• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Um.. Siblings wanting to mate?

shayla

Moving in
Joined
9/27/18
Messages
12
Location
Western Australia
Hi again! So just a quick question. As you know i have two tiels that are both sisters. Chicken has been making little chirping sounds and sticking her butt in the air for a while now (few months on and off) and i'm assuming this is her showing shes 'in heat' or wanting to mate (they are both turning 2 in a few months). Elliot would just ignore it and when Chicken would get too close to her while doing that, Elliot would have a go at her and move away.

But recently (it's happened twice now), i hear the sound and i look to see what Chickens doing only to see them on top of each other wiggling their butts! I found it hilarious because they are trying to do that with each other but it happened again today. The first time i couldn't tell who was on top, but today Chicken was on top of Elliot and Elliot was the one making the chirping noises. I'm so confused lol. I know that Chicken is definitely a girl so idk why she would be doing it to Elliot. Any advice? Or is this just them showing they want a boyfriend?

+ Chicken has laid about 7 eggs all together around the start of this year but we took them away because she laid them in the food bowl. She hasn't had any since then. Elliot hasn't laid any.
 

Feather

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/3/11
Messages
5,474
Two birds of the same sex can and often do mate. :) Skyline's last mate was another male and they were frequently mounting and serenading each other. Doesn't mean Elliot and Chicken want boyfriends, just that they've chosen each other... It's uncomfortable that they're sisters, but at least there's no worry of accidental babies that way. :eek:
I can't remember, but are you certain Elliot is also a female? Has she laid eggs in the past or been DNA tested?

Make sure they have access to lots of calcium. Try turning the lights on later in the morning and turning them off earlier in the evening to shorten their daylight hours. Don't remove the eggs unless you have dummies to replace them with, as it's likely they'll just lay more. Let them get bored with them first. You can put them on a paper plate or shoebox lid on the bottom of the cage if they're laid in the food dish again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tka

shayla

Moving in
Joined
9/27/18
Messages
12
Location
Western Australia
@Feather Ok thats fine then. Im not as confident that Elliot is a girl as i am with Chicken but other people who have tiels have been saying she is aswell. They love cuttlefish and shell grit so that's covered and ig i'll see if she lays more. Thanks for the help :)
 

Lillemor

Strolling the yard
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/31/16
Messages
98
@Feather O Im not as confident that Elliot is a girl as i am with Chicken but other people who have tiels have been saying she is aswell. :)
My daughters "Princess Gwaine" was a girl for 3 years according to an experienced breeder, and the vet didn't protest when we said Gwaine was female.
Then suddenly an egg started "chirping" (the egg, about a day before it hatched), and the breeder was proven wrong, Gwaine is definitively male.

@Monica has explained to me why Gwaine is difficult to sex because of his colouration (Pearl pied, split cinnamon lutino), is it possible that Elliot be atypical male?
 

Monica

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/18/10
Messages
11,253
Location
Hell, NV
Real Name
Monica
If I see it right, Elliot is a pearl lutino.

Do you remember what mutations the parents are?

Do you have a black light, or could you get a black light?
 
Top