My male cockatiel died after we put the cage outside for a couple of days while we were fumigating our home. A cat, presumingly might’ve put their paw through the cage and attacked him. He died and I was heartbroken. My female was fine. She started laying eggs 10 days later. She laid 7 and is doing all the work alone. The eggs look fine to me but I am just wondering without the male helping her will these eggs survive?
Hi Jen,
I’m sorry to hear about your male. I don’t think these eggs would be fertile because of how much time passed after the male died. Also, 7 eggs means she probably double clutched – laid two clutches back to back. It is best if these eggs are not viable because it is too much work for one bird. You need to make sure she is coming out of the best box to eat. If she isn’t eating enough, then you might want to take the box down and just put the eggs on the cage floor for her. You don’t want her to continue laying eggs, so the nest box will need to be taken away regardless. You can look online about how to candle and egg to tell if it is fertile. It takes a few days of being incubated before you can see veins using a light. If the eggs are definitely not fertile, remove the nest and put the eggs on the cage floor. Once she is done with these eggs, you need to clean the cage well, rearrange the toys and perches and do not give her a nest. Move the cage to another place in the room to disrupt her breeding behavior. Cover her cage early in the evening – you need to limit her daylight to 8-10 hours. Even if you do get another male, she will need time to rest from laying these eggs, and then they would need time to bond.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
