my birds act like they are new to life lol

Hello as some of you know I am mostly in the dog forum but I actually have a question about my cockatiels...
I've been trying to breed them for over a year but it doesn't seem to be working. I put the nesting box in their cage, after they warm up to it, they begin sitting in there and my male wolf-whistles at the female but doesn't mate with her (that I have ever seen)... My male (Crackers) loves to hump his food dish (don't ask me why), I have heard of a lot of birds doing this but this all seems so weird to me and all I can do is laugh at them. He will not, no matter what I do, mate with my female (Naomi). She acts like she is ready. A few days after I put the nesting box in, she lays egg after egg until she has 5 or 6. She knows he hasn't mated with her so why is she wasting the protein in her body, making infertile eggs??? Also, he knows he never mated with her, yet he helps her. He sits on the eggs at night and she sits on them during the day. Why do they do this every season? I have YET to see a ferile egg between my birds. Last year she laid a total of 12 eggs, not at one time of course but 6 once and 6 later... I don't understand any of this so if u can help, please reply!

 

Hi, Are you sure you have a male and female.
How old are both birds the female should be 2yrs old or older and the male should be 18months or older..

Its not uncommon for a male not to mate with the female it sometimes just takes a few breeding seasons before he gets it.

Most cockatiels dont breed in full view of anyone and usually do it in the nest box.

A female cockatiel will start laying eggs straight away once a nest has been put up as this triggers her laying mechanism (sp) even if there is 2 females together and no male even a single female when she gets broody will lay eggs...

I usually find if after 2 clutches of eggs if none are fertile i remove the next and give her a 6-12month break then i start again...

Firstly before breeding make sure she has plenty of cuttlefish bone and mineral block in her cage, Plenty of fresh fruit and vegtables daily, Dark leafy greens such as cabbage are great as they are full of vitamin E which also helps fertility.

A week before putting the nest up start them on soft foods such as boiled egg crushed up with the shell, Boiled pasta, Boiled brown rice, Wholewheat bread, Or like me you can also give a seperate dish of an egg food which is used for handfeeding and weaning chicks its called EMP or CeDe it can be given moist or dry, I give it dry i place a seperate dish in the cage and this helps keep my birds in top condition aswell as giving the chicks a great start in life with all the extra vitamins and minerals that come in the food....

If again they fail to have fertile eggs then this indicates either incompatible pairing, Or either one is infertile which again is not uncommon and to get a successful clutch you will need to get another pair and switch partners so you would put the new male with your old female and your new female with the old male....

Cockatiels lay 1 egg every 2days laying an average of 4-6 eggs, Incubation is 19-21 days which does not start until the 2nd or 3rd egg has been laid, the pair taking it in turns to sit the eggs, the male during the day the female during the night, Sometimes both will be in the nest together....


Hope this has helped you some...

Mike

 

Are you 100% that crackers is a girl? :?: