You are NOT going to believe this!!!! [Archive]

popcornbird

01-29-2008, 04:07 PM

First...Logan! I need your help! LOL.

I had taken the tiels to my parents' house with me yesterday, as I always do when I visit. Of course they came back home with me in the evening.

Anyhow, I got a call from my mom this morning. She was like, "GUESS WHAT." Of course, I was confused, and asked, "Uh...what??" She said, "This morning as I was going down the stairs, I saw a little white thing on the carpet, next to the tree where your birds like to sit. I went down to see what it was, and was completely shocked. It was an EGG!!!!!"

O-M-G!! :eek:

For those of you who remember Popcorn and Muffin, they have been with me since September 1999. I got them when they were both 3 months old, so that makes them about 8.5 years old today. 8.5 years and no egg...I really thought we'd never have one. I am just amazed.

I brought the tiels back to my parents' house and gave Muffin her adorable little egg. She went right up to it, shoved it under her tummy with her beak, and sat down. Wow. Popcorn is not helping at all...just guarding quietly. They have not become aggressive in the least bit...Muffin lets me touch her when she's sitting with no problem.

Now the problem is...I know nothing about eggs!

It was alone with no mommy all night because Muffin never told us she had an egg :p and left it at my mom's house. If it is fertile, is there any chance it is still alive? She's sitting on it, on and off right now.

Do we need to get a nest? Any advice? How do I transport the egg back home...It needs to be with its 'mommy'. Wow...is my baby Muffin really going to be a mommy? :eek: Do you think she will lay more eggs.

Someone, advise me quick.

caseysmom

01-29-2008, 04:10 PM

I had cockatiels and came home to an egg, I ran out and bought a nest box and my cockatiels raised quite a few babies together. It was pretty funny the mom would not always be good and sit on the egg so the dad would chase her around pecking at her, then give up and go do it himself :D

It is strange that it has taken this long, I don't know if tiels have eggs unless they have been fertilized, have you seen any ummm romance??? :o

popcornbird

01-29-2008, 04:31 PM

It is strange that it has taken this long, I don't know if tiels have eggs unless they have been fertilized, have you seen any ummm romance??? :o

Tiels can lay eggs (infertile) even if they don't have a mate, but yeah...I did see some 'romance'. :o Actually, they've been doing that every once in awhile for the past 5 years now, and nothing ever happened. I'm surprised.

Muffin is minding her own business right now. Popcorn 'just' noticed the egg and tried to sit on it, but it slipped and he became confused and left it. Let's see what happens. I sure hope they know what they're doing. :D

This is amazing.

caseysmom

01-29-2008, 04:33 PM

The nestboxes are fairly cheap and you can get one at a bird store. They have a round indention for the eggs to stay in, they are usually made from wood. I remember coming home one day and my mom was with me and we heard chirping, they had hatched, it was pretty amazing.

Logan

01-29-2008, 05:45 PM

Finally! LOL!!! :p

PCB, I'm only telling you what I think, based on my experience with Roger and Milly, nothing more. But, in our experience, where there is one egg, there is usually going to be more than one. And from what I understand, if it is fertile, even if she ignores it for a day or two, then decides to sit on it, it can hatch. 21 days is the "norm" after the egg is laid until hatching.

If you want nature to take its course, you might put a small mark on the egg with a permanent marker, just a dot, so you can keep up with which one was laid first, second, etc. Even if you don't want to allow the egg to hatch and you decide to boil it or freeze it (sorry, but that is a way to handle it), mark it, anyway, so you'll know which ones you have taken care of.

I bought a nest the first time Milly laid eggs. The problem with the nest was that I never saw her anymore. She and Roger stayed inside all of the time. She ended up abandoning those eggs, if you remember. What I ended up doing when our two clutches hatched was to put some soft bedding material in a large rubbermaid container and put the eggs in there.

I do think that if they seem serious about this, you will not want to be moving them in and out of the cage to go to your parent's house. Hopefully they won't get feisty on you, but mine were very protective anytime there were eggs around, whether they hatched or not, and didn't want to be touched.

I don't get over here much, so if you need me, email me. This computer and Pet Talk do not get along very well, unfortunately. I'm glad Rachel saw this and emailed me.

Good luck!
Logan

NoahsMommy

01-29-2008, 10:35 PM

How exciting!!!! :) :) :)

[btw, (((((((((((((((((((Poppy))))))))))))))))), its soooooo great to see you here!!!!! I've missed you so much, sweetie!!!]

You can candle the egg. I *think* if it shows NOTHING in it, its not viable. Otherwise, it'll show a little speck/specks and if you candle it every few days, the specks will grow. This is what I help my friend CiCi do with her Finch eggs.

:) CONGRATS to the Birdies at PCB's House!!!! :)

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Karen

01-29-2008, 11:46 PM

Wow! You might be gonna be a grandma? ;)

Jessika

01-30-2008, 12:18 AM

My in-laws have a male and female tiel and they lay eggs ALL the time... but none have ever hatched :(

It isn't uncommon even for a lone female to lay eggs I believe.

smokey the elder

01-30-2008, 08:04 AM

Hopefully there will be a baby 'tiel in a few weeks! :)

Genny

01-30-2008, 05:57 PM

Husky_mom

01-30-2008, 06:15 PM

I just happen to see this and let me tell you YAY!!.... well if you are wanting baby tiels anyway......

I´m on the same boat right now..... my Jack and Maui laid 7 eggs but just 3 survived..(4 were pecked I guess as they had lil punctures)...still I´m not sure if they are fertile... they mated and all but will have to wait till feb 10 or so to be sure

what was said is true hens might not sit on them until 2nd or 3rd egg are laid...so no worries there.... I´ve heard from a tiel breeder she kept one egg for almost 15 days and then adopted it out to another pair and it hatched....

and lone hens might lay eggs too if they feel the environment (food/temps/etc) is adecuate even if theres no male there :rolleyes:

perhaps they were just "romancing" for the fun of it :p ...... now they just got serious ;)

one more thing.... do you have pics of the happy couple??... I love to guess what the offspring might be like :P

Genny

01-30-2008, 06:24 PM

one more thing.... do you have pics of the happy couple??... I love to guess what the offspring might be like :P

yes!!! pics!!! that would be good ;)

popcornbird

01-31-2008, 01:48 PM

Well, I have an update, but its not a good one. :(

The tiels still weren't sitting on the egg that much, but they were once in awhile. It was so cute seeing Muffin roll it between her legs and just sit.

Last night, I noticed their 'nest area' looked a little dirty, so I decided to change the newspaper. I picked up the egg, and put it in a small plate on the side. As I was cleaning, Muffin came and rolled it a little. The egg went crashing down and broke. :(:(:(

I could not believe it, but I was crying. I felt terrible that she lost her first egg in 8.5 years, and can't help but feel its my fault, because I moved it to clean up. :( Muffin looked devastated, and that made me cry even more. She was looking for it last night. :(

I've been feeding her cuttlebone, spinach, parsley, and carrots, so that she has enough calcium in case she lays another one. Do you think there's a possiblity that she will have more?

I know this was not meant to be, but it still breaks my heart. The little egg was so cute, and even after it broke, it had the cutest little yolk and egg white. I don't know if it was fertile or not...it was only two days old.

I'll let you all know if she lays another one. Thanks for the advice everyone. The tiels seem to be playing around again...so I hope they're not too upset. Should I leave the 'nest area', so that she has a covered/soft place to lay an egg, incase she has some more? I keep debating with whether or not I should keep it. A part of me things she might need it. Another part of me thinks it will keep reminding her of the lost egg.

:(

caseysmom

01-31-2008, 01:54 PM

Oh that is sad. I am sure they will quickly bounce back. When I had my tiels I also had a parrot, he got over and tore the beak of the tiel male, the tiel male was always agressive. Since he was injured the female would not leave his side, she even laid an egg from high up on a ladder and it broke, her honey was just more important to her.

The male got even more agressive when they had babies, he even latched onto my hand while I was cleaning the cage and I had a hard time getting him off.

Husky_mom

01-31-2008, 02:01 PM

actually eggs are laid one day yes one don´t one yes one don´t....

so you should be expecting another one soon....

perhaps even sooner as when a female looses an egg she automatically lays another one to fill the "blank".... that´s why they say don´t toss the eggs if you don´t want babies as the hen will produce more and more and that is ot healthy...

just keep feeding her what you are currently feeding so she doesn´t depletes calcium adn they should be ok....

fertile eggs should show some veins when candled (in a dark room place a bright flashlight beneath) I tried doing it with mine, but either I screwed when looking or hey are unfertile as I did not see anything :( ...

lil yolks are way too cute!!.. I know as I had to throw a few eggs due to punctures and I couldn´t help but look inside... it seemed so tiny and cute!!

good luck... and ((hugs))

Logan

01-31-2008, 09:16 PM

I'm sorry about the egg, PCB. :( I would leave the nesting material for her. Seriously, I hope she'll get over the egg laying thing and you'll have your happy, sweet couple back.

Logan

popcornbird

02-06-2008, 11:51 AM

Muffin laid another egg last night, about 1 week after the last one. It is so cute. I'm getting really excited. She's been sitting on this one like a devoted little mommy, while Popcorn guards the 'nest'. I'm hoping God blesses us with a cute little baby tiel. I will need some advice on how to discourage them from laying after this clutch. They've never had any eggs for 8 and a half years, so this is new to me. Perhaps they won't have more later, but...if this egg is fertile and it ends up hatching, along with another sibling or two (maybe), how do I discourage them from future laying. I think one group of 'kids' would be enough for our little household. :p

BTW Logan, I still have my sweet couple. :p Neither one of them is behaving 'different' in the least bit. They're as loving as they always were...just have a bit of a responsibility now. ;)

Husky_mom

02-06-2008, 11:59 AM

one way to discourage it is by providing more cover time.... the dark longer periods may do the trick along with no nest-like stuff inside cage....

I will try give more in depth advice later.... but for now YAY!!! Hope the lil eggie makes it this time....

caseysmom

02-06-2008, 01:14 PM

Yes when mine starting breeding I had to find good homes and it got stressful, I left one daughter in the cage too long and her and dad mated, I got her a new cage pretty fast.

Logan

02-06-2008, 04:27 PM

I figure you have gotten my email by now. Good luck to you!!!! :p

popcornbird

02-06-2008, 04:59 PM

I figure you have gotten my email by now. Good luck to you!!!! :p

Actually, I didn't. I wonder why. :confused: Can you try resending it please?

popcornbird

02-13-2008, 01:26 PM

Dear EveryBirdie,

Tis iz Muffin Birdie speakin. I am nowz sittin on twee (3) eggies. My hubby, Popcorn, doesn wanna hewp. He sitz for 2 minutz and wuns awayz. He just wants to pway wid mommy. Hewe I am, a faitful wittle Mommy. Could you all pwease tell my mommy not to panicz? I'm 8 yeaws old and tink its 'bout time I pwayed to God to bestow Mommyhood on me. Afterall, weading about all da happy hooman mommies on PT made me tink mommyhood is gweat.

I'm a tweet wittle birdie. I let mommy petz me while I sit on me eggies. Popcorn welcomes family hands in da nest too. Mommy is scawed of touchin da eggs after the first one broke, but she isn't scawed of touchin me. Mommy now believes I'm da sweetest birdie in the world. No bitin pre-egg. No bitin while sittin on the eggs. No bitin anytime. I just wished Popcorn would hewp. Sometimes,, my wittle birdie bum getz tired of sittin. Mommy thinks I look weally cute all puffed up sittin on my eggs. Deres twee now. How many do you tink I'll get.

Meanwhile, Popcornz runnin 'round da house singin. He may not be hewpin, but he sure is happy.

Ps. Dear Logan, I'm stiww a sweet birdie.

Luv,
Muffin Birdie

caseysmom

02-13-2008, 01:44 PM

Muffin, Congratulations on your upcoming motherhood, I hope you will be blessed with 3 healthy babies, and you know mr. popcorn will just have to help when all three mouths are crying for food.

Husky_mom

02-13-2008, 01:51 PM

congrats lil mommy-to-be...

my Maui laid 7 eggs last time.... only 3 survived.... and none were fertile :( .... now shes on second round and has laid just one so far....

I´ve heard the average is between 4-7 eggs... I´ve also heard of one that laid 20 :eek: but it was an extreme case...

my Jakc was like popcorn too!! how funny those daddy´s are :p

popcornbird

02-13-2008, 03:37 PM

my Jakc was like popcorn too!! how funny those daddy´s are :p

Yeah, they think the mommy needs to do all the hard work. :p I think domestic birdies get a little spoiled...at least the little boys do, cause naturally daddy tiels are supposed to help mommy tiels. I'm hoping and praying we get some healthy, beautiful babies from this clutch. Our future plan depends on how many we have. My hubby wants to keep one exclusively for himself...and he wants to train it to be his shoulder birdie. He he. If we have two, I'm pretty sure we'll keep them. More than that...we may have to give a few babies away. We'll see. My dad keeps telling me to give them all to him. :p

Husky_mom

02-13-2008, 03:57 PM

My hubby wants to keep one exclusively for himself...and he wants to train it to be his shoulder birdie. He he. If we have two, I'm pretty sure we'll keep them. More than that...we may have to give a few babies away. We'll see. My dad keeps telling me to give them all to him. :p

I want to see if this second clutch has any babies too... as I plan on the same hehe.... my birdies just want me for the food :p... I want a shoulder one sooo bad!! ;)

Logan

02-13-2008, 05:31 PM

Are you getting my emails? I emailed you again today to tell you that it must be contagious because as of yesterday, we have an egg, too. She is totally ignoring it. In fact, when I went in there to change the paper this morning, I couldn't find the egg and it was down underneath the other paper.

Good luck! No eggs will hatch at this house if I can help it. :o

IRescue452

02-13-2008, 05:49 PM

Congrats to the proud mama bird! I hope all goes well. I'm sure the little practice with the first one was what they needed for the second time around.
Would fooling them with fake eggs work when you don't want them to have a clutch? Some birds are too smart for that, but other, well.

finn's mom

02-13-2008, 10:12 PM

I just read through the updates from you, Popcornbird, from the start of this thread. What an experience, it must be an exciting time in your household. Maybe they were just waiting for you to get married before they started thinking of having kids. ;) I hope they have fun with their eggs!

wolf_Q

02-13-2008, 10:49 PM

Aww I hope some of the eggs will hatch and you'll have some healthy tiel babies. Keep us updated (and we'd like some pics too ;) ).

popcornbird

02-14-2008, 02:02 PM

Okay, some pictures of the tiels after I don't know how many years!

Hi Everybirdie! Its me, Mama Muffin!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/h12345/DSCF2072.jpg

*Gasp* We caught Popcorn HELPING!!! (It was just for two minutes, but still :p)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/h12345/DSCF2103.jpg

My cutie pies
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/h12345/DSCF2113.jpg

Mama Muffin
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/h12345/DSCF2127.jpg

Papa Popcorn and the 3 Muskateers (he he he)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/h12345/DSCF2128.jpg

Husky_mom

02-14-2008, 02:05 PM

what cuties!!!

is dad a lutino pearl?? if so expect lutino girls and the possibility of pearl boys... as momma is pearl too, which means pearly babies can be boys too not just the girls....YAY!!...

popcornbird

02-14-2008, 02:12 PM

what cuties!!!

is dad a lutino pearl?? if so expect lutino girls and the possibility of pearl boys... as momma is pearl too, which means pearly babies can be boys too not just the girls....YAY!!...
As far as I know, dad is all lutino. At least he looks all lutino! I don't know what his parents were. Muffin is a pearl, definitely. Do you think there's any possibility of getting pearl pieds? I think it will be interesting to see what colors the babies turn out to be. I don't know if the eggs are fertile...how can you tell? When I look with a flashlight, I can see something inside. I assume its the yolk, but my flashlight is dim and I can't really tell. I also stopped checking...I don't want to disturb her. Does anyone know what I'm supposed to see if they're fertile? If they're not fertile, what would I see?

Ginger's Mom

02-14-2008, 03:20 PM

Good job, Mama Muffin. And you still look beautiful. So how soon should we know?

Husky_mom

02-14-2008, 03:40 PM

dad looks pearl to me... but it could be the light... his wings show a pattern of more bright yellow and them pale yellow

here´s another example
http://www.tieltreasures.com/Mutation/Pearl%20Lutino%20183.jpg

and if mom/dad are pieds or split to pieds there is a chance in getting pieds...
my Maui and Jack are bth visual pieds (not split) and 100% their babies will be pieds...

in your case baby boys are going to be split pearl but if dad is pearl too then you would get visual pearls (boys and girls).. if dad is the only pearl (visual or split) then girls are going to be visual pearls but not boys..... but here mom is also a visual so.....let´s see how many you get....

pearl lutinos (www.tieltreasures.com/gallery.htm)

as for fertility checking..... it´s hard if you don´t know what to look for... I tried but didn´t worked out.... anyway mine weren´t fertile LOL

you should see them "clear" just a yellow tint (yolk)... as it matures about day3-5 you should start seeing some veins but you do need a strong flashlight and be in a dark room....(just like if you placed a flashlight under your hand and try to see through it and you see all red...)

too early to tell or unfertile egg (depends on time of candling)
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/3752/unfertkv9.jpg

fertile and developing baby
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2720/fertxi1.jpg

this are the spider web you should see (pic is in blk/wht)
http://images.newsquest.co.uk/image.php?id=404525&type=full

this shows development by day on doves, but it´s pretty much the same
eggs (http://www.internationaldovesociety.com/RNColorPics/fertileeggs.htm)

Pawsitive Thinking

02-14-2008, 03:48 PM

See what happens when you don't check a thread regularly???

This is great! Good luck precious birdies

K9karen

02-16-2008, 12:14 AM

It isn't uncommon even for a lone female to lay eggs I believe.

I had a lone female parakeet who laid a total of 21 unfertized eggs over the years. She never sat on them, they scared her to death. Everytime she sat on my mom's finger and mom spoke to her, she'd go into a trance and then, days later, out came an egg! My mom tried desperately to ignore her, but she'd land on my mom's shoulder and..same thing. Unfortunately, I learned too late about the calcium and gave it to her too late.

PCB.. I hope you become a grammy soon! That would be so :cool:

sirrahved

02-16-2008, 04:55 PM

In cockatiels, the egg color also varies slightly from fertile vs. non-fertile eggs. Non-fertile eggs tend to have a slightly more peachy/pink appearance. Fertile look more white.

Hoping you have wee ones on the way!

popcornbird

02-26-2008, 11:58 AM

Update:

I'm pretty sure the eggs are all infertile. :( I've candeled them several times, and until now, all I see is an egg yolk, and air sac. There have been no changes in the eggs at all in all these weeks. Still just an egg yolk...If they were fertile, I'm pretty sure we'd be hearing some peeping by now. I am disappointed, but its okay. God has His Will in the Creation of new beings, and if His Will isn't there, then it isn't going to happen, and I'm fine with that. He knows what's best.

Now the problem is, Muffin is still sitting on them. This past weekend, she was off them the entire day, playing and running around the house for hours. She was still sitting on them in the night. For some reason, she started sitting again since yesterday. What's up with that?

I don't want to take them away too early and cause her to lay more. When is the right time? Will she eventually 'get it' and just abandon them on her own?

Logan

02-26-2008, 12:05 PM

Just leave them in there. She'll ignore them and give up, eventually, if they aren't fertile. Only when she does ignore them, take them out. Otherwise, just like you thought, she'll lay more.

Milly has laid 6 this go around. :( The first two, she ignored, so I got rid of them, and she promptly laid 4 more. :eek:

Husky_mom

02-26-2008, 03:15 PM

my Maui had infertile eggs also.... they seemed pure yolk after 20 days of sitting on them... so after a few days she had ignored them I tossed them.... later she laid one more egg, which I knew it was a replacement one because she only laid that one......

after like 10 days she started laying again and now we have the replacement one and 3 others... which might be fertile this time as they have been mating in between eggs laid........ hopefully this time we have babies.....

just make sure she replenishes her calcium....and offer dark greens and cuttlebone