Hand raised trying to lay eggs

[dee]

Hi eveyone, my friend has 2 hand raised cockatiels who started laying eggs in their cage. My friend has now put a nestbox in but the cockatiels aren't really interested in it and still lay the occasional egg on the floor. My friend has been putting the female in the box to get her use to it as well. I've also noticed 1 of the eggs that was on the floor of the cage had been a little eaten.

Also my friend says the eggs must be fertile, as 1 that was on the floor and cracked had a blood spot in it, is this true? I always thought she actually had 2 females!!:)

[birdnerd]

Not sure how to tell if the eggs are viable or not, but if she has 2 females, that's pretty obvious! :P

Lockheed laid eggs on the floor, too. All were duds since she won't let other birds near.

Pretty quick way to tell if the 2 birds are girlies: looking for stripes and speckles on the underside of the tail. Got 'em? Girlies. (If they have a light tail, you'll have to look at it in really good light).

(:

[Shirley]

Right... sterile eggs - no blood. Often new mothers don't know what to do with a nestbox and will lay them where ever they happen to come out... on the floor, dropped from the perch even.

They will also eat them. I'd toss them.

~ Shirley

[birdnerd]

The first time Lockheed laid an egg, she did so from the top perch. It was nighttime and she and Freebie lived in my bedroom. Scared the tar outta me!

[Jean]

Right... sterile eggs - no blood. Often new mothers don't know what to do with a nestbox and will lay them where ever they happen to come out... on the floor, dropped from the perch even.

They will also eat them. I'd toss them.

~ Shirley

I've heard of that happening. I used to frequent a bird farm when I lived in CA. Once in a while they would get a young breeder that would lay eggs from the perch.