Lost male female on eggs

[glenda]

I am in real trouble, I have cockatiels and last night I went to change the food and water of the breeding pair who are away from the main aviary and the male flew out.
The other tiels called to him while he flew around the house then all went quiet and no sounds, I walked every where but I can't find him.
I don't know what to do about her and her eggs, do I leave her or do I move her into the main aviary? Do I put another male in with her?
How long will see sit on the eggs, will we loose them?
Please can anyone help me.

[Angela]

I can't give you any advice about this problem.....I'm really sorry to hear that your male has gone missing. Where on earth could he be?
I hope everything works out alright......fingers crossed for you.

[Admin]

dont panic too much Glenda, we have a good few breeders on here and as soon as they see your post im sure they will be able to give you sound advice.

Im sorry i cant help more, i breed Kak's and Budgies, never bred tiels before.

Sal x

[bushhousearts]

has he come back yet?

[Scully]

aww Brenda, how horrible for that to happen, is this your first time breeding Tiels?

I am no help im afraid, but im sure someone will be.

Have you spotted him flying around yet?

[maggie56]

Brenda, do you have other brooding tiel hens? If you do, you could transfer this hen's eggs to them, and allow them to incubate them. That would take the stress of this hen.
She would be stressing, as the male usually sits the eggs through the day, while she feeds herself, and at night, he comes out, and feeds himself, while she sits on them. The cock also will feed her while she's in the nestbox.

If you don't have other nesting pairs, then it's a bit more difficult. If you have a single cock, you could try either putting him with her (she may reject him completely) and see if he will help feed them. Or, (and I would do this myself, and have) take the box out, and dispose of these eggs. I know that is sad, but the hen would be stressing anyway, and put a single cock in with her for a few weeks for them to bond. If they do bond, then introduce the nestbox again, and see what happens.

Just my thoughts. I hope it all goes ok, and the cock comes back.

[bushhousearts]

my males seem to do more of the chick rearing than the females as well, so they are needed in the whole scheme of things.

[budgeover]

can't help you here im afraid. Im sure its still possible for the female to raise the chick alone though. Make sure you provide her with plenty of fresh food and water.

[luvmybirds]

I am afraid i would have to agree with Maggie. Leaving the female to incubate by herself would be detrimental to her health especially incubating by herself as she would be more inclined to put her efforts into incubating her eggs and not getting the proper nutrition needed and hence could starve to death. She could also fret for the male and this could make her quite sick. If the eggs were hatched I would say no problems she would cope with lots of soft foods. The males do incubate during the day so even if she did leave the nest box during the day to feed, chances are without proper incubation the eggs could end up DIS. Trying to put another male that hasn't bonded to her yet would also create problems. I have gone through this and unfortunately had to make the decision to get rid of the eggs as I didn't have another pair brooding at the time. For me it was more important to save the hen rather than any unborn chicks as you can always start again with another male. Hope all goes well for you and sorry to hear you lost your male tiel. Cheers Anna

[glenda]

Thank you to everyone for your advise and well wishes.
At the moment she is coming out though the day having something to eat and drink, stretching and then going back in.
I am still not sure what to do I like what Anna has said and this might be the best way to go, I was hoping that she might settle a little if I just left her a lone with her eggs.

Should I put her into the main aviary after I decide what to do with the eggs or leave her in the breeding cage I have minius the nest and add a new male?

I feel so sorry for her and only what to do the best without stressing her more.

thanks everyone for your best wishes, advise and good luck.

Glenda

[luvpurplebudgies]

im so sorry this has happen best of luck with what ever you decied

[luvmybirds]

Aaawww Glenda it is always so hard to know what the best thing is to do regarding whether to let her sit on the eggs or not and I know I sounded like all gloom and doom but all things must be taken into consideration. By observing my breeding tiels here, the females when she is out spends a lot of time with their heads in the seeds and soft foods to make up for brooding all night without tucker so a quick in and out during the day would not be supplying the food she needs for energy. Tiels are very accepting of new partners especially around breeding season. If you do decide to take the eggs away, leave her in the aviary she is in, take the nest box away and introduce her new man to her. Within a couple of weeks, hopefully they should be preening each other. I have had tiels here that I put together for the first time and it seems as soon as you put in a nest box, well they get very amorous with each other and before you know it you have eggs again It is a very hard decision to make but if you decide to let her sit on the eggs, please make sure that you put a liquid calcium and D supplement in her water. Lets us know what you decide. Cheers Anna