August 28, 2020
Aggressive
I have a female cockatiel that has laid eggs. She has become aggressive to the male. I had to take him out of the cage. What should I do?? Try to put him back in the cage or keep them apart
Question:
Answer:
Hi Glenda,
Do you have these birds set up for breeding with a breeding box, or did she just lay eggs on the bottom of the cage?
In captivity, it does sometimes happen that the male or female cockatiel will become aggressive and territorial towards the male. This is often with birds that are breeding for the first time, and especially if the birds are on the young side to breed. For breeding, it is best for the male to be at least 18 months old and for the female to be at least 2 years old. In captivity they tend to mature at too young of an age and they do not handle breeding and raising chicks well if they are too young.
If these eggs are on the cage floor, then the female is basically treating the entire cage as a nest and has decided the male does not belong. If there is a grate on the cage floor, then the eggs can’t be kept warm, so you can leave them with her for a couple of weeks, then discard them and try to reintroduce the male.
If the birds have a nesting box and she is preventing him from going inside, it depends on how far she is taking her aggression. If it is all bluff with no physical attack, then I would put him back and watch them closely to see if they can work it out. If feathers are being pulled out or there is any bloodshed, the birds must be separated. However, in this case it is very difficult for the female to try to sit on the eggs and raise chicks alone. The male and female generally take turns sitting on the eggs, so you can rotate the adults in the evening and in the morning to give each bird a 12 hour rest from incubating. If you leave the female alone with the eggs, she may not come out to eat and drink and she will literally die while sitting on her eggs. The other thing that might happen is she will come out at night and let the eggs get cold and in that case they will not hatch.
It’s best if they can work this out. If they continue to not get along, then it may be best to split the pair up and not let them breed again. Not all birds make good breeders and with birds, both parents help with the eggs and chicks so it is not a good idea to let one bird try to do it alone.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
