cockatiel breeding pair/male not helping?

Question

I have a breeding pair that are sitting on 3 eggs. The female stays in the box 24/7 the male doesn't help her at all. I'm worried that this is going to take a toll on her. Is there a reason why the male might not be helping? sometimes he goes in the box with the hen. but she isn't getting any rest during the day. I haven't had this happen before. Is this normal with some tiels.? I have a younger male about 6 months old. I was thinking about removing the cock and putting the younger male in to help foster the eggs?

Answer 1

Sometimes cockatiels don't have a clue what they're doing. I have a pair that is excellent with the eggs but when the babies hatch, the female is clueless. It's infuriating as I end up losing day olds due to the mother not being sure what to do and the dad is too busy flirting with her >.< .

If your hen is staying in the box and seems to be doing a decent job, you might want to try removing the male. Things might get better once he's out of the picture. Sometimes the male just sits with the female and lets her do the hard sitting. When the babies arrive he steps right in to feed the newborns. As long as the eggs are being incubated, I'd not worry too much.

Best not to place the 6 month old in with the hen as the younger male wouldn't know what to do. The female hasn't had a chance to bond with this male and the young male hasn't had enough time to let his instincts kick in. It's likely that if you place the two of them together, the male wouldn't do his job due to immaturity and the female may abandon the eggs due to a stranger harassing her.

Answer 2

Don't fuss with them yet.
Wait for a little while until you see something going wrong.
Birds are so sensitive to their environments and stress, that if you go in and bother them, you may throw them off completely.
That said, if this is their first breeding, you may lose the eggs. They have to learn, sometimes the hard way, how to hatch and raise the babies.
They may be better with a second clutch, but some birds aren't meant to be parents.
At this point, just wait and see.