Cockatiel Eggs

[phoenix777]

My cousin has given me some fertile cockatiel eggs so that I can hatch them. One of the embryos is moving, how long will it be before it hatches? Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks
Jess

[CrazyBirdLady]

Perhaps a little more information is needed? I would imagine you either have the eggs in an incubator or under a foster hen?? When were the eggs laid? If you are seeing movement it could be hours or two days away. If you can provide more info it would be helpful.

[Joel]

Hello Jess.... Welcome to the board. I'm gonna assume you have an incubator already set up and know someone who has handfeeding experience (if you don't) to make sure those babies make it?? They need to be fed approx. every two hrs. around the clock for the first week approx. with thin formula and they need to be kept properly warmed in a brooder also....Soooo, if ya aren't set up, please get the eggs to someone who is - asap if not sooner.....

[phoenix777]

I'm all set up. But I'm not really sure when the eggs were laid, he didn't tell me. BUt I have handfed birds before. I have had the eggs since saturday. There wasn't any movement when I candled the eggs then, but there is movement in one of them today. Just wondering how long I'm looking at before they hatch?

[CrazyBirdLady]

I hope this doesn't come out sounding "preachy" but if you've never handfed from DAY 1, it can be quite the task, rewarding and heartbreaking. Without knowing exactly when the eggs were laid leaves quite a bit wide open. In my experience, I've had eggs hatch up to 3 days before I anticipated and while quite the surprise, what needed to be done was.
If you have a brooder, get it ready to go now, warmed up, small container inside to keep the tiny little birds in and make sure they will be warm enough. Joel can probably give you better advice regarding tiels, but handfeeding and bird from Day 1 is a labor of love. If you can find out when the eggs were laid, that might give you a better indication of when they should begin hatching. I don't envy you at all dealing with newborn chicks for the first two weeks. It's a tough job that take a lot of patience and sleep deprivation.
I guess all I can offer at this point, with the information given, is to check the eggs every two hours or so; look for pip marks and calculate from that. With my little ones, I expect a chick to fully hatch within 35-40 hours of the first pip mark. If nothing has happened by that time, and there is still movement and noise, it might be time for an assisted hatch (which I do not recommend for the unexperienced in doing so).
Keep us posted please.

[phoenix777]

I have sound!!! one of the eggs is squeaking. With this in mind roughly how long have I got left to go?

[Monica]

At least 2-4 hours, maybe longer!!! Could be another 24 hours before the chick fully hatches, just make sure there's enough humidity for the chick to hatch!

[phoenix777]

I have a baby!!!! One little cockatiel was born this morning Yay!!

[Stacey32]

Be careful the food isn't too hot! That is all i know about feeding (i would never attempt to feed), but there have been plenty of horror stories on incorrect temps of the food when feeding. it makes me cringe just thinking about it.

[phoenix777]

Well I have just administered baby's first feed and all went well. feeding kaytee exact :)