Ask Lafeber

Cockatiel eggs

Hi, so my birds were breeding and laid 4 eggs. I candled them and two of them are fertilized. They’ve laid eggs twice before but this is the first time it’s fertilized. The two fertilized ones were laid I think like 15-20 days ago? Today when I woke up (2 hours ago), I could hear chirping from one of the eggs. However it has no crack or dent. When I candle it now, the whole egg is maroon/black so I’m not sure if the baby can get any bigger. When can I expect it to hatch? And at what point do I need to assist it if it doesn’t hatch in time? Thanks in advance!

Hi,

The best thing to do is wait and hope the chick is able to hatch. It takes a couple of days to hatch from the time the first hole appears. Give the pair plenty of privacy so they don’t get nervous. Hopefully you are offering a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets and not just loose seeds. They should also have leafy greens, chopped veggies and some fruit. The most important food now that chicks are hatching is an egg food. Cook an egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the egg. Even if the birds have never eaten foods like this, most pairs will start eating new foods when they have chicks to feed. Make sure there is plenty of food in the cage and replenish it throughout the day if needed. A pair will go through a lot of food while feeding chicks. They will not feed a chick for several hours after it hatches because it is still absorbing the yolk sac. Again, give them privacy and a chance to figure out what to do. Assisting a hatch is risky and can kill the chick if you help it too soon. If you keep checking and fret over the chicks, it can make the parents nervous. They need to figure it out, and hopefully all will go well.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda