Cockitiel breeding help

[karleee]

Ok-this will be my 3rd attempt in 3 years to breed my 4 cockitiels.I have 4 birds (two F,two M) and each have paired with a mate (i have two pairs).

this is what happens:

1.nesting boxes go in from any time between summer-autumn.
2.my 2 pairs mate. (yes,i have seen them )
3.they lay their eggs.
4.male and female (both of the pairs) sit on eggs.somethimes both at the same time,sometimes in shifts.
5.I allow up to 2 and 1/2 months from a week after they were laid-until im 100% sure theyre non fertile.
6.I open them up and sure enough-no embreyo

what is going wrong? theyre only about 4-5 years old

I have now decided to remodel the avairy with natural material to make it more natural.I'm even going for a ride on my horse around the surrounding bush and on our farm to look for hollow branches to use as nestboxes.

you can see my remodeled avairy here,and my 2 pairs.: aussiebirds.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Parrots&thread=10973&page=1

Thankyou

[karleee]

please help-I really want some chicks (NOT to sell-only to add to avairy )

[vankarhi]

Hi, I don't breed cockatiels......well I do have 5 tiels and one are a pair but have only managed to get 1 live baby out of them to date.

I cannot give much advise except are you sure you have 2 males and 2 females?? Oh and the other thing I thought of is to leave the nest box's in all year that way they might actually have babies when they are ready (if they really are male and female paired up).

[avinet]

A few comments - and a few questions as usual:-

I guess you are sure of the sexes? - cockatiels are pretty easy to sex. Looking at the photo you have a definite male - the grey, and a definite female - the pearl. The other two I'm not so sure about from the photos - from what can be seen of their tails I suspect both males, they look like they are solid grey on the underside. Do they whistle like the definite grey male does?

Cockatiels can breed all year round although not all do by any means, especially in areas with cold winters such as you probably get . Peak breeding is very much in in the spring. They will usually moult ( at which time they won't breed) in early to mid summer, and some may then breed in the autumn. If you don't have boxes in with them in the spring then you may miss out, and after the moult the hen might be ready to breed but the cock may well not be in a breeding cycle, if he is still finishing a moult for instance.

How many eggs are laid at a time?

Does the hen sit on the eggs overnight and the cock during the day?

Incubation is around 21-22 days - if they haven't hatched after 4 weeks they will not.

Don't use natural logs - too hard to keep clean and often too hard to check the contents. Make nest boxes of pine or waterproof plywood, not particle board. And size should be around 20 x 20 cm base dimensions and 30 cm high with a 75 to 80 cm holes with a perch in front of the hole. from the photos they look a bit smaller in base dimension. Put a few hand fulls of pine sawdust in the bottom and pack it down with a fist.

Finally and very importantly what are you feeding them?

cheers,

Mike

[karleee]

thanks for your advice.We have sexed them,two males,two females and both are paired.(the male and female of BOTH pairs are quite often sitting in the both together )

they usually lay between 4-6 eggs.They are fed on a diet of seeds,fruit and non-toxic vegitables (well,like i would feed my birds bird-toxic foods)

[vankarhi]

I have found my cockatiels prefer to eat sprouts as well as seeds/pellets. They seem to eat more of the sprouted stuff I make than the fruit and veges I was putting in with them. They do nibble on silver beet and snow peas but not much of anything else..........but they do seem to really love the sprouts.

[avinet]

Jan 29, 2012 17:45:41 GMT 10 karleee said:

thanks for your advice.We have sexed them,two males,two females and both are paired.(the male and female of BOTH pairs are quite often sitting in the both together )

they usually lay between 4-6 eggs.They are fed on a diet of seeds,fruit and non-toxic vegitables (well,like i would feed my birds bird-toxic foods)

Both in the box for some of the time is quite common - is there always one of the parents in the box at all times especially overnight? What are the dimensions of the boxes you are using, and did they have the boxes in the spring, say August to November?

Diet should be OK - I assume they get vegies everyday?

If infertile eggs are being produced, and everything in their care is conducive to breeding, then generally the male is considered at fault - if a hen can produce eggs with a yolk then she is normally considered to be fertile. However infertile males are not common and to get two males both infertile would be possible but unlikely. So my first thoughts would be something in their care or environment that was stopping them breeding successfully.

From the wording of your initial post I suspect you are trying to breed at the wrong time - you say summer-autumn rather than the preferred spring.

cheers,

Mike

[owszat]

Hey Karleee, how did you go? Have you any luck? Regards