Author: Momma Bird

Breeding Cockatiels At Home

If you are thinking of breeding cockatiels at home, you need to be 100 percent certain that you know this bird species down pat. For starters, you need to first invite cockatiels into your home as pet birds for several years before even going down that road. Too many people make the mistake of buying a cockatiel pair only to see them become parent and then lose the little baby because they don’t know what they do.

It is possible to breed cockatiels at home for the sake of having a new family addition, but for long term breeding, this isn’t recommended.

As a long term owner of cockatiels I know too well how much attention and work they require from you as their surrogate parent. They are in fact much like real babies and need constant mothering and petting. The number one reason for buying a cockatiel should always be your love for these amazing birds. At least I hope it is.

If you end up with a pair and they show signs of nesting, it is best to let them get on with it. You can help this process by providing a store bought nesting box, or else you can give them a clean cardboard box about 30 x 30 x 20 cm.

Set the box somewhere in a quiet place within your home. You want to make sure the bird will be undisturbed and away from draft. The room should have fresh air, but not too cold and if there is humidity, even better as this helps the birds in the breeding process.

I usually place a few paper tissues within the box to give them nesting material they can shred apart. Coconut fiber (from your local pet shop) and pine shavings also work. As long as they are from untreated pine.

During breeding times it is important to supply your birds with enough calcium. You can do this with a cuttlefish (which should be in the bird house at all times anyway) and calcium drops that can be added to their drinking water. Further to this you want to provide ample nutrition as this will be passed on to the baby birds. You can learn more about cockatiel diet here. If your birds end up malnourished, your babies could suffer and die.

The bird hen will lay around 3-6 eggs, spaced out every two days. You can rely on that this pretty much like clockwork. Her vent will get bigger and in those times she needs to be handled with care because the last thing you want to do is break the egg inside. After she laid the egg she will usually get fertilized by the male bird again as she can only carry the one egg within at any one time.

Exactly 21 days after the hen laid her first egg, her first baby cockatiel will be born. Consequently this will be repeated according to egg amount and every other day until they have all hatched. Some babies die soon after bird and some eggs might even be rejected during breeding. Don’t be alarmed by this as it is nature’s way to tell you something wasn’t quit right.

It is sad, but we have to accept nature for what it is.

About the author:
Pet birds have always been the love of Momma Bird’s life. She uses her knowledge on the popular Pet Bird Care website.

Related Posts

  1. Cockatiel Breeding: Expert Tips for Breeding Cockatiels
  2. Taming Cockatiels-3 Facts to Know About Cockatiels Before Taming Them!
  3. Cockatiels as pets!
  4. An Introduction And Small Guide To Proper Care For Cockatiels
  5. Bringing Your New Cockatiel Home

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Filed under: Articles - Cockatiels

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!