Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had a pair of cockatiels for about 2 years. In 2004 they laid maybe 2 or 3 clutches of eggs in their nesting box. 2 of these eggs hatched, but the babies died in about 3 days. I removed the nesting box after the third clutch, which is when those 2 hatched.

This past year they started laying eggs in about June of 2005, and have since that time the female has laid, I would say close to, 50 eggs. I did not put a nesting box in because I figured it would discourage them from laying. They found the corner of my other cockatiels cage appealing and thats where they laid all the eggs. Like the books say after about 3 weeks I removed the eggs and figured that would be it. The female lays on average about 6-7 eggs and developed a big belly, which she still has, from this I am guessing.

They laid their last clutch about 5 weeks ago and the eggs are still in the cage, . I have since moved their cage to another room, left all the eggs in there and disturb the tiels as much as possible so that they do not attempt to continue laying ridiculous amounts of eggs. Since that time they have stopped sitting on the eggs. They sleep in my bedroom and hear mine and my girlfriends alarm clocks go off every morning. I also move their cage to the living room everyday and just hope they dont decide to lay more eggs this year. I really dont want to put them in a closet every night either for 12 hours.

Any other ideas on what I can do? Our vet said he could remove her ovaries or put her on hormones, but I would rather not do either.

Another think would be to change their temperatures and light/dark schedules. Set your thermostat a few degrees cooler, not cold and not a drastic drop but a little cooler. Then start shutting off their lights or covering them up a little earlier each night. Maybe five minutes at first then gradually lengthen it. Also turn their lights on a little later in the morning. IF they are used to 10 hours of sleep gradually build them up to 12 or if they are used to 12 gradually build up to 14. Also changes in other schedules, not offering as much seed and more fresh foods, pellets etc. Abundance of seeds is a "spring sign" that entices many into breeding behavior. This does not mean to starve them LOL just try not to have as many seeds around and use other foods instead. Also try to find toys that interest them to draw their attention and change the "decoration" of their cage. If they like laying eggs in one corner block that corner with some toys etc.

Escessive egg-laying is one of the curses of Cockatiels. Trying to curtail it can be quite a chore, and is often unsuccessful.

Cockatiels are programmed by nature, and us in selective breeding, to produce prolifically. Your other respondant mentioned reducing the light exposure, which is certainly worth trying. Removing the nest box is a good step as well, altho as you have found, cockatiels will use a food cup, or bottom of the cage in a pinch.

Also try removing any corn or egg product from her diet, whether fresh, dried, or included in a pelleted diet. For some reason, corn does stimulate egglaying, as does egg consumption. Seperating the birds may also help, since having the pair housed together will stimulate preening and treading, which stimulate egglaying. Theirs may have to become a platonic relationship.

If you are TRYING for babies, seperating them until the appropriate season can also be helpful in that it gives the hen's system a chance to rebuild itself for egglaying, and in the old saying 'Distance makes the heart grow fonder'. There is, however, an unfortunate side effect that if they have been together in the same cage a long time, there is likely to be a log of noise following the split. If they are kept within sight of each other, that will minimize the noise, but not eliminate it entirely until they adjust.

My sister had a hen that was a total egg-machine and even reducing her daylight down to 6 hours did not help. Hormone shots are iffy, and removing the ovaries is something that you are wise to think over very long and hard. Even with the best of vets, the bird will often die from the shock of the proceedure.

We tried many things with Tiki, but nothing really worked more than a week or two before she was back to laying like mad (no male). The vet monitored her condition for a good while and finally concluded that the diet she was getting was sufficient to keep her in very good health anyway, but we added extra calcium (a calcium supplement designed for African Greys) to her diet to make up for the lost calcium forming eggshells. Adequate Vit. E and D are also important with birds engaged in egg-laying.

Since she has been producing eggs regularly, she is less prone to egg-binding, but that is also something that you need to be vigilant about for early signs so that either you, or your vet can help her pass the egg before it becomes lethal. If it ever becomes paramount to perform surgery for egg-binding, then would be a good time to address removing her ovaries.

Best Wishes.