My cockatiels just had eggs..what should I do?

Question

I have 2 cockatiels, I don't know if they are male or female. Well one of them must be female, because when I woke up this morning I checked on them and there were 2 eggs. One of them was cracked. I removed the cracked one, and lefft the normal one in the cage on top of some paper towels. Niether of them seem interested in it. Should I keep it there or what?

Answer 1

I think you have 2 females, 1 bird cant lay 2 eggs on the same day, or could this have been different days?

Jade mentioned about changing the triggers to lay eggs, this is true.
Make the night longer by covering the cage for 12-14 hours. Feed only enough food for the birds, no extra food for the "babies". No nest material.

I would leave the eggs till they loose interest. Taking eggs out only encourages more laying. Make sure they have cuttlefish or mineral block. You can replace the egg with fake eggs.

If they continue to lay after changing the triggers there is hormone injection to stop egg laying, although maybe you should find out if you have a pair or 2 females.

Answer 2

Hi there,
I also have a cockatiel that lays eggs. I phoned my vet and was told there are two ways of thinking:
1. leave the eggs in the cage and the bird will get tired of sitting on it. It will lay a few more then stop laying.
2. Remove the egg from the cage so she doesn't sit on it expecting it to hatch.

If neither bird is interested, they may be too young to have the maternal instinct of sitting on eggs. In that case, I would remove them.

Should both your birds be female, of course the eggs would never hatch or perhaps the male is too young. It is difficult to determine the sex of cockatiels until they are older but you know for sure you have one female.

I personally left the egg in the cage for a while then removed it. I found that if I removed it right away, first of all she was angry and tried to peck me, secondly she just laid another egg.

Good luck - I think really there is no right or wrong, just a personal choice.

Answer 3

I had a cocatiel that did that too. I didn't want babies so I just let her sit on the eggs and eventually she stopped sitting on them and I took them out. She did it a few times a year. If she's not interested in them she may know they're not fertile, which might mean the other bird is also a female. So if you want babies, then get a male cockateil and a nesting box for them. You would have to remove the other bird though. BTW you can tell the difference between males and females by their coloring, I've forgotten how it goes because it's been a number of years, but if you ask in a pet store they can probably tell you, or you can buy a book on cockateil. You might even be able to research it on the web. I think it has something to do with the colors on their faces. I used to have a pair of parakeets that had lots of babies, and it can be so much fun, waiting for them to hatch and then watching them grow.

As far as the eggs go, if she's not paying attention to them, it doesn't matter if you take them out or not, but I'd leave them in for a few weeks to be sure she's not sitting on them. Oh, also when you decide to take them out, find a nest outside and you can put the eggs in the nest and put it on the Christmas tree. It makes a great decoration and I've been using mine for years.

Answer 4

Watch them carefully and count the eggs that the female lays. If she continues to lay after you remove the eggs, you may be dealing with chronic egg laying, which can be deadly. Laying eggs sucks the calcium and other minerals from the bird's bones and laying constantly can cause severe osteoperosis, leading to broken bones and death. And that doesn't even mention egg binding, where the egg gets stuck inside the female...

If you don't plan to breed them, there are a few things that you can do to help discourage her from laying in the future.

Make sure they get 10-12 hours of undisturbed darkness. Many birds are triggered into laying by increased daylight hours. Keeping the daylight hours limited helps to keep the hormones down.
Rearrange their cage every week, rotating toys of different types in and out. Many birds look for a stable environment before they lay. Keeping them surrounded by change (without freaking them out) can help.
DO NOT give them nesting areas or nesting material. This only encourages nesting and laying.
When you cuddle with your bird, do not touch them down their lower back or under their wings/vent. These are places where only their mate touches and even then only when ready to mate. Don't send them mixed signals, as this is very frustrating to the bird.

Good luck!

Answer 5

is this the first time she has layed eggs? if so she may not show interest because she does not know how. allow the eggs to stay in there for a couple of days and if she still is not interested then get rid of it. she may have to lay eggs several more times before showing interest.she is the female so she should have alight color beak, if he is a male he will have a darker color beak. also males are more vocal.if you find they are both females, the next time she has eggs just get rid of them because there is no way there good eggs.{babies}

Answer 6

This particularly is that uncommon, homosexuality shows in properly over one thousand species of animals, no longer in basic terms people. I particularly have a chum who theory she offered a million male and a million lady cockatiel from a interior of reach breeder yet they have been the two lady, and that they've become pair bonds and function tried to mate each now and then and the two lay infertile eggs now and take turns in incubating them, even although they are going to never hatch, yet they the two could be great mums... yet they actually do in comparison to adult males, they tried to introduce a pair of adult males to them, yet seeing because of the fact the ladies spent maximum of there time at the same time and that they cer pair bonded, getting them to pass directly to the oposite intercourse is out of the question for them... It in basic terms happens, there is no longer something incorrect with your birds.

Answer 7

you need to fine out if you have a male and a female leave the eggs for 3 days to see if she has more thay wont start setting on them all the time tell she has laid them all after 20 if stell setting on them take them all out

Answer 8

just keep them there for about 2 days you dont want to touch them!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 9

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