Preventing breeding?

[pearl]

Hi, after some advice! I have two cockatiels kept in an outdoor aviary - Sam and Rosie - they've been mating, and yesterday I noticed Rosie had laid 3 eggs - two on the shelf at the back of the aviary, and one broken on the floor. She was not sitting on them, and they were cold so I removed them (although now, reading on the topic it seems I should have left them there for a while?).

I had heard that simply not providing a nest box would prevent cockatiels breeding, but it doesn't seem to have worked! I would prefer them not to breed - is there any way to discourage breeding other than separating them?

[kimmikefids]

the only thing im aware of is lengthening the amount of darkness the tiels have tho i see this as a problem with aviary birds....over 12 hours a day darkness so they think its winter and lose the urge to reproduce...also limiting leafy greens and as u mentioned not giving them the nesting box...otherwise im not quite sure what to do....is there anyway to limit the amount of light they get?? that would be what i would do first...i have seen it work miracles with birds including my own....who went from crazy sexed up birds to normal sweet babies...

[pearl]

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to block out the sunlight but I'll give it a try and see. Thanks! :)

[kimmikefids]

good luck...there are lots of fantastic breeders on here that may be able to give more advice....my advice is merely what ive learnt from them!

[allen]

yes shorten the light to less then 12 hours a day and cut back on the greens as well

[tielfan]

Cutting back on the richer food items, taking away the nestbox, and rearranging the cage did NOT work on my tiels. That's how I ended up with a second clutch of chicks. Cutting back on the amount of light DID work. That's how I avoided a third clutch.