My female Cockatiel just laid an Egg and there is a Male Bird with her.

[Britta Bandit]

Hi everyone,

I just signed up because I came home this evening to discover my little female cockatiel laid an egg tonight! She has been extremely ornery with me the past few days and acting strangely so it makes sense she was about to give birth.

My other cockatiel is a male and they are always together. I've never actually seen them have sex, but I have no idea what they do while I'm at work all day.

This egg "may" be fertilized.

I'm not really sure what I should do now. I gave her a bunch of torn up newspaper and clothes and she started building a nest around the egg. Do I need to DO anything at this point?

These are my first birds and I adopted them from two other owners who couldn't take care of them anymore. I was worried about putting a male and female together but I've had them a year and nothing like this has happened.

What should I do?

[Peanutbutter]

Its spring time....

Breeding is dangerous for Mom & babys, & hard work and if you read around a bit you will see it almost never goes 'text book', especially with the first clutch. Breeding Cockatiels, how to breed cockatiels, cockatiel breeding, causes of cockatiel infertility and failure to breed, why cockatiels won't breed, how to candle eggs, nest box, nestbox, how to set up a cockatiel nestbox, what to use and put inside a
You should be fully versed in the complications of breeding & handfeeding BEFORE attempting this....

My suggestion... Get her out of breeding mode.
1. Separate them into side by side cages if possible.
2. Take away the nesting supplies.
3. Leave her egg(s... she will lay one every other day until she thinks she has a full clutch) on the grate/floor of cage. Do NOT take them away. If you do, she will lay more to replace them.
4. Cover her cage earlier & don't uncover it for 13-14hrs. Long nights are like winter.
5. If they eat pellets & seeds, limit seeds & offer more pellets. Less fatty foods, is again more like in winter time.

Good luck.

[chapala]

You can freeze the eggs and replace them, or boil them, let them cool and replace them if you don't want your pair raising young.

[RubyMuse]

or you could let her raise this one and just try to prevent it in the future

[Peanutbutter]

Thanks Chapala!
I had that in there at first but I guess I edited it & forgot to put it back!

I'd boil for 3-5minutes or so.... or freeze for atleast 3-4 hours.