The nest box got all wet when it rained one day and my cockatiels were not able to sit on the eggs so i removed the box, eggs and the nesting material and let everything dry for a day and now when I’ve placed everything back, the birds have abandoned the eggs. What should l do? (Should I throw the eggs and wait for another clutch?)
Hi Nashia,
You can go ahead and discard everything unless they went back to the eggs. This type of disruption is enough to make the parents feel like their environment is not safe enough to raise chicks. And the eggs probably were cold for too long to still be viable. Eggs can cool down once and sometimes still be good, but more often they die if they were viable in the first place. Before you give them the box back, you need to fix it where they can’t get rained on or this will keep happening. Laying eggs is hard on the hen and it is not good for her to keep laying clutches that fail for some reason. The box should be removed and the pair allowed to rest for a few months after raising chicks or after a couple of failed clutches.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
