# introduced a male to my female cockatiel will they breed?



## chirpy (Mar 5, 2012)

Hi im new to this. I have a female cockatiel i called chirpy (was told by shop owner was a boy! Later found out he was infact a she) she is 20 months old and started showin signs she wanted a mate, satndin on purch head down tail in air chirpin quietly! ( i was told this indicates she is a girl and this is courtin) so i have just bought a male. Introduced them and as soon as i did he started 2 sing 2 her!! They've been together now for 2 days n she isnt showin any interest in him! They are in a small avery which goes into a cage in my shed! Is this an indication she dont want him or she just playin hard 2 get?!!! 2day he went into the indoor cage and makes a coo'in noise but she dont respond what is he tryin 2 do? Please help!!!


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

He is trying to win her over with his singing and such. Now birds don't always bond straight away, mine have been together 11 months and they have just started preening eachother last month, when they were first introduced my female ignored my male for a long time, now they preen/ sleep/ eat together so just give them time to get to know eachother and bond!


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Well the first problem here is that it doesn't sound like you quarantined the new bird..so hopefully he doesn't have a disease and pass it onto her or you.

The other issue is that just because a hen shows courting behavior doesn't mean she needs to mate. On that note, if she was courting without another cockatiel around then she may be bonded to you and thinks you are her mate and she may not have any interest in the male.

Do you have any experience in breeding? It isn't something you just get up and decide to do one day. You need to do lots and lots of research and visit breeders who can teach you to hand feed. You need to be able to identify any problems the birds are having--if the female experiences egg binding and if they turn into a bondage pair versus a bonded pair. There is so much you should learn about before you set these 2 up with a nest box and let them breed.

Edit: Sorry if I sounded rude; a lot of people come here thinking their birds will take care of everything and that their won't be any complications. But, as breeders, people often have to intervene and take the hens to the vet to have eggs removed or pull the babies and handfeed them when the parent birds abandon the babies. I just don't want another person to assume that everything will be OK with their birds--since this will be their first clutch you may experience trouble since the parent birds are inexperienced and don't always get it right the first time. I just want you to be educated enough to handle problems if they arise.


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## chirpy (Mar 5, 2012)

na its not rude at all i get what your sayin! i have no experience in breeding but main reason i got a male was for company as have read if i got another female, could coarse problems layin eggs so went for a male! iv not got a nest box in with them and am gonna look into breedin incase they do! i want to learn as much as i can hench why im here askin


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Getting a male may cause your hen to lay...two hens can bond and act like a normal pair (which means there would be twice the amount of eggs) but there are ways to prevent egg laying.


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