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I would talk to my avian vet. There are injections they can give the hen to keep the egg laying to a minimum too. In the meantime, I would make sure that she has pleanty of calcium in her diet so she does not end up having problems with egg binding.

Good luck and let us know how everything goes.

I would also raise the humidity in the area that she is in. You can make an artificial brooder/hospital cage with an old aquarium.

1. Place a soft towel on the bottom.
2. Put in a heating pad to hang on the side, not the bottom! If it is a heating pad that is made to use with moisture, you can moisten it. Only do this if the heating pad directions say you can!
3. Put in a glass of water that cannot be tipped over, this is for humidity.
4. Place a shallow dish of food and water in side for your bird.
5. Cover the top with a towel.
If you have a small thermometer, you can put it inside to monitor the temprature. I had my eggbound finch in about 85 - 90 F.

When it is warm, place your cockatiel gently inside. Talk to her so she is reassured while doing this. Cover the top again with a towel. If you cover the sides it may hold in some more of the heat.

Turn down the lights in the room, but don't make it dark. Keep checking back to monitor temprature and how your bird is doing. If the egg hasn't passed in a few hours, I would call the vet again and ask for more advice.

tboothe33 wrote:Thanks. I did not know there were shots they could be given. I will check on that. What do you suggest to feed for calcium? She has a cuttlebone and a mineral block. She eats nutriberries and pellets. Plus anything else I offer her. I read somewhere where boiled eggs are good, but that just sound strange. Is that true? Just a regular hard boiled chicken egg?

Egg would be for protein, unless you steralize the shell, crush it, and offer it to your birds.

You can also buy liquid calcium from http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com it only needs to be given about once a week.

Anyone know when females usually start to lay eggs? At what age?

Lisa,

Cockatiels *can* reproduce in the first year, but it is an extremely bad idea to let them. As for laying eggs, I don't have a scientific answer, but reading leads me to believe it could happen as early as 10 months, or later, and could be several years before they lay. My personal opinion is environment and disposition of the hen plays a bigger part than anything. I've done some searching, and came up with little on the same subject. I'd be interested in knowing as well..

Sam

Hi Sam, Thanks!
Casper is about 7 months now, so I guess I should be thinking about it. If I get any info from my vet, I will post it for anyone else that needs to know.

Anyone know from experience, when approximately...I just want to be prepared.