Cockatiel keeps laying eggs

[Harpyia1]

Hi! I’ve had my cockatiel for about 3 years now and just now these past few days she laid her first egg. It is, of course, infertile. I thought nothing of it and just added some dummy eggs in the hopes she wouldn’t lay any more eggs. But quite the contrary. She now laid 2 more eggs, even with the dummy eggs. She sits on all of them now. I’m really concerned for her health.. Is there anything more I can do? I now also made extra sure she gets 12 hours of sleep and rearranged the cage so she doesn’t get any more hormonal but I’m afraid she’ll just keep laying eggs… Any advice? Thank you so much for caring enough to read this! Also added a picture of my girl

 

[LaManuka94]

Hi! I’ve had my cockatiel for about 3 years now and just now these past few days she laid her first egg. It is, of course, infertile. I thought nothing of it and just added some dummy eggs in the hopes she wouldn’t lay any more eggs. But quite the contrary. She now laid 2 more eggs, even with the dummy eggs. She sits on all of them now. I’m really concerned for her health.. Is there anything more I can do? I now also made extra sure she gets 12 hours of sleep and rearranged the cage so she doesn’t get any more hormonal but I’m afraid she’ll just keep laying eggs… Any advice? Thank you so much for caring enough to read this! Also added a picture of my girl

Welcome to the forums to you and your pretty girl, @Harpyia! Cockatiel hens are quite prone to laying infertile eggs, and you have done exactly the right thing in giving her some dummy eggs. The average clutch size for a 'tiel can range anywhere from 4 to 7 eggs so she may still lay a few more, so you may need to have some more dummy eggs on standby. One of the 'tiels I had many years ago was happy sitting on just one but, like anything, individual birds will vary! You should let her sit on them for 3 or 4 weeks until she loses interest in them herself otherwise she may well lay more to replace them. Once this cycle is over, remove anything from her cage and block access to anything that might resemble a nesting site, so that she doesn't get the urge to lay again. Having said that though, my hen didn't have anything that remotely resembled a nesting site, she'd just lay them on the bare floor of her cage You could supplement her diet with a little calcium if you haven't done so already, as egg laying can deplete their bones of calcium and sometimes contribute to egg-binding. A little cuttlefish scraped into her food would do just fine. I wish you and your girl the best of luck, oh and please tell us her name, won't you