# Help! Egg question.



## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

Hey everyone. I just got a breeding pair a couple of months ago to add to my flock. I have noticed that when i got them they had eggs in their home made nest box. The eggs have been there for about two months now and i haven't seen them sit on them since. Well long story short i found a fifth egg today and now she is sitting on all of them? What should i do? I do want babies so i don't mind them breeding! Thanks.
Edgar


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Have you candled any of the older eggs to see if they are DIS or infertile? Eggs only take about 18-21 days to hatch so if theyve been with you longer than that theyre probably not good eggs, especially if they never sat on them.


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## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

I have not candled any eggs. Can i grab them with my bare hands or should i take precautions as to her not wanting the eggs anymore after i touch them?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Wash your hands, you can pick them up, OR if you have a pen light, leave them in the nest and put the end of the penlight against the air cell (fat rounded end) of the egg. If the eggs were never fertilized they will have a yellow cast. If the eggs were good and died, you will see dark shadows.

In either case *remove all* the old eggs from the nest, and just leave the most recently laid. 

What type of bedding is in the nest? And how deep? The pix below (click for a larger view) has some helpful info.

This page is from my mousebird site but it has some candling info: http://www.mousebirds.com/candling-eggs.html

And 1/3 to 1/2 way down this page is pix of candlled eggs: http://s525.photobucket.com/albums/cc331/Mousebirds-and-more/Other%20birds/?start=all


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## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

Ok we just candled and two of the five look good. We left both and now we are going to make a home made nest box. They had one but i feel like its not propper for the baby eggs, it has a huge opening? Thanks srtiels and sarah!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

This article talks about the properties of a good nestbox: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27688

Good luck with the eggs!


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## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

Thanks Tielfan!


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## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

Update: We finally finished the nestbox last night! We put some aspen bedding in the nestbox so they are nice a warm. They have been sitting on the egg since last night and take turns when they get hungry! I have been watching them all morning and i think the female might be laying more eggs soon!


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## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

Update: They have laid three eggs as of today! She seems to be laying every other day. She and my male have been laying on the eggs since we put the nest box for them! They seem to be happy.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Every other day is the normal pattern. Some parents start incubating right away and others wait until several eggs have been laid. If your parent birds are actually sitting on the eggs (as opposed to sitting in the nest admiring them) then the eggs are expected to hatch approximately every other day. When the parents wait until several eggs have been laid, you can expect several babies to hatch within a short period of time.


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## StellasMom (Feb 12, 2012)

It is so exciting! Congrats on your hopeful babies!


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## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

Update: Sorry im late on an update. Two hatched out of the three babies. They are attending to their every need! Should i be feeding anything other since i have babies now? She is feeding them the cockatiel seed mix? Should i maybe offer anything other than the seed mix? Thanks.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Seed is nutritious but it isn't a complete diet, and your babies need more than this. There's information on the ideal diet at http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27479 but it takes time to persuade birds to eat new foods. Pellets are an excellent baby food; the parents eat the dry pellets and then drink water to soften them up. But if the parents aren't eating pellets already, the babies will probably be weaned before they've learned to eat them.

Cockatiels usually prefer to feed soft food to the babies because it's easier for the babies to digest. You can offer organic whole-grain bread torn in small pieces; soaked or sprouted seeds (see http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=9019 ); cooked or raw vegetables; and other healthy cooked foods, making sure to use whole grains instead of refined grains (for example brown rice instead of white rice). Cooked egg is beneficial in small amounts. You can scramble an egg, cut it in small pieces, freeze it, and take out about a half teaspoon per day to give to the birds. It's possible that your parent birds won't eat any of these foods if they aren't used to it, but keep on offering it and hope that they'll learn. The babies will benefit if the parents start feeding this stuff to them. 

Try offering cockatiel-sized Nutriberries. They aren't soft but they're nutritionally equivalent to pellets so they'll provide the babies with nutrients that are lacking in seeds. Nutriberries look like seed balls and most cockatiels take to them more easily than they do to pellets.


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## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

tielfan said:


> Seed is nutritious but it isn't a complete diet, and your babies need more than this. There's information on the ideal diet at http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27479 but it takes time to persuade birds to eat new foods. Pellets are an excellent baby food; the parents eat the dry pellets and then drink water to soften them up. But if the parents aren't eating pellets already, the babies will probably be weaned before they've learned to eat them.
> 
> Cockatiels usually prefer to feed soft food to the babies because it's easier for the babies to digest. You can offer organic whole-grain bread torn in small pieces; soaked or sprouted seeds (see http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=9019 ); cooked or raw vegetables; and other healthy cooked foods, making sure to use whole grains instead of refined grains (for example brown rice instead of white rice). Cooked egg is beneficial in small amounts. You can scramble an egg, cut it in small pieces, freeze it, and take out about a half teaspoon per day to give to the birds. It's possible that your parent birds won't eat any of these foods if they aren't used to it, but keep on offering it and hope that they'll learn. The babies will benefit if the parents start feeding this stuff to them.
> 
> Try offering cockatiel-sized Nutriberries. They aren't soft but they're nutritionally equivalent to pellets so they'll provide the babies with nutrients that are lacking in seeds. Nutriberries look like seed balls and most cockatiels take to them more easily than they do to pellets.


Thanks Tielfan! I was told to introduce pellets but i can't find any at my local pet store? I did notice some sell it online so i might just start buying online with another seed mix. I do feed them some fruits but they don't eat them. They just look at them and walk away


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

Cockatiels don't like many fruits, apples and maybe bananas are about the limit. Try broccoli or other veggies, stay away from iceberg lettuce but other greens are excellent and easy for the parents to eat quickly.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Some pellet brands are hard to find in stores but almost everyone has Zupreem.


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## Eddie789 (Mar 16, 2012)

Well after a long search and a drive to another local pet store i finally found some zupreem fruit blend. They also had the natural blend. I got the fruit blend and put some in with their food. Hope they eat it lol! Going to start cooking some veggies for them!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

When you do the food tomorrow, put the pellets in a separate bowl then the seeds, as they will just eat around the pellets to get to the seeds and then they're getting less seeds then they'll need to take care of the babies.


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