better breeding age, so tonnes of time to prepare - researching, buying all the equipment and finding homes for potential chicks.
 

Erickv96

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Take all the eggs, boil them, wait for them to cool and then put them back where you found them.
Let them sit on those eggs up to 3 weeks. If they haven´t abandoned the nest before the three weeks, remove everything and switch up the cage, rearranging perches, toys, bowls. Introducing a new toy and a variety of foraging activities helps.

I say this because your birds are on an all seed diet - not good for breeder birds at all, and your bird is only 1 year old. Cockatiels do better from 18 months.
And the obvious, lack of experience and research.

If you want to breed in the future, get your birds on a better diet, and research well. You still have a good 6 months before they get to a better breeding age, so tonnes of time to prepare - researching, buying all the equipment and finding homes for potential chicks.
They are not on all seed diets. I know how to care for my birds. And i do not plan on eliminating the possible chicks. My question was simple. Do i let them raise them (if they are not infertile) or take them out and do it myself.

also i do plan on changing the cage around and try to prevent them from having more.these eggs were just a surprise to us because we didnt see them mate until a few weeks ago and even with that they were possibly doing it when we were at work. I plan on preventing it from happening again until they are truly mature enough.

i have had reptiles, fish, and other birds. So i am able to use the equipment from those past pets.
 
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Aves

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They are not on all seed diets. I know how to care for my birds. And i do not plan on eliminating the possible chicks. My question was simple. Do i let them raise them (if they are not infertile) or take them out and do it myself.
Leave breeding to the experienced. There is no need for more pet birds in this world.
 

Erickv96

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Do you want to breed? You could just replace them with dummy eggs....
Well , we werent trying to. It just so happened we picked up 2 cockatiels (not related to eachother) and they turn out to be male and female. So if the eggs are fertile i would like to keep them. Dont know if they should continue incubating or should i?
 

Zara

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Well , we werent trying to. It just so happened we picked up 2 cockatiels
I completely understand that. These things happen. Some even pick out male and female pairs purposefully even though they don´t intend on breeding. And that´s ok.

Cockatiels are physically able to breed when they are about 9 to 12 months old; however, sexual maturity is only reached when they are 15 to 24 months old.
Source; ¨Breeding your Cockatiels | Beauty of Birds

You can´t make your birds older so that they are a good age for breeding. Younger birds tend not to be good parents, it can result in baby birds being plucked, abandoned or attacked and killed. In these cases the human needs to step in quickly to save those chicks. Ideally someone who has thoroughly researched, has someone on hand, a mentor/breeder friend/vet to help, has experience handfeeding and has all the equipment bought in advance.

i do not plan on eliminating the possible chicks
If you don´t want to ever throw an egg away, then you will have to separate the birds, a little unfair to take them from each other, but that will be your only option or your hen won´t stop laying and breeding, something cockatiels have many problems with. They can turn into chronic layers. This depletes the hen of all her energy and nutrients and can end up costing her life. Even breeder birds have to take breaks between clutches so that they are not over worked, and this means removing eggs.

They have gotten very aggressive so i cant get near the box without them trying to hiss me away
Slide cardboard or thick card between the cage and nest box, block the entrance hole. A mug coaster might work, or a sheet of hard plastic.
 

Mockinbirdiva

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So how does one gain experience?
Hi Erick,

As @Zara said "Ideally someone who has thoroughly researched, has someone on hand, a mentor/breeder friend/vet to help, has experience handfeeding and has all the equipment bought in advance."

I'm assuming you hung a nest box in the cage for your pair. How did you prepare it for nesting? Is there an breeder door for checking on the chicks that is easily accessed for you to do nest inspections? I know you had questioned back in May about transitioning your cockatiel from an all seed diet to pellets. Were you successful in changing her to a more balanced diet with pellets and fresh foods? It is vital for breeding birds to have ample well rounded diets to be in the best breeding condition for egg laying, brooding and feeding their young. And, Zara is correct about the recommended breeding age. Maturity most definitely makes for better parents and healthier stable chicks. Doing as she suggested in removing the eggs and boiling them, returning those eggs to the nest and allowing the hen to sit on them until she loses interest is actually in the best interest of your hen and male while you wait for them to mature.... as well as switching up the cage - and removing the nest box too- until they reach true maturity. Should you still have that interest months down the road you will be better prepared in understanding EVERYTHING you need to know about the whole process your birds go through, provide them with the ultimate space they need to be healthy, get them on a great diet to better their health to withstand the riggers of laying eggs, brooding and feeding the young ( repeating this because it's very important ), how the eggs develop from day one, how to set up a brooder in advance in the event your pair refuses to care for the young or hurt them, acquire all the equipment for the brooder as well as having feeding supplies on hand along with the knowledge on formula temperature, sanitizing, amounts to feed.... the list grows long but all very necessary to be prepared. An established mentor who breeds and raises cockatiels would be of great help to you before you embark on raising, who would also be there for you to ask for help in person, not excluding an Avian vet you should have contact with in the event you have problems with your hen or chicks. Problems do happen..... some are life threatening to the hen and chicks.

It's best to allow parents to brood their eggs and feed the babies until they wean. Do you actually own a professional incubator? Have you ever incubated eggs before? Are you up for the strenuous task of hand feeding from day one of a chick hatching? If you love your sleep time... forget about it once they start hatching. They are tiny fragile beings that require the utmost attention with strict schedules, temperatures... etc.

Knowledge is power well before you have to deal with tiny lives.
 

camelotshadow

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At this point if you feel the need to go thru with this I think they should incubate the eggs as even incubating eggs is not simple.
If they can;t incubate the eggs & you present them with chicks then they may not accept them.
Feeding chicks form a day old is extremely difficult & to be avoided.
There is a thread on a abandoned 1 day old chick who is about 8 days old now. Its alot of countless hours of work & dedication & everything has to be done right & then some luck on top. It often does not end well.

If you need to pursue this adventure then let the parents try & educate yourself & have equipment available so you can at least give them a chance.

I am just a spectator. MBD knows her stuff but we all wants whats best for the parents & babies/
 
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