HELP! Need help with breeding cockatiels

jeanetteandy

New member
Aug 20, 2018
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Hello, I am new here and I have 4 cockatiels. 2 are males and 2 are females. My grandma gave them to me before she passed away about 6 months ago. I put a nest box, since my grandma used to breed them, in both of their cages a few weeks ago and a few days ago I found out one of the pairs has 2 eggs. The female doesn't come out of her nest box and the male goes in and out throughout the day. I looked into the nest box today and the other pair has one egg but the female is not in the nest box like the other one. Could something be wrong? How can I get her to go in the nest box?

Thanks for the help.
 

brighterdaysaviary

New member
Jun 11, 2018
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Florida, USA
Parrots
An Amazon Parrot and many Lovebirds.
She could not be going into the nest for a lot of reasons.

Just wondering but why do you want to breed? Are you going to be hand-feeding the babies or letting the parents feed them?

Breeding birds is a big commitment and is honestly pretty difficult.
 

texsize

Supporting Member
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Oct 23, 2015
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It's not uncommon for the female to wait a few days before starting to incubate the eggs.

I don't remember the exact amount of time but the eggs can still be viable 5 days or so after laying. I would not panic yet.

Raising young is not something that is easy. It can take lots of expensive equipment and lots of time too dedicate to the care of the young.

It's also hard on the parents.

The chances of something going wrong and ending in heartache is high.

Try to find someone close by that has experience in raising young birds and learn from them.

On the positive side it's truly a miracle to watch the grow up. I don't regret a minute of my experience with my baby Cockatiels but giving the 2nd clutch away (I could not keep so many) broke my heart.

texsize
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
They won't start laying on a clutch of eggs until there are at least 2 or 3 eggs. That's why she's not going in.

I suggest that you start doing a lot of research right now on hand-feeding, hand-raising, etc., and start buying and setting-up the equipment you need, because what are you going to do if/when the parents reject a baby after it hatches? What if the parents refuse to feed a baby or babies, or start physically harming it? Throw it out of the nest-box? These things happen very often, and this is why if you allow your birds to breed and the eggs to hatch, you must also be educated and experienced in hand-feeding, and be ready with a Brooder to house the babies. Otherwise you can end-up with a bunch of dead babies.
 

itzjbean

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2017
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Iowa, USA
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2 cockatiels
I am in agreement with the comments above, and take it from someone who has bred cockatiels before - both times I tried, there were issues!

What happens if the parents hatch the babies but then begin to neglect/pluck one baby (the runt) as is what happened in my first clutch I let the parents raise? Are you prepared to take out the neglected baby and begin hand-feeding and keeping it in a warm brooder to ensure it survives? I had to do this or the baby would have surely perished.

Another time (this year), the hen ended up passing away while sitting on the eggs. Are you prepared to pull the eggs and incubate them should something happen to the parents?

Breeding is difficult and sometimes things just happen and you have to be prepared to step in and help. If you don't know how to help, then the babies will likely die because of your inexperience.

It's a tough lesson to learn the hard way!
 

texsize

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Oct 23, 2015
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1 YNA (Bingo)
1 OWA (Plumas R.I.P.)
1 RLA (Pacho R.I.P.)
2 GCA(Luna,Merlin) The Twins
1 Congo AG (Bella)
5 Cockatiels
What if the parents refuse to feed a baby or babies, or start physically harming it?

This is what happened to me with my 2nd clutch. the parents started plucking the hatchlings, all the hatchlings.
Luckily they were old enough that I could separate them without the need of a brooder. I would put the babies in with the parents for feeding and pull them out when they started to pluck them.
:grey:
 

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