my cockatiel bird laid 3 eggs from 20 nov and until now didnt hatch cockatiel was warming the eggs at day and at night but last days she is warming eggs only at day and stay out the nest at night , the eggs is not empty
my question is, if the egg is warmed only at day only did the chick will still alive or not?
Thank you.
Hi Anas,
Unfortunately, the eggs will not hatch unless they have been incubated day and night. It sounds like the issue is that the male is not doing his part. With cockatiels, one parent usually sits during the day and the other sits at night. It’s too much for the female to do alone, so without the male helping her, she has mostly given up. There can be many reasons for a male not helping out, but the most common reason is that the birds are too young to be set up for breeding. Your female should be at least 2 years old, and the male should be at least 18 months old, but really 2 years is a better age to start both birds. Cockatiel breeders who breed show birds will not set their birds up until both are at least 2 years old. While they are capable of breeding at a younger age, they are not emotionally developed enough until they are about 2 years old. A young female is at a higher risk of becoming egg bound and dying if she lays eggs before she is 2. And the males will often not settle down to help care for the eggs and chicks when they are under 2 years old. They are only interested in breeding and will often pressure the hen to abandon the nest and breed, or sometimes they will get aggressive towards the female and prevent her from going into the nest box to sit on the eggs.
The best thing to do right now is go ahead and remove the nest box and discard the eggs. If the pair is under 2 years old, then wait until they are old enough to give them the nest box again. If they are 2 years or older, rest them for 6 months and then give them the nest box again. In the wild, a pair will only nest once a year. In captivity, you can let them nest two times per year, with a 6 month rest in between. Always remove the nest box between clutches because adult birds only need a nest for breeding – they do not need a nest to sleep in. Your birds need to be on a nutritionally balanced diet such as pellets or our foraging diets. In addition you should offer dark leafy greens and chopped veggies. When it is time to give them the nest box again, you can start feeding them multi grain bread and cooked eggs, with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the eggs. If your pair is only eating a seed mix, then you need to convert them to a better diet before you let them breed again. A seed mix does not provide enough nutrition for birds, and especially not for breeding birds. Hopefully after a rest, things will go better next time. If the male still fails to help, then he may just not be cut out for breeding. Not all birds make good breeders, so if they keep failing, it’s time to retire them from breeding and just let them be pets.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
