How to Get Your Cockatiel to Stop Laying Eggs

It is interesting to note when a Cockatiel is alone in the cage, suddenly starts to lay eggs. At first you are amazed, and feel it looks so cute, Then the bird lays on the egg, as if hatching it. They also make cooing sounds while sitting. They then release a loose smelly discharge, that seems to be the afterbirth. Because they sit on the egg, they do not relieve themselves for a few days, but then shoot it out. There seems to be a lot of different people saying different things about getting the Cockatiel to stop laying eggs, but nothing really works, until you can find a method that works for your particular bird, in your own home. These steps should help you to find the method that works for you and your bird.

Steps
- Make sure she is on a healthy diet to make up for all the calcium and protein she will be losing in making the eggs. The proper seed/pellet mixture you give her, should be enough, but including lots of fruits, veggies, and healthy people food is a good start. Some birds do not eat anything else but the seed, and those birds should get some type of calcium supplement. As long as your bird continues to feed, she should be fine.

- Watch to see where the egg is. The bird usually lays the eggs from her perch, so it will be in the corner of the cage. The bird will probably want to sit on top of the egg, or near it for awhile. When doing this, do not remove the egg or that will encourage her to lay more. After about 25 days of this, when she walks away from the egg, you can safely remove the egg.

- Exercise and activity can stop the egg laying. This has been proven, if you give your cockatiel tasks or things to do, such as training the bird to fly around the room and then return to the cage or you, or allowing her to forage for her food by placing it in different areas of her cage rather that just one bowl; it will discourage her from laying eggs. Play with her, perch her on your shoulder when you do the dishes. Cockatiels are fun to play with and teach things to.

- Cockatiels begin to lay eggs as "their Spring" (not always actual spring) approaches, as the days get longer, as there is more moisture in the air and abundant food. Often owners artificially create the ideal breeding environment unknowingly. Here are a few tips to counteract the environmental signals that say, "it's time to breed".

a) Creating artificial Winter by covering or moving your birdcage to total darkness to give your cockatiel a minimum of 12 to 14 hours bedtime (darkness) each night. Even if she is night-terror sufferer (which is unlikely for a good breeder) try to minimize the brightness of the night-light or even try turning it off. When the breeding behavior stops stick to 12 hrs darkness per night.

b) Dietary fat is by far the biggest breeding trigger and branded cockatiel seed mix is usually the culprit. Give only 1 teaspoon of seed mix per day (that's being generous) and make sure there are absolutely no sunflower seeds in the mix because these are especially fatty.

c) Also reorganizing things in her cage can throw her off a breeding cycle -changing the toys around in the cage or moving perches and bowls around

d) Another big mistake people make is arousing their tiels by giving them not just head-rubs, but body rubs. Whatever you do never rub her down the back because this feels just like copulation to tiels and will bring on a cycle instantly

e) Block up any "nesting" sites that she finds if you let her fly around during the day. These can be the dark spaces under the couch, or in a cabinet, etc.

f) Mix up her daily routine: For example - if she comes into the shower with you then try to change shower times if you can, or decrease the showers for a while since any kind of excess moisture in combination with other factors can encourage breeding.

g) Do not over heat her area temperatures above 75 F degrees / 24 C degrees combined with these other points will put her in the mood. This is why most cockatiels start laying when we really turn our heat on in the winter.

Tips
- Place them on your shoulder as you walk around the house, having lunch or cleaning the kitchen. They enjoy companionship, and get bored easily being all alone all the time in a shut cage. Hold them on your finger.

- Buy her different bird toys and switch them around often in her cage,There are many in the pet shop. Get her treats also, to keep her feeding different and healthy.

- Remove all mirrors. And if you catch her humping a toy, or making squeaky noises around it, remove that too. She may be even more cranky because you took away her "boyfriend" but she'll get over it.

Warnings
- Watch to make sure there is no bloody discharge. If there is, contact your local veterinarian. They will know how to advise you.

- 'Never ever push her belly! You could break the egg inside her and kill her!

- The normal number of eggs they lay is 5-9. If she lays anymore than that, she could be in danger from calcium depletion and exhaustion. If she is laying every 3 weeks she might be seriously calcium deficient and should be assessed by a specialist avian vet, who may diagnose that she needs supplemental drops for a while. Please don't buy calcium drops to self medicate her because if she is not calcium deficient you can do more harm than good

- Don't take the eggs away. She will just lay more until her motherly nature is satisfied.