I’m peting my cockatiel for 1 year now and it’s a pair .both are half tamed. I never seen them mating but whenever I put a nesting box my female lay eggs and keep a good care of them and I checked the eggs they are not fertile… Its the 7th time it lay eggs what can I do to get fertile eggs.. please help me🤧
Hi,
Cockatiels should be at least 2 years old before you let them breed. And you must control how many times they lay eggs per year. In the wild, they only nest one time per year. In captivity, they will literally breed until it kills the hen from laying too many eggs. 7 clutches is way too many – they should be limited to 2 clutches per year. I would remove the nest box, and make some changes to discourage more egg laying for now. This pair needs to be rested until both birds are 2 years or older. They are more likely to have fertile eggs when they are older. The nest box should be removed after each clutch, whether the eggs hatch or not, and the pair rested for 6 months before returning the box. If these bird continue to have infertile eggs, then it would be best not to try to breed them anymore. Some birds don’t make good breeders.
You should be feeding them a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets – not a seed diet. Also offer leafy greens, veggies & some fruit. They also need an egg food – either a dry commercial egg food or cook an egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the eggs.
Keep in mind that to lay eggs, she needs longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. The goal is to reverse these conditions.
Limit her light to 8-10 hours by covering the cage early each evening
Do not give her anything to use as a nest – no bird huts or tents, no box, bowl, etc. If she decides to sit in a food bowl, remove it and replace with smaller cups.
Do not give her anything to shred such as paper or cardboard.
Rearrange the toys in the cage frequently.
Move the cage to a different place in the room. Move the cage about once a week, or whenever she shows signs of nesting – settling on the cage floor for example. This disrupts her idea of having a stable place to lay eggs and raise chicks.
If you feed a lot of fresh foods, stop offering any for a couple of weeks, and then only offer them in small amounts about 2 or 3 times a week. You can resume normal feeding later when the birds aren’t being hormonal.
If she is let out of the cage, do not let her get in any dark cozy places and don’t give her free roam. When you let them roam around, this mimics searching for a nesting site.
When you handle her, limit any petting to only the head and neck – do not pet a bird on the body. Only a bonded mate is allowed to groom the body. We can’t be a mate, so touching the body is off limits.
If there is no metal floor grate, then do not use any bedding or paper in the cage tray – leave it bare and clean it daily.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
