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well, this last week, the tiels and I have had very little time together--I feed them then leave them in the morning, and spend all day in the library--leave at 8 come home at 8 and for the most part they are sleeping when I get home. I try to let them out for a little while, and Casey and Annabelle go at it. Finals suck, but I am officially finished with my 1L year of law school! But, Casey and Annabelle have been hormonal, seeing it is spring, they want to get on with the baby makin... Annabelle has been at the bottom of the cage being all nesty for a couple days now... this morning, Ryan tells me Annabelle is being all nesty, and I told him I knew... so, I got her out of her cage--and there was... dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNN an egg... I took it away, and she really doesn't seem to care--she is actually being sweeter than normal (the fact she let me actually get her off the egg without hissing is very uncharacteristic). I am wondering, if I take this egg away (which may be firtile cuz she and Casey have been going at it)... how long can I keep her away from (or under) casey until she lays non-firtle eggs?... it is like human sperm can stay alive in the body for like 24 hrs, how long can tiel sperm fertalize a potential egg? Wierd question, I know... but hey.

I don't remember where I read it, but I thought birdie sperm could stay viable for something like 11 days. Please correct me if I'm wrong guys!

It's not a matter of sperm getting old. It's a matter of his having access to her -- ever. You could keep them apart for a year, then 5 minutes after you give them a play break together, he could fertilize an egg. That's why it's so essential to boil the egg as soon as it is laid. When did you last check her cage and know the egg was not there? If only a couple days, simply boil the egg on low for a few minutes, cool it gradually so it does not crack, mark it (permanent ink safe for children), and return it to her.

Cockatiels are indeterminate layers. If you don't return her egg, she will replace it, costing her calcium to do so. Keeping the two apart would be hard on everyone involved. If you decide to keep them apart forever, I think it would be kinder to rehome Annabelle.

Jackie,

I have read the male can fertilize eggs in making at one time, however many eggs the hen will lay, but I also found out that the egg fertilization process is not always successful. This last clutch of Smokey and Missy had one infertile egg, and they had not mated in 3 days prior to her laying it. Based on that tidbit, I'd have to say the sperm are not viable much longer than maybe 48 hours. I don't think you'll have to worry about her replacing the egg you took, but I suppose it is possible. When I pulled eggs from Missy, she didn't replace them, but still wanted to look for a nesting spot, but eventually, they gave up. As for boiling them, that will kill any possible embryo that might develop, but boiling the eggs will change the color, and the birds know it, especially if they lay another and compare the colors. Somehow, their little brains are smarter than we give them credit for!

Sam

I've had no issues removing eggs from females... so long as I changed up their environment, removed their nesting spot or what they were kept in, they stopped laying eggs. Casey's laid 3 clutches of eggs, however, she's never sat on them cause I took her nesting sites away, plus the eggs. Being a very loving mother (who probably wouldn't have a clue on how to care for chicks) she didn't mind me handling her eggs at all! Actually, she only seemed curious as to what I was doing, but nothing aggressive!

I was given two chronic egg laying females. One, Tomi Girl, has never laid an egg for me. I've had her for over 2 years now. The other, Kiwi, laid 1 egg the day after she came here. Haven't had an egg from her since! I've had her for 2 years and 5 months (although in truth I don't know who laid the egg... Kiwi or her daughter, I do have my suspicions)

Therefore, I am not in the mind to believe that just because a cockatiel lays an egg you can't remove it or else you'll have a chronic egg layer. Tomi Girl was a chronic egg layer in her previous home but they never did anything to change her settings or change anything else around her. When she came here, I removed her eggs.


As far as fertility goes... well I heard of a lovebird who was an only hen for 5+ months (maybe 6 or more?), and she laid a fertile egg, that hatched. Either she was fertilized before, and the sperm remained viable, or she pulled off a parthenogenesis....
Virgin Birth Expected at Christmas -- By Komodo Dragon

I've heard of a similar occurrence with a human female who hadn't had intercourse for months.... but had an intimate relationship with someone through a chat website, and became pregnant.... however, I can't seem to find the story to say whether or not it's true.

I removed the egg earlier with no fuss from her whatsoever--not even a hiss (which is normal for her, in any regard)... Nevertheless, I do not believe that she will lay again soon... as for the nesting area, she cleared a corner of her cage and just--plop--egg. I will try to re-arrange things a bit and see if that helps. I will continue supervised play time. The egg was laid last night or this morning--it was not there yesterday, though she was still huddled in the corner.

Rehoming one of them is simply not an option. Casey freaks out if he can't see her for a second, let alone forever--it would simply kill him.

I wonder if I can accustom her to a flight suit--perhaps that will inhibit vent to vent contact--geez, I am thinking birdie condoms, lol.

LOL Whatever works!

I pretty much do what MFids does. I try to rearrange the cage, put pillow case covers down rather than newspaper to mess up the nesting area.Switch birds to different cages. Sometimes they are going to still continue to lay. I put fake eggs in their nesting area(that I had bought in a craft store) but the male must know and kicks them out.
It is that time of year. My birds are fighting and laying eggs.

Well, this morning I woke up to another egg... I took her out of her cage, where she was shredding papertowel last night, figuring she was getting ready to lay another, and put her in the big cage with Bubba--the cage has a grate at the bottom, so she wouldn't be able to nest, and Bubba is in no way interested in her. I feel like there has been some progress, because she was not sitting on the egg, in fact, she was 3 feet above it on a perch... so hopefully, she will not be interested in anymore... she was not aggressive towards me at all, I just took it away, and if she continues with another egg, I might boil the others so she will stop, again, that is if she continues... but I really don't think she will. She had some supervised play time with Casey... he only tried to mount her once--which was amazing, lol...

Other than their play time, I have allowed Casey to climb around the outside of the Flight cage, and it is so funny... he climbs over to her and starts to give her kisses, and they share some mineral block together. I hate to keep them apart, but I am hoping as spring goes on, they will become less interested in mating.

If she lays 3 or 4 eggs, it would be best to give all eggs back, once boiled, and marked with a permanent marker... Best of luck!

MFids wrote:
I've heard of a similar occurrence with a human female who hadn't had intercourse for months.... but had an intimate relationship with someone through a chat website, and became pregnant.... however, I can't seem to find the story to say whether or not it's true.

what a crack up and soooooooooooooo not possible


Interesting to read all your "mating" stories though as I am hoping my two will breed this coming spring.......
They are constantly all "lovey-dovey" but have not mated once (well, at least not when I'm watching ) so I am hoping that not having a nest box and it being cold at night will put them off for a bit longer.
Hopefully both the tiels and Turquoisines will breed for us, can't wait !
Trust me, when that time comes, I will be on this forum a lot with heaps of questions

Claudia,

There is no time like the present to start reading about the techniques in breeding birds. One of my first suggested websites would be http://www.exoticpetvet.net/index.html Dr. Wissman give a very good explanation of things that can happen, sometimes do happen, and you can also find out what happens when everything works properly, as well as everything that can happen when everything goes wrong. Lots of good info about the physical properties of birds, and a little on the mental side. Of course we will answer your questions, but it's good to learn where to find the information you desire. Of course, I still have to ask questions sometimes when I can't find reasonable explanations on the web.

Sam

thanks Sam
and sorry to read you still haven't found Chibi

Claudia,

We have pretty much given up on Chibi. Just hope he found somewhere else to call home, but given all the horrible wx we had right after he escaped, we seriously doubt he is still alive, but I still hope he made it somehow.

Sam

Shame

I just picked up the dumped budgie today (see post under "it's been awhile")
He is beautiful and still quite young I reckon

I just hope I haven't stressed him out too much car ride, catching him (took awhile......) and then being put in a new (CLEAN!) cage, poor little fella
He is panting a little at the moment, I guess that must be stress??
I am going to leave him be for awhile today, to get used to his new (and lucky for him, bigger!) cage.......

He is beautiful, white head and sky blue feathers