Breeding Cockatiels

Cockatiels are known to be trendy pet birds. They can easily be tamed if fed by their parents and become very trustful and loving if they are handfed by humans. The difference between the cockatiel males and females is that the males can speak and the females are most likely lovable. Either way, both genders make excellent pets.

They are very simple to breed. Breeding means you have to be open to the fact that there are lots of things that can go wrong, however, if your birds have a good There are several things that can go wrong, but if you have your birds on a fit diet and if you have waited until they are right of age, you will surely end up with good baby cockatiels.

When breeding cockatiels, you must know that the hen’s age must be between eighteen and twenty four months before even setting them up with a nestbox. Although they may be triumphant at a young age, they are more open to more problems, such as babies being unhealthy and abandoned or eggbinding which is very dangerous for the female cockatiel.

If the couple birds are well-matched and once they see that they have all the food that they can have, they may start egg laying in the first two weeks, although it usually takes two months before they start laying eggs. The normal clutch laid are four to six eggs and they are laid every second day in breeding.

Breeding cockatiels means that they share incubation of eggs and as soon as they start – right after the second or the third egg, it is normal to see the couple in their nestbox at that same moment. The usual scenario sometimes is one bird would be sitting on the eggs while the other is just sitting beside, and at times – they both sit on one egg. If one of the birds is eating, the other bird takes all the eggs.

The eggs usually hatch eighteen days after the start of incubation. The babies are the weirdest yet funny looking chicks that one will ever see. Imagine a bird with bulging closed eyes, long neck and are standing straight up. They are commonly fuzzy and cute for the first few days, but eventually become bald and pink.

The parents usually feed their babies well if they are fed well with abundant supply of healthy food. Ensure that when breeding cockatiels, they will never run out of feeds and make sure that they have different feeds to choose from.

You can check the babies daily and handle them especially when the parents are tame. They must have good full crops and are growing everyday. This will give you the assurance that they will be tame when the time comes for them to leave their parents.

Breeding cockatiels also mean hand feeding the babies and the best time to do this is when the birds are two weeks old. Make sure you know how to hand feed your baby cockatiels. If you don’t know yet – ask your veterinarian or someone who has experience hand feeding. Watch how it’s done before you try doing it yourself. A lot of babies have died because of inexperience in hand feeding.

At the age of eight to twelve weeks – the babies will start weaning – another thing that you should know. You should know that not all babies wean at the same time and you should let them wean at their own time and speed.

It takes commitment and patience in breeding birds of any kind, and cockatiels are not an exception. Take time to learn about breeding and for sure, you will have healthy babies that will be added to your blossoming family.