SnowyShiloh
Well-Known Member
I thought maybe you guys would like to follow along as my cockatiels have babies, so I'm starting this thread! I plan to update it with photos and information about the eggs, and with luck, photos and info about the chicks 
A bit of info about cockatiel reproduction: Eggs are usually laid once every 48 hours. The average clutch (what a "litter" of eggs is called) has 5 eggs. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs, which have to be sat on pretty much 24 hours a day for 21 days. The chicks usually don't hatch at the same time since they were laid on different days. When the chicks hatch, the parents both take care of them.
The parents are Arthur, my 12 year old normal gray cock, and Poppet, my approximately 2 1/2 year old Lutino hen. Here they are:
They have been together for a year and a half now and are very much in love. They're first time parents and they had a rough start at parenting, but seem to be catching the hang of things now!
Here is Poppet with the eggs:
8! Wow, huh? Theoretically, cockatiels will only lay eggs if they have a nest box, but Arthur and Poppet felt the need to be parents and went on ahead and laid them on the cage floor. She started laying the day after Skyler died, May 14th. She laid an egg every other day, resulting in 4 eggs. They were all laid on the cage floor, but we bought them a nest box and moved the eggs in there. The eggs have a 7-10 day "grace period" before they have to be incubated 24 hours a day, but unfortunately Arthur and Poppet didn't really know what to do so those eggs never began to develop Then the parents took a break for a week or so, Poppet started laying again (this time in the nest box), and now there are 4 new eggs ! Thankfully, Arthur and Poppet seem to have figured out what to do now and are incubating the eggs like pros I've candled the eggs (held them up to a small flashlight) and two of the eggs definitely have embryos in them. One of the others looks like it has one just beginning to develop (it was just laid 3 days ago and it takes a while for things to become visible), and I don't know if the 4th one does since it was just laid yesterday. Interestingly enough, the last egg of the previous batch looks like it has an embryo too, but I think it died after not being incubated properly. If it continues to develop, we'll know! Also, after I took this picture, I removed 2 of the dud eggs that were laid 3 weeks ago on the advice of some cockatiel breeders because it's difficult for the parents to incubate more than 6 eggs properly. I left one dud egg and the one with the possibly dead embryo because the extra eggs can help keep the fertilized eggs warm.
So, as of right now, we have: 2 definite growing embryos, 1 most likely just beginning to develop embryo, 1 is too early to tell, and 1 likely dead embryo. It takes approximately 21 days for an egg to develop, so if all goes well, we should have the first chick here in about 2 weeks! I also wouldn't be surprised if Poppet lays another egg or two. A lot can go wrong, but hopefully we'll get at least 1 birdy out of this, which we will of course keep
A bit of info about cockatiel reproduction: Eggs are usually laid once every 48 hours. The average clutch (what a "litter" of eggs is called) has 5 eggs. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs, which have to be sat on pretty much 24 hours a day for 21 days. The chicks usually don't hatch at the same time since they were laid on different days. When the chicks hatch, the parents both take care of them.
The parents are Arthur, my 12 year old normal gray cock, and Poppet, my approximately 2 1/2 year old Lutino hen. Here they are:
They have been together for a year and a half now and are very much in love. They're first time parents and they had a rough start at parenting, but seem to be catching the hang of things now!
Here is Poppet with the eggs:
8! Wow, huh? Theoretically, cockatiels will only lay eggs if they have a nest box, but Arthur and Poppet felt the need to be parents and went on ahead and laid them on the cage floor. She started laying the day after Skyler died, May 14th. She laid an egg every other day, resulting in 4 eggs. They were all laid on the cage floor, but we bought them a nest box and moved the eggs in there. The eggs have a 7-10 day "grace period" before they have to be incubated 24 hours a day, but unfortunately Arthur and Poppet didn't really know what to do so those eggs never began to develop
Then the parents took a break for a week or so, Poppet started laying again (this time in the nest box), and now there are 4 new eggs ! Thankfully, Arthur and Poppet seem to have figured out what to do now and are incubating the eggs like pros I've candled the eggs (held them up to a small flashlight) and two of the eggs definitely have embryos in them. One of the others looks like it has one just beginning to develop (it was just laid 3 days ago and it takes a while for things to become visible), and I don't know if the 4th one does since it was just laid yesterday. Interestingly enough, the last egg of the previous batch looks like it has an embryo too, but I think it died after not being incubated properly. If it continues to develop, we'll know! Also, after I took this picture, I removed 2 of the dud eggs that were laid 3 weeks ago on the advice of some cockatiel breeders because it's difficult for the parents to incubate more than 6 eggs properly. I left one dud egg and the one with the possibly dead embryo because the extra eggs can help keep the fertilized eggs warm.So, as of right now, we have: 2 definite growing embryos, 1 most likely just beginning to develop embryo, 1 is too early to tell, and 1 likely dead embryo. It takes approximately 21 days for an egg to develop, so if all goes well, we should have the first chick here in about 2 weeks! I also wouldn't be surprised if Poppet lays another egg or two. A lot can go wrong, but hopefully we'll get at least 1 birdy out of this, which we will of course keep
