Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / February 2004

Either the bird is not getting enough calcium making the egg too
fragile, or I would suspect alot of playing going on in the cage.
They can get quite active sometimes and end up breaking the eggs or
its even likely that one of the other tiels mistake the eggs for fun
toys.  One wanna-be mother cant sit there and protect her eggs 24/7
and unless one of the other two are a mate, neither one of them are
gunna care about the wellbeing of the eggs.  Not to mention the cage
floors arent that soft either.

Only thing I can suggest are giving a cuddlebone/mineral block if she
doesnt already have one, and moving her to her own cage along with her
mate if she has one.  Sometimes you can move their eggs inside the box
where theyre safer and theyll take care of them there.

Little OT humor:

Little Bobby, 5 years old, goes into the house and tells his mother
that he and Susie, also 5, are going to get married.  Mom decides to
talk with him and not make fun of his declaration.

She says "Well, Bobby Susie is a nice girl but when you get married
you have to have a place to live".  Bobby tells her they have talked
about it and have solved that problem.  One week they will live in his
room and the next they will live in her room.

Mom then says: "I see.  But you have to have a job so you will have
money for food and things."  Bobby was prepared and said they would
eat with his parents one week and with hers the next.  Plus they would
still be getting their 25 cents allowance.

Hmmm.  Mom then says " you know there are more things to think of than
just a place to live and food.  What about babies?"  

Bobby says:  "We have that figured out too.  When Susie lays an egg
we'll crack it".

With all the birds being so young they are probably not ready to be
breeding yet. Are 2 of the birds bonded at all or have you seen them mating?
If so then leave those 2 in the cage with the box and put the other one in
another cage. The 3rd bird could be playing with t he egg and breaking it.
Sharp claws will also break eggs if the parents are a little rough.
Don't remove the third egg from the cage as if you keep removing them the
hen will keep laying them. If she won't go in the box to lay them put it in
a bowl with some pine shavings for bedding exactly where she laid the egg.
When she has enough eggs she will sit on them and then after she tires of
sitting on them...can take 3 weeks....then remove them if not hatched. You
will still need to work out which male ...if any....is her mate and remove
those birds that aren't. If neither bird shows any interest you may need to
remove both and leave her to her own devices. Give the birds plenty of seed
and fresh fruit and veges and a cuttlebone as well. That will help the hen
while she is laying....and at all times to be honest. Hope this helps a
little. Please let us know how it turns out. By the way they normally have
clutches of 3-7 eggs ,each egg being laid on alternate days.
Jo-Anne

Lawrence, since you didn't give any background info, I just have to ask a
few questions...
Do you have any experience breeding cockatiels? If they manage to hatch a
chick, and they abandon it, do you know how to handfeed the baby? With
this young hen laying eggs, do you know what are the signs of egg binding?
Are you providing enough nutritional support for the hen that's laying?

why are they cracking the eggs? Could be many reasons: improper breeding
set up, calcium deficient diet, bad parenting, young birds who don't know
what they're doing.

What would I do if I were you? I'd remove the nestbox, make sure the hen
is getting enough calcium in her diet, cut down the daylight hours to
prevent any more egg laying, if she lays anymore eggs just leave them
there, removing them will only cause the hen to lay some more, cut down on
their rich diet to bring the hen off breeding condition.
These birds are too young to be bred... if you are serious about breeding
them, give them about 6 more months to mature. And in the meantime read,
read, read as much as you can, talk/visit other breeders, try to learn how
to handfeed, etc.

One last question... what are the sexes of the birds? We know at least ONE
is a hen... what are the other two? males? females? unknown?

Here are some links you might want to check out:

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww60e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww61e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww62e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww63e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww64e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww65e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww66e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww67e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww68e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww69e.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww61ev.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww68eiv.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww69eiv.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww59eiii.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww22eiv.htm

You are trying to breed cockatiels even though you have not the
foggiest clue how to go about it properly. Too many birds in a cage,
birds too young to breed. Do some research before inflicting you desires
to produce more cockatiels than there are good homes for.