Cockatiel eggs

[suethesaver]

My cockatiels laid 5 eggs and strarted on 11-02-04. We looked at the eggs today and there are 2 dark eggs full of liquid. The other 3 eggs are pink. We candlied them and they are full on one end and every thin on the other end. Someone told me to take the dark ones out and put in decoys. The question is are the other eggs going to go bad too or will they hatch. One of the eggs has a dent in it. As they have moved to one end of the egg, can you tell me about how long it will take for them to hatch. Oh ya! how long do I keep the decoy eggs in the nesting box. Thanks for your help we just want to do this right.

[Monica]

It takes generally around 21 days for eggs to hatch, with some hatching possibly even later than that so if any of the eggs are fertile they should be hatching sometime around now. The pink eggs sound infertile while the dark eggs may be fertile (unless you can describe them better). Leave the eggs alone for another two to three weeks though check on them every other day.

I'll leave the rest for someone else to try to explain... Good luck!

[Joel]

I would gently take out those dark eggs that you say you are positive are full of liquid and toss them (you don't want them breaking or exploding and contaminating any possible good ones). I would suggest you break them open somewhere just to get experience of what things look and smell like inside. I would mend the dented one ASAP..........Yes, put in fake eggs if ya like but not absolutely necessary but they do make good props for new hatchlings to lean against and they do hold a little heat after the female gets off of them.

Purchase a book called Handfeeding & Nursery Management from www.avianpublications.com if ya are going to continue breeding (a must have IMO & IME). Learn ASAP how to properly handfeed and set up a proper brooder and make human contacts to help ya out when needed such as local breeders and managers/owners of bird only pet shops.....Good luck and please do all the things necessary to be a responsible breeder if ya must breed for whatever reason.