Our cockatiel seriously surprised me last night...

[Nakiska]

So last night the hen cockatiel that I rescued back in August was acting very strange. She's not hand tame yet but getting better about interacting with us and coming out of her cage on her own.

Anyway, when I walked by her cage, I noticed she was sitting on the bottom, in the corner, slightly puffed up, in obvious distress.

I said, Oh noooo! Honey, I think Sweetpea is Sick! He rushes over to the cage and watches her for a moment. She's all hunkered down, swaying side to side, puffed up and hissing at us and there was a strange odor we both noticed and she was straining.

I definitely knew she was sick when I reached in the cage and picked her up and she set in my hand, panting, her underside was sweaty feeling and when I looked underneath her, her vent was all swollen looking, she was definitely straining and slightly shaking.

I said, my gosh, something is wrong, I think she's dying.

My husband looks at me and says so non-chalently, "She's trying to have an egg."

I said, Nooooo! No way! Something is wrong because I've read a billion things about tiels on the net and one poster said as long as there is no nest box in their cage, the hen's won't lay.

Months ago, when we discovered the two tiels I rescued breeding, we seperated them. They are supposedly brother and sister and we have no desire to breed tiels or any birds for that matter.

Anyway, I held her in my hand, softly talking to her, freaking out because I just knew she was dying. She then got a spurt of energy, and flew away from me to the top of her cage. And boink! Out came a egg!

It rolled off the top of the cage onto the floor and got a tiny crack. I absolutely could NOT believe it! Stupid me

Anyway, we picked up the egg and I said, I THINK we should give her her egg, even though it's no good, because I thought I read that it may deter her from laying more or more than a normal clutch and she won't become egg bound???????

She's shown no interest in the egg at all. She hasn't laid another one and it's been 12 hours or so. She's eating, drinking normally, moving around her cage normally and I saw her poo and it was normal.

So do I keep the egg in the cage for a couple weeks? Is it safe to remove it and toss it? We looked at in under the light and it appears to be empty or unfertile and I know that even if it was fertile, it wouldn't make it because it's cracked.

Advice please???

Toni

And I can't believe how BIG a cockatiel egg is! For some reason, I thought it'd be 1/2 the size. It's about the size of a thomas green grape.

 

[Pearl]

Isn't it crazy how big their egs are? She will likely lay more over the next few days. Give her a cuddle bone within easy reach for calcium. I think you are probably safe to throw that one egg away since it's cracked, and then just leave the others. Some birds just want to lay eggs, nestbox or no. My lovebird is terrible about it. Rearranging their cage often helps, and avoiding shreddy-type toys (sad I know, because they love them!)

 

[Nakiska]

Okay, thankyou!

You know, I really do everything I can to keep our hens from laying, I make sure they don't get too much light, I do rearrange their cage a few times a month and when you mentioned not having any shredding toys...I realized, they don't have any in their cage, but I let them shred things when they are out of their cage for MY time with them. I make sure there are no dark corners and absolutely NO nesting box or anything that resembles a nest in their cage.

I guess that's why I was sooo shocked that she layed an egg last night.

Afterwords my spouse and I got a good laugh over it, I've had 3 kids myself and we've over the years let out mare have a foal, our dog have pups and our cat have kittens. It's not like I'm a stranger to "birthing."

But with our cockatiel...I was like...OMG! She's DYING! I can be such an airhead sometimes.

Toni

 

[PetoftheDay]

What a surprise! Goodness gracious! And of course she looked "sick" can you imagine what we humans look like in the middle of labor?

 

[Pedro]

Well I am so pleased she wasn't sick.

All you really need is to be sure your little girl has access to some form of calcium. Otherwise she will deplete her body of it & then be in big trouble with calcium deficency.

 

[YNAMomma]

I even have a tiny food processor and i put cuttle bone in it and grind it to a fine dust and coat all thier food in it to make sure mine get enough calcium since they dont seem to have any interest in the cuttle bone or calcium chews which i keep in thier cage anyways. Ya never know right =) I got the idea when i used to own pet crabs, they need a high calcium diet to make sure thier shell grows strong and hard and coating thier crickets in powdered cuttle bone was what our vet suggested for a good calcium boost snuck in =)

 

[Mamanda]

But with our cockatiel...I was like...OMG! She's DYING! I can be such an airhead sometimes.

Toni

That's just hilarious Toni!!

 

[roxynoodle]

My parents got a cockatiel when I was in college. They were told by the breeder it was a male, but guess what? Marco started laying eggs. She also did not have a nest box and she was the only bird in the house (so no males anywhere). Thankfully she never went nuts about it and depleted herself. She only ever laid one at a time, on the bottom of the cage.

It is a good idea to provide extra calcium to all female birds, just in case. My conures have never laid any eggs, but I'm wondering now that there is a (likely male) amazon here, if she might. I do have cuttle bones in all my bird's cages, and the Nanday eats chunks out of them.

The former owner of my zon told me it's a male because it's never laid on egg. I said, I don't know about that. Neither have my female birds. It is showing perhaps more male tendencies though so I think it probably is a male. I've ordered DNA kits from Avian Biotech to find out though.

Provide her the calcium, but you should be concerned when she does lay as some bird can get egg bound. That is an emergency. But, with the cuttle bones, hopefully it won't ever be a problem.

 

[Pedro]

I usually just have a supply of calcium, either a bell or cuttle bone. My hens know when they need it & when they don't.

If your not careful you can overdose on the calcuim.

If she lay's a a clutch it's best to let her incubate the eggs for the 21 days & then throw the eggs out. That will discourage her from being a chronic egg layer.

DO NOT throw out the eggs as she lay's them because she can keep laying eggs to replace the ones thrown out.

Some hens can be a real problem while others are not. Best be careful.

 

[Nakiska]

Thank you all for your helpful replies! I'm still cracking up over thinking she was dying and my spouse so calm telling me "she's just trying to have a egg." I totally didn't believe him...ROFLOLOL!!

Sweet pea is doing great! I did remove her egg today, only because she had shown ZERO interest in it and it was cracked.

I have always kept cuttle bones in all our birds cages and they definitely use them. They also get a very well rounded diet of fresh veggies, fruits and grains. Currently their MOST FAVORITE things are butternut squash, brussel sprouts, broccoli and sweet potatoes.

Sweet Pea hasn't laid anymore eggs yet, but last night she was looking like she might, otherwise, she's acting completely "normal" - healthy appetite, normal potties, and normal activity level.

I thought I'd include a picture I took of her egg today and a picture I took of her today. She's all hunkered down like that because JUST after I clicked the shutter, she flopped forward over the edge of the cage, head down, tail up, wings out - showing off. My tiels do this all the time, often one will do it, then the other 2 or 3 will follow suit and we'll look and all our birds are showing off at the same time..."look at me! Look at me!" hanging up side down from their perches or swings.

Tooo Funny!

I guess I should ask, IF she was to become egg bound. What do you do? Is there a way I can help her myself, or is it a vet only situation. I am 1 hour from our avian vet.

Toni

 

[cockatielfan17]

if she became egg bound u would have to take her to the vet but i hope that never happens leave the egg to her so she wont replace it y laying another one the egg looks healthy hope this helped and good luck to u and u cockatiel

 

[roxynoodle]

My understanding is that egg binding is a vet emergency. I think it generally happens when the bird does not have enough calcium for a hard egg. The shell is soft and gets stuck. I should brush up on this info myself. Just because my bird has never laid one doesn't mean it won't ever happen.

 

[MikeyTN]

Cockatiel hens does not need a mate to lay eggs at all, nor do they need a nest box. They lay eggs every other day, not continuously! Incubation last anywhere from 14-28 days depending on the circumstances but most of the time it is 19-21 days. That's when you should dispose the egg. Like it was mentioned already, provide her with calcium supplement like cuttle bones, oyster shells, mineral blocks, etc. I have posted something before about the necessities needed during egg binding.

 

[henpecked]

Pedro is right , don't add extra calcium to their food, supply it and if they need it they'll eat it, if they don't ,they won't.

 

[beckybird]

When I was growing up, we had a cockatiel named Tweety. She did not have a male around, but she used to lay eggs every so often. She was very protective of her eggs! She'd rock and hiss, lunging and trying to bite if anyone came near her egg or her cage. My mom would remove the egg and then Tweety's sweet, docile personality re-emerged. There was a night-and-day difference between Tweety with an egg and Tweety without an egg. This happened many times, and my mom said she always seemed much more calm and happy after the egg was gone. Once in a movie there was an unkempt mentally unstable lady in the subway cradling a dirty baby-doll- it totally reminded me of Tweety with her egg!!! Please do your little cockatiel a huge favor and promptly remove the egg after she lays it.

 

[roxynoodle]

It is nature's way as well that babies will generally take what they need from the mom. Egg binding isn't going to occur unless she has little calcium to give. And yes, my birds eat their cuttle bones sometimes and sometimes they don't. I assume they know when they need it. I gave one to my new zon as well, but so far he has ignored it.

 

[MikeyTN]

When I was growing up, we had a cockatiel named Tweety. She did not have a male around, but she used to lay eggs every so often. She was very protective of her eggs! She'd rock and hiss, lunging and trying to bite if anyone came near her egg or her cage. My mom would remove the egg and then Tweety's sweet, docile personality re-emerged. There was a night-and-day difference between Tweety with an egg and Tweety without an egg. This happened many times, and my mom said she always seemed much more calm and happy after the egg was gone. Once in a movie there was an unkempt mentally unstable lady in the subway cradling a dirty baby-doll- it totally reminded me of Tweety with her egg!!! Please do your little cockatiel a huge favor and promptly remove the egg after she lays it.

Removing her egg can promote her to lay more! Egg binding is more likely to occur with a over laying female.

 

[roxynoodle]

When I was growing up, we had a cockatiel named Tweety. She did not have a male around, but she used to lay eggs every so often. She was very protective of her eggs! She'd rock and hiss, lunging and trying to bite if anyone came near her egg or her cage. My mom would remove the egg and then Tweety's sweet, docile personality re-emerged. There was a night-and-day difference between Tweety with an egg and Tweety without an egg. This happened many times, and my mom said she always seemed much more calm and happy after the egg was gone. Once in a movie there was an unkempt mentally unstable lady in the subway cradling a dirty baby-doll- it totally reminded me of Tweety with her egg!!! Please do your little cockatiel a huge favor and promptly remove the egg after she lays it.

Removing her egg can promote her to lay more! Egg binding is more likely to occur with a over laying female.

Yes, that is true. Chickens who are used for egg farms have a very short lifespan because of all the laying. By the time they are 3 years old they are no good for eggs anymore, sadly.

It is generally considered a good idea to leave the egg until she loses interest. Some birds want to guard their eggs and others show little to no interest in their unfertilized eggs. I'm not sure what to say about Tweety, lol! Maybe she had multiple personalities. I love my egg! I hate my egg! I love my egg! I hate my egg!

 

[Pedro]

It is common that some hens will lay a large number of eggs. Some of the hens appear to be egg factories, particularly if they have no mate. Egg-binding can be a common result of such prolific laying as eventually the hen will deplete her reserves of energy & calcium. Do not keep removing the eggs as they are laid or she will continue to lay more. A simple trick is to remove the eggs & hard boil them, then replace them for her to incubate. The eggs can be thrown out after she looses interest or leaves the nest.

The cause of egg-binding includes obesity, a diet deficent in calcium, chilling lack of exercise & infection of the oviduct.

Many birds will respond to being placed in a warm, humid environment & being given a calcium supplement, such as 0.1ml per 100 grams of body weight of calcium liquid every 1-2 hours, until the egg is passed. If the hen is weak or depressed she will need Veterinary treatment that will range from sucking out the egg contents with a needle @ syringe & collasping the egg, through to surgery similar to a caesarean. As well the vet will provide fluid therapy & other meds to control infection & to aid passage of the egg.

Other problems with egg laying is Egg Peritonitis & Yolk Stroke, if you suspect either don't delay go to the Vets immediately, they are both life threating conditions.

Beckybird that is so not the right information to remove the egg as soon as it's laid. Although it changes the birds natural behavior of protecting her nest & eggs, it's not the recommended thing to do.

 

[MissyMe83]

Glad she's alright! Thanks for posting a pic of the egg, interesting.....it is pretty large! She's a pretty tiel btw : )