Sydney Laid An Egg and I'm a Bit Worried

[Dana Lee]

My husband and I live with my parents and this morning my mother poked her head in my room, woke me up, and asked me if I gave Sydney a mini plastic egg to roll around his cage
So he is a she, but she whistles, chirps all the time, mumbles, laughs, etc which made me think she was a boy. I worry a lot about everything and was going to get her DNA tested to make sure but now, well forget that. I just got home from vacation this past weekend and my lovely family is just telling me now that she had bigger poops than usually lately and has been eating a lot of cuttlebone. Last night I was finally relieved from some stress I was having and now this lol, this bird is going to give me a heart attack.

Anyway, I need some advice, Syd is in the bottom corner of her cage, sitting with her head in her wing. I can't get near her without her coming at me. The egg is on the opposite side of the cage (she rolled it there). She is absolutely 100% quiet (which is freaking me out because normally she never shuts up). The egg was laid this morning, I'd say around 9am, prior to this she was hanging upside down, wing flapping, normal stuff etc (according to my mother, as I was asleep). I know not to remove that egg, but what should I do? She is sitting on the cage floor, I don't have anything "nesty" in there. The egg is white and perfectly normal looking, I haven't touched it though. She has water, cuttlebone, and a mix of Kathie's food mix, bird paradise mix, plus TOPS, ovenfresh bites, big pinch of bird salad, and millet. She also gets fresh veggies like 3 times a week- like carrots, spinach, mashed sweet potatoes. And oddly lately she's been enjoying banana. Is there anything I should add to it for now? She doesn't seem to want anything fresh today as she doesn't want me near her cage.

Syd will be 1 yr this month. I am used to having her outside the cage with me in the afternoon for an hour or two and almost all evening. She will not come out today is this normal? Should I leave her be or take her out anyway? When will she want to come out and sit with me again?

 

[Dana Lee]

Update: Sydney kicked her egg to the back of the cage and all the sudden she snapped out of the "defend the nest mode", started whistling, wanted out, stepped up, and let me scritch her. I feel much better now but if someone could answer the questions I had above I'd appreciate it. She seems sleepier than usually. The egg is heavier than I thought it would be, it's hard, and perfect in shape. My sis made a scrambled egg (chicken egg NOT Syd's egg lol) for Syd, of course I have to eat some too to get her to try it but she is eating it up right now.

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]

I'm so glad that she has snapped out of Her funkBut egg laying doe's take a lot out of a bird!As long as She is getting a good diet,she is eating/playing/pooping Ok-I would just keep a real close eye on Her! Does She like to take a bath? A small bowl of water in the bottom of her cage might be something that She would like. She may not lay any more eggs-but keep Her supplied with cuttle-bone and dark leafy veggies.You are right though,to not remove the egg until She shows NO signs of interest in itKeep Us posted!

 

[suncoast]

This is how my Lovie Zamir acts. Especially since this is her first one, in human terms she just had a baby. However, I'm worried that she is laying so young. I don't think that's normal, but perhaps some other Tiel people can get on here with some advice. How much sleep is she getting? I know the days are longer but she should be getting at least 12 hours of twilight/dark.

Ginger

 

[Dana Lee]

Thank you! As of now all she does is roll it around the bottom of the cage. I will keep a close eye on her. Thankfully, I am home all this summer (I usually take a full time college courses year round but I just graduated and am starting up at the next school in the fall). I may start a summer job in a few weeks but during the day there is always someone home. How many weeks could this last?

 

[Dana Lee]

I think she only gets about 9-10 hours of sleep. She doesn't fall asleep till around 10pm, is this unusual? She usually sleeps till about 9-10am.

 

[Anne & Gang]

let her keep t he egg..she may ignore it at first as she is a first timer but DO NOT TAKE IT OUT....put t he egg on a nice paper towel on top of the grate..and yes, her poops will be the size of lower Manhattan for a w hile...also extra calcium....i.e.. cuttlebone...calci rich foods such as broccoli and kale...and she will be hungry and •••••y...and more demanding than usual....also the egg(s) must be left till she abandons approx 25-30 days or so...then shake up her world....move perches around 12-14 hours night etc...also I find false eggs a godsend....you can buy them on line birdsupplynh.com that way if one breaks, you can immediately replace it with the false one...as for the sleep , she is on your schedule..that is fine....seems ok....we go to bed early (I stay up and watch tv and s urf the net) abut we put the birds to bed at around 8....but they are up at the freaking crack of dawn....

 

[Venus]

I bred cockatiels in the 80's, but not any more. Anyhow, I never had any trouble taking away an egg now and then, but that all depends on the individual hen. Some will go bonkers and try to lay another replacement immediately (which is where plastic eggs come in handy!) They DO count them!

All the diet suggestions above are excellent. However, do you WANT her to lay more eggs? If she does not have a mate, and you do not intend to breed her purposely, REDUCE the amount of food that is available. Remember, cockatiels are desert birds. They will breed when food and water are plentiful, and slow down or even stop when food becomes more limited and scarce. You will need to reduce the amount she gets - not the items she gets. I would personally provide only the cuttlebone for calcium, and focus the other foods on other vitamins/minerals for normal health.

Is food available to her all day and night? Try putting her on a fixed feeding schedule of morning and evening. That will also give you some socialization time built into feeding time, which is excellent for these birds. They eat as a flock in the wild.

Best of luck and please keep us posted!

 

[Dana Lee]

Thank you for all your help!

Sydney is acting like Sydney again, I guess she never got the memo about girls being quieter. She is singing, calling, whistling. She is eating well, drinking more than normal (which I read is normal). She does not have a mate, in a yr or two I was going to get her a friend. No I don't want babies (I'd keep them all lol). As for the egg she checks on it, pecks it gently and then goes away to play, eat, etc... I am def. going buy some fake tiel' eggs, thanks for the suggestion! I will try to get her to bed a little earlier, I have tried before but she will just make a racket until 10pm anyway (even in the dark), singing, playing etc... But if I keep her out till 10pm she just lounges on my shoulder or her play gym around 9ish. While she was just out on her play gym I took the opportunity to clean her cage, good. I will place a paper towl in there, right now I placed the egg in the corner, it was heavier than I thought it would be lol. Later I will place a paper towel under it. Poops the size of Manhattan are right, I will be doing some laundry later, she got me good 4 times today omg so much poop lol.

 

[Annamacaw]

Our bird's laying eggs takes a lot out of us humans too!!!!
Well, se saved you some $ on a DNA test .....LOL!!
Kita will rolls her eggs around and is protective of it right after she lays her egg, then she completely ignores the egg......

 

[Anne & Gang]

well 10 is ok for bed as long as she gets up at 10 the next day and not dawn...then that would not be enough sleep...and make sure the eggs (she may lay them 2-3 days apart so be prepared..there might be more!!)---are round, hard and same size..if not, then it means she needs extra calcium...you can also see if they have fake eggs in craft stores...sometimes cheaper t han buying on line... she must be one of those birdies that doesnt read t he manual well..our Sam is a TALKING FEMALE TIEL...a rarity apparently.she also didnt hear that she isnt supposed to beak rap and do heart wings....and this bird is one zoomer brat...all over the place all t he time..plus she lays eggs...

 

[Dana Lee]

Sydney sings, whistles, and does a laugh and a munching noise. The lady who gave her to me thought she was a boy too. I opened her cage earlier and she decided to come out and play on her play gym I am hoping she will continue to be ok even if she lays some more eggs.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Hi there. My Gracie Tiel started laying eggs when she was eight months old. She laid 17 eggs in a row, laid every other day and my vet told me to let her keep all the eggs until she got tired of them. She at first seemed to ignore the eggs, but right after she laid the third egg, she started sitting on them. She sat on the eggs for 26 days and turned them, moved them around and was generally a b***h about her cage and her eggs. She would come out of the cage every day, twice a day to spend time with me, but I was not permitted to do much with the cage unless she was out of the room. Had to use a travel cage to contain her when I cleaned the cage. When she finally stopped laying eggs, I made a sigh of relief.

By the next year, she had shacked up with the cock I bought her for company and when she started laying eggs again, I was indulgent and amused. My vet asked if I had seen the two mating and I hadn't, so she said, "Just make sure you don't give them a box", and I didn't. Then, one day when I was cleaning the cage, I took the six eggs in it and placed them in the lid of a ring box to keep them from rolling onto the floor. Finished with the cage and set the eggs back in the cage in the lid of the box... 23 days later I came home as usual and made oatmeal, as usual; let Grace out of the cage and Chip moved onto the eggs while Grace ate oatmeal with me. Half an hour later, Grace went back to the cage and Chip flew over to share oatmeal, as usual.

Suddenly, I heard a high pitched "peep, peep, peep..". I followed the noise back to the cage and found Grace either fighting with a strange creature sitting among the eggs in the box lid, or feeding a baby. I was so surprised, my knees got weak and I had to sit down. I called the vet; she congratulated me on keeping Gracie in such good physical condition she decided to have babies...

So began my love of baby cockatiels.

 

[Dana Lee]

Thanks! 17 eggs! Wow!

 

[65sunnyday]

Great story!!!

 

[JLcribber]

I think any one of us would be tuckered out and a bit sleepy after passing a basketball.

 

[CeddysMum]

Well, seeing that it doesn't appear to be an emergency (thank heavens) ...
Congratulations on your GIRL They do seem to like tricking and/or surprising us!

..and yes, her poops will be the size of lower Manhattan for a w hile...

Sorry, but that just cracked me up! Thanks for the laugh, Anne!

 

[Dana Lee]

Thank you!