# "Old cockatiels breeding"



## flock watcher (Apr 20, 2013)

I have a normal whiteface male cockatiel that is 13 and a female lutino that is 11 can they breed or are they still fertile.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The male is probably still fertile. The female might also still be fertile but that's a little more iffy.

Have they ever bred before? If they have had babies before you probably won't have any issues. But if this would be their first time, I'd be worried about health risks to the hen having her first chicks this late in life, and also about both birds being able to adjust to parenthood successfully.


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## flock watcher (Apr 20, 2013)

i have a breeder male very well for breeding he has experiance and taught my female everything in a way the last male they didnt like eachother can i switch around like after the male and female young ones finish i can switch young female old male old female young male. also i have an egg i put under a light it was red in the middle 5 or more days old is this fertile.


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## flock watcher (Apr 20, 2013)

i really dont know why but they only had one egg and its been for a while and they only concentrate on this one egg taking turns sitting on it and both sit on it at night. no other eggs just that and it seems fertile it has a glowing red in the middle when under the light.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Larger clutches are typical but sometimes birds do have just one egg. Since your female is an older bird, it's possible that her fertility has declined and she only ovulated once. 

Birds have definite preferences about their mate so you can't just switch the pairs around and expect it to work. Birds will change mates if they find a new mate that they like better than the old one; but if they're bonded to their current mate you probably won't be able to convince them that a new mate would be better.


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