Hi,
Your male is really just at the perfect age to start breeding. They can breed at a younger age, but it’s best to start them between 2-3 years old. Unfortunately, your hen is at an age that she should be winding down her breeding years – at least in captivity. While cockatiels can live into their 30’s, there has been a lot of inbreeding with captive bred birds in order to get new color mutations, so they often do not have strong genes. The average lifespan of captive bred cockatiels is about 12-15 years. Also, if your hen has never laid eggs in 11 years, you may have a male. You can’t determine the gender of all cockatiel mutations by their markings. I would not try to breed these birds. Don’t give them a nest box and just let them be companions. Forming and laying eggs is very hard for a hen, and at her age, she doesn’t need that type of stress on her body. And caring for the eggs and chicks also takes a toll.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
