Sorry, I can't help since I have never bred tiels. How is your bird today? Hope she's over her droopiness.

Maybe someone who can help will see this if we keep sending this thread to the top.

Annie

This is tough to respond to, because there are so many variables that can be affecting her.  It is terribly hard on birds to raise young. Not so much the egg-laying, but what comes after that.  Incubation time and then especially hard on them when they are feeding babies.  They really need to have superior diet during breeding years, with vitamin and mineral supplementation.  If not, they will get through breeding seasons, but their bodies will repeatedly be depleted to a point of near exhaustion.

 

  I would think that after 10 years of breeding, she is probably at the end of her productive life in that regard, but should still have several years left to  live without breeding.  If she is acting noticeably tired, she should be seen by a vet.  It may be something as simple as a bacterial infection.

 

I think that if she is in such bad condition, she should be removed from the nest and dealt with entirely separately from the mate.  Especially after the first babies hatch..  He may be able to care for the babies alone, if given an abundance of fresh foods.  You should be ready to take over feeding entirely, or at least doing supplemental feedings throughout the day, from the day the first one hatches.

 

 

I suppose a person could ask *Well, what about the babies?*   And I guess that all depends on how this pair and offspring fit into your life.  If they are part of a bigger breeding program and are little more than baby machines, then the babies would be the primary concern.  But if this female is a cherished pet, her health is what matters.

Phyliss, I am moving your comment to GoodBird to the correct topic so all of the info stays in one place. You can reply to anyone who answers you by clicking on Reply and writing in that box.

Annie

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Phyliss

Sent: 9/16/2005 10:43 AM

Thank you for your response to my previous post on breeding tiels.   This pair are pets that were given to me when their previous owners could no longer keep them.  I would prefer that they not breed as I did not want to get into that business.  When they have clutches and the eggs hatch I give away the babies to very good homes.    As of this morning there are 7 eggs.  One is damaged so it will be removed.  Two look black so I know they are not going to hatch.  The other 4 look fine.    When I  seperated them for 3 months last year so she could recoop I had to keep the cages next to each other because he screamed constantly.  I am seriously thinking of seperating them for good after this batch has hatched so that they can no longer breed.   I usually wind up feeding the babies several times a day in addition to the parents.  Actually the father is an actual care giver.  I feed both the babies and the parents a very healthy diet.    Again, thanks for your help.

All the birds I have given away are doing well.  We have seperated the birds and put another female who is 1 year old in with him.  She is ignoring him.  She is one that has a huge attitude.  She gives him the I can't be bothered look.

 

My female is now doing splendidly.  She looks so much better and is eating and sleeping well.

 

Thank you ever so much for your assistance.

What wonderful news. I was so nervous that she wasn't doing well. Maybe she just needed a break from setting eggs a feeding babies. Actually she probably needs permanent retirement after 10 years of all that work.

So glad you came back to let us know she is doing well.

Annie

Well what I do is let them breed and aftre I finally pull them I will let them stay together fro a short while then usually the male starts with feather plucking on the female so I pull him and put him in a seperate cage. I wait for about 10  mos then let them be together again and they start breeding like the next day. They are really good breeders and within 3 weeks have 5 eggs and nesting. This way I know the female is getting plenty of recoup time because she looks much older than Woodrow who is about 11 years old now I have no idea how old she is got her from a neighbor and they took to each other right away. They didn't start breeding until I set a house in the cage for them then they knew what to do now I don't even have to set the house in they just automatically start breeding I usually wait about 8 days before I set the house in the cage by then she is getting ready to lay eggs.   Dianne