Conflicting information... advice?

[Sulphiria]

We got our female cockatiel about a month ago and she settled in and started laying eggs. She has 3 right now and im reading some places that say to remove them to discourage the laying, and other sites that say leave them until she gives up on them hatching. Shes on a pellet diet and is getting plenty of calcium so i hope binding doesnt become an issue. I tried discouraging the behavior by moving her cage to different places in the room and making changes in her cage, but it hasnt done any good. It looks like she has more eggs coming too. So my questions, how do i discourage it? Should i discourage it or find her a mate? Keep the eggs or not?

Thanks

 

[Mayden]

Keep the eggs, removing them will just cause her to want to lay more before her body is ready for it. She'll get disinterested in them soon enough. Make sure she's getting 12 hours of blackout sleep at night, (convincing her its not spring, baby making time!) and take out any 'huts' or 'nest' type areas/toys in her cage. Shredding also encourages nesting, so any shreddable toys are usually not advised to have around.

Hope she gives up soon, poor sweety.

 

[Sulphiria]

I made her a nest this morning since i hated seeing the eggs rolling everywhere. Should i remove that now or wait for her to give up? We also have newspaper at the bottom of her cage that she somehow pulls through to shred. Can i use corncob litter instead? Or nothing? (I can wash it daily)

 

[mandolynn]

Yep, leave them until she ignores them or is done laying. Its that time of the year, and her environment change recently can increase hormone production. In addition to the excellent advice mayden gave, make sure you arent cuddling her and preening her as this will increase hormones as well. You said shes getting enough calcium, is she on any supplements? She needs extra calcium right now. Id recommend no mirror toys right now also. And make sure shes not getting too much protein. Some females routinely lay eggs every season, some never do, and these changes may help prevent it next time around.

 

[Sulphiria]

No supplements. She eats zupreem fruit flavor pellets, gets her fruit and veggies, plus scrambled eggs with the shell and theres a cuttlebone in her cage she loves. She has no mirror toys either. Should i look into supplements?

 

[Pedro]

No supplements. She eats zupreem fruit flavor pellets, gets her fruit and veggies, plus scrambled eggs with the shell and theres a cuttlebone in her cage she loves. She has no mirror toys either. Should i look into supplements?

I wouldn't give any supplements she would be getting all she needs from the Zupreem. When i was breeding tiels if the eggs were infertile i would let the hen sit for 20 days then take the eggs. Sometimes it will break the cycle & they wouldn't lay but from my experience if the hen is hell bent on laying eggs there is nothing you can really do to stop her. They can also lay fresh eggs while sitting on the old ones.

Tiel hens can have a clutch of 2 to 8 eggs but the normal clutch is usually 4 or 5. I had 1 hen that laid 17 fertile eggs, it was funny watching the pair sit on the eggs. I was lucky i was able to foster 12 eggs & left her with 5. I managed to save every single chick. I did have about 20 pairs of tiels at that time.

Sometimes when a new male is placed in the cage & they don't really bond she may never lay again. However it could turn out that they form a strong bond & she will want to breed. You then have to be ready for chicks.

 

[mandolynn]

Im not a big fan of cuttlebone. Theres alot of conflicting info about its safety and effectiveness and i worry about the heavy metal poisoning from polluted waters. Also we cant know how much they are ingesting not just munching. I use a water soluble calcium supplement for my birds, and they are fed a pellet/fresh green and fruit diet as well. Egg shells are a good natural calcium source, but right now you might want to watch the protein. If you are worried about correctly supplementing you can dandielions, and plantains or other fresh greens high in absorbable calcium. I had a tiel die when i was growing up from egg binding, and she ate a good diet and always munched her cuttlebone. Just food for thought.