My family has had 4 wonderful cockatiels for about 15 years. Sadly, one of them died today and naturally, we are all very upset. I have since been looking for information on the web regarding these birds and found your site with delight.
One thing that has always made us wonder is the fact that although each bird is female, they continue to mate with each other and lay eggs. My own bird even jumps on top of his mate (another female) and tries to copulate with her.
They have been laying eggs for 7 months of the year for the past 5 years and this seems to be an awful lot to me. We have tried various methods of dissuading them from doing so but none works.
My question is, is this behavior normal for 4 females and is it harming them to lay eggs so much? Also, we are worried that the mate of the bird that died will pine and wondered if this is a problem among cockatiels and if there is anything we can do to ease her anxiety.
All the birds have full run of the house (and have done for most of the 15 years we have had them).
Yours with thanks and appreciation,
Dale C.
Dale,
It is quite common for a hen to attempt breeding with another hen. Usually
no harm results, however, if they are laying eggs, that can deplete their
calcium. We'd continue to try and discourage their breeding attempts while
always having the best sources of calcium available for their consumption.
Cuttlebone and/or mineral block work very well as do some fresh vegetables
like collard greens and turnip greens.
With there being still other birds around, one bird's passing probably won't result in any long term grieving. We're sorry for your loss.