Pregnancy Pitfalls
by Linda S Rubin

When a female cockatiel approaches her first birthday, it is not uncommon for her to lay a round of eggs. This activity can occur independent of whether the hen has a suitable mate or access to an appropriate nesting site or nest box. Laying a clutch of eggs is generally prompted by the development of sexual maturity; a stage that triggers hormones to proceed as nature intended. This stage can often be a nerve-racking experience for cockatiel owners, especially for the novice or uninformed. There are precautions to take that will help during this difficult period and even deter hens from laying again in the future.
There are several factors that contribute to stimulating a hen to reproduce, or lay a clutch of eggs. In the wild, cockatiels nest during the rainy season when food is abundant. Additional prerequisites include the correct temperature, humidity, an acceptable bonded mate and a suitable nesting site. In captivity these prerequisites may be provided without the owner being aware.

If a suitable diet is offered, and especially if soft foods are given daily, chances are most nutritional needs are being met. This does not imply that you should stop feeding these foods, since adequate nutrition is paramount to good health. If you are feeding extras on a daily basis that qualify as "soft foods," such as a corn/rice/bean addition, or egg food and the like, you may want to cut back and offer such conditioning /breeding foods perhaps only once or twice a week. Fresh, dark green, leafy vegetables and orange/yellow vegetables high in vitamin A can still be offered daily in addition to a pelleted or extruded product, or a well-rounded feed mix fortified with vitamins and minerals.

Many breeders who reproduce cockatiels indoors often do so in normal room temperature (68-72 degrees), or even lower. Cockatiels certainly do not need hothouse conditions to breed. In fact it is healthier to have the environment slightly cooler than have it too warm. Humidity can be measured and adjusted. If the air is too dry, embryos unable to rotate in the shell will adhere to the egg membrane; if the humidity is too high, it can cause an embryo to drown
Often a broody cockatiel hen ready to lay eggs will tear paper at the bottom of her cage to prepare a bare, hollow impression for her eggs. Some will select an unlikely place for the nesting site such as an open drawer, spaces in a bookcase, tops of furniture and under the bed. What may seem appropriate to your cockatiel may not always make sense to you.
If you are your cockatiel's best friend, constantly picking her up, holding her, and generally interacting with her, it is probably safe to assume that she has bonded with you as her chosen mate and is now proceeding to do as instinct dictates: complete her biological urge to lay a round of eggs and preserve her genes.

There are a number of ways you can help your hen get through her egg-laying period successfully and to deter her from laying future clutches. The most important point to remember is to never remove the eggs once they are laid until the hen is either ready to abandon them or it is at least one week beyond hatching date according to when the hen first began to incubate the eggs. Often a cockatiel hen, especially an inexperienced hen, will not begin to sit full time until the second or even the third egg is laid. Because eggs are laid roughly every other day, she may not begin to sit until several days after the appearance of the first egg.
The reason you should never remove eggs is that it will only stimulate your hen to lay additional eggs to replace the ones she lost. This is a survival mechanism of biology. Should an egg become a casualty in the wild, for example, the hen is stimulated to replace that casualty with another egg to make up the difference.

If you were to remove all the eggs before the full period of incubation has been completed, which can range from 18 to 21 days, the removal will prompt the hen to lay another round of eggs. This causes serious calcium depletion in hens, since it takes enormous energy reserves, minerals and calcium to produce new eggs.

Always make certain that a fresh cuttlebone is available to supply calcium, supply plenty of calcium loaded dark green, leafy vegetables (the lettuce and cabbage family are useless in nutritional value), and try to convert your hen to a pelleted or extruded diet prior to egg-laying activities. B

LINDA S RUBIN is an avicultural writer, editor, speaker, and judge, and an aviculturist for 24 years. She is vice president of the North American Parrot Society, Inc. and public relations director of the American Federation of Aviculture, Inc. She self-published four books on cockatiel genetic and color mutations and is the author of The Ultimate Parrot Guide, and Multiple Bird Households. She can be contacted at: LSRaves@aol.com.