Ask Lafeber

Cockatiels

Hi
How often can they breed in a year as I have 2 at 2yrs old and the female seems a bit like not interested

Hi Mandy,

You should not set up cockatiels for breeding until they are 2 years old, so yours are just now old enough to breed. They are capable of breeding at a younger age, but it isn’t a good idea – young females are at a higher risk of getting egg bound and dying, and young males tend to only want to mate and aren’t ready to settle down and actually care for the eggs and chicks. Both the male and female take turns sitting on the eggs.

In the wild, cockatiels only breed one time a year during the breeding season. This is when days are longer, weather is warmer, food is abundant and they have a safe place to nest. In captivity, we provide the perfect conditions year round, so cockatiels will breed year round, but you should not allow them to. You should limit a pair to two clutches per year, by removing the nest box when the chicks leave it, and not putting it back up for 6 months. This makes the pair rest and keeps them from over breeding. If a hen is allowed to breed and lay eggs over and over without a break, it is a strain on her health and she can eventually die from over breeding.

As to your pair, the first step is to make sure they are eating a nutritionally balanced diet such as pellets or our foraging diets. You should also give them dark leafy greens and chopped veggies. When you want to get them in breeding condition, you need to add multi grain bread and cooked eggs, with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the eggs. The female needs this extra protein and calcium while laying eggs and feeding chicks. Once the chicks are weaned, you stop feeding the eggs until it is time to get them ready to breed in 6 months.

Once they are on a good diet, you can give them a nest box. You should attach it to the outside of the cage, as high as possible. Remember you must remove it after the chicks leave each time, so keep that in mind when attacking it. Cockatiels rarely want any nesting material but if you want, you can put some aspen shavings in the box – only use aspen because other wood shavings have too much dust and aromatic oils that will make the birds sick. The breeding cage should be in a quiet part of the house where the pair doesn’t see people all day. You should give them plenty of privacy and only go near them to check on them or feed them. If you are around them too much it can make them nervous and not want to breed.

Hopefully the pair will settle down and breed once you have everything in place. You need a lot of patience to breed birds and you should be prepared for disappointments. The first clutch almost always fails, and sometimes it can take 2 or 3 times for a pair to get everything right. Regardless of whether the eggs hatch, the pair should still be rested for 6 months between clutches. During this time, the cage can be moved to a busy place in the house so the pair will not want to breed again too soon. Not all birds will be good breeders, so keep this in mind if they just won’t breed or if they fail more than 2 or 3 times. Good luck with your pair!

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda