my cockatiel has started to lay eggs starting with one and now i have three this is over a period of six days the last one appearing last night ,my question is this what do i do with the eggs ? do i take them out of the cage or what ? she is sat on the eggs expecting something to happen which of course it wont because she has no mate, any suggestions please, thank you .
2006-08-09 19:59:35 · 12 answers · asked by geoffreysmallman700@btinternet.c 3 in Pets ➔ Birds
Yes, cockatiels are prolific in laying eggs, with or without a man around. This is a very common problem. There is nothing that really stops them once they have started (I know, mine does it as well). As yours is on its own, the egg is obviously not fertile. You can therefore leave it where it is and the female will continue laying until she has a clutch complete. If you just let her sit on them, she will eventually give them up herself realising that they are not hatching.
I personally take the egg away straight when I see it (mine has a mate and I do not want to breed them). They do not seem to mind. However she lays one egg once a week or so.
The only thing that slows them down is to make their nights longer artificially (by covering them up earlier than usual that makes them think that the time is not good to rear babies). There is the possibility of hormone treatment, but this is not really an option unless there is a health problem.
Regarding health: because producing eggs is a big strain on the female bird, her body needs a little extra help with nutrition and energy. Make sure she has a good diet (seed mix or ideally a complete diet in form of pellets) with lots of vegetables and some fruit in addition to the staple diet. Mine also have egg food (especially for birds, can be bought in pet shops) available at all times and I give them cod liver oil during the winter months. Calcium is extremely important and cuttle fish bone or a calcium supplement (especially on seed diet) needs to be part of her diet.
2006-08-09 20:08:46 · answer #1 · answered by tranel d 1 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Some Hen cockatiels tend to lay eggs without a mate. Its a bit like a phantom pregnancy. I had one bird, called more, that over 6 months, she laid over 30 eggs.
The best thing you can do is leave them for her to "cuddle" for 7 days, then just get rid of them.
Egg laying in cockatiels is caused by hormones.
I have over 17 birds, and have a few that go into cornes to lay their unfertilised eggs. One of my birds, Nobby, when she has laid her eggs, jumps on them and destroys them.
Once the eggs have been taken from the bird, she may look distraught, but don't you be as the bird will soon forget.
I hope this helps you.
Love
Wizzi xxx
2006-08-11 03:27:01 · answer #2 · answered by Wizzy Woman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have a cockatiel which lays when the weather warms up and when the heating goes on so about twice a yr, we leave her eggs for about 7 days & then remove them, but we found some yrs she laid 3 or 4 times, this takes a lot out of them so we moved her to a cooler room and she has now slowed down. You can always try this, if she does start to look a little thin then contact your vet or local pet shop for some vitamin replacements.
2006-08-10 06:19:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Our cockatiel laid 3 eggs at first and she had a mate. When those didn't hatch, we took them away from her and then she laid 9 more in a period of 2 weeks. She's perfectly happy now and healthy. Leave them in there until she gets bored. Eventually she'll figure out nothing is coming out of them.
2006-08-10 09:03:11 · answer #4 · answered by Sara S 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
obviously since she has no mate the eggs rnt fertile, but it you take them away while she's tending them she will lay more which will eventually take a lot of calcium out of her body. either let her tend them till she gets bored then take them away, or you can try replacing them with fake eggs if you can get some that look the same. female birds will lay eggs weather they have a mate or not, this is normal. she might lay another one or two, keep in mind that producing eggs takes a lot out of your bird and its important to give her dietary supplements right now, try spinach tie it up like a toy, or give her hard boiled egg, chopped up shell and all
2006-08-10 03:19:45 · answer #5 · answered by Taldeara 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Don't take them out immediatly because she'll just continue to lay more. It takes calcium from the birds body to produce eggs so if she's laying and laying..she's using up more and more calcium. Let her sit on them for a couple of weeks then take them out and she'll quit. She doens't know they are duds..she just knows they are her eggs. In the mean time, I'd be giving her hard boiled eggs, with the shells, to boost her calcium back up. Just cut it up in pieces and put it in a little bowl for her. Good luck.
2006-08-10 09:17:07 · answer #6 · answered by Jenn 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, i used to have a cockatiel, and i think the best thing to probably do is leave them there until she stops laying, then try to take them away, before they go bad. If there are too many or they are old, only take a few away not all of them maybe...
Hope all is well
2006-08-10 03:09:05 · answer #7 · answered by Rainbow Puppy 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
if i were you i would leve eggs with her, to take them away would cause her to lay more eggs . she will "incubate" them for 19 days and when she gets fed up she will leave them, and that is the time to take them away. shorten daylight hours- that is if you cover her cage usually at 9 @ night, then cover her cage @ 7pm this will bring her out of egg laying mode.
2006-08-10 18:00:24 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take the eggs out she will be OK or go get a mate for her and start hand raising the baby's when they hatch.
2006-08-10 03:20:06 · answer #9 · answered by dolfinluver4evr76 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Taldeara's answer is perfect.
2006-08-10 03:42:47 · answer #10 · answered by Heather 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋