crossley@oakhill.sps.mot.com (John Crossley) (04/06/91)
HI! HELP! HELP! My cockatiel is laying eggs but not sitting on them - She has laid 2 thus far and after #1 was left in the box she only sporadically sat on it. I have taken both eggs out of the box and have them set in a sort of home made incubator with a temperature of 87 degrees, Is this going to work? or should i put them back in the box? is there some way to get Cookie[the tiel] to become more maternal. Maybe I should just let her go ahead and Lay her eggs and hope next year she will be more likely to hatch them - she is 4 years old and this would be her first clutch. She does occasionally go in the box and poke them a bit but does not keep them warm for long. Any suggestions? please! thanks for any help John Crossley
hubler@galaxy.lerc.nasa.gov (Dale Hubler) (04/06/91)
In article <1991Apr5.173501.1442@oakhill.sps.mot.com> crossley@oakhill.sps.mot.com (John Crossley) writes: >HI! > >HELP! HELP! My cockatiel is laying eggs but not sitting >on them - She has laid 2 thus far and after #1 was left >in the box she only sporadically sat on it. > >I have taken both eggs out of the box and have them set >in a sort of home made incubator with a temperature of >87 degrees, Is this going to work? or should i put them >back in the box? is there some way to get Cookie[the tiel] >to become more maternal. Maybe I should just let her go ahead >and Lay her eggs and hope next year she will be more likely >to hatch them - she is 4 years old and this would be her first >clutch. She does occasionally go in the box and poke them >a bit but does not keep them warm for long. > >Any suggestions? please! > >thanks for any help >John Crossley It sounds as though you have an inexperienced cockatiel. They may set sporadically on the first egg. The egg can take some bit of cooling and still be viable. If you really want to breed the bird, and wish for her to raise the babies, then you should avoid interfering. It may cost you a couple of clutches, but it is part of her learning process. She will learn from the failure of the eggs to hatch that she must sit on them better. Cockatiels are great breeders and parents, but sometimes they are slow learners. I think you may have acted a bit too soon in removing the eggs, try placing them back in the box if she sets on the third and fourth she is likely to lay. You may get lucky and hatch the eggs even with such a crude set up. This is not meant to criticize, I have managed this once in a similar situation. By removing the eggs you are interfering with their breeding instincts and that is the best thing going for them. Even if you hatch the eggs, will you be able to raise chicks from such an early age? Have patience and you will succeed. If you wish to have success sooner, consider additional pairs. some are good breeders, some are not. Wishing you success. Dale Hubler . -- Dale A. Hubler -- Sverdrup Technology -- (216) 977-7014 hubler@galaxy.lerc.nasa.gov Try Eggo brand Common Sense Oat Bran frozen waffles, it's the health food of the 90's
mm@lectroid.sw.stratus.com (Michael Mahler) (04/08/91)
Forgive this blatantly obvious question, but do you have a MALE? -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ What's said above has nothing at all to do with what's said by the company I work for.