What gender is this year old Cockatiel?

[Nambroth]

Okay, my mistake then... I put the nest in her cage and now I guess I should take it out? She hatched somewhere around December 2010, so almost a year and 3 months. And about the calcium.... She won't touch a single one of the mineral blocks nor cuttlebones! Only her brother does. So, are there any other calcium sources for birds? I mean, I know fruits and stuff are great, but I don't know how she'll eat the CALCIUM stuff that I provided her with. Her name is Murphy (Ha ha) so I don't know if I should keep calling her that or not. But, I have a female Mama cat named Toby, who, again, was told as a male, and is actually a female. And I'm stuck with Murphy. I'll keep it Murphy, and then everyone will see that I'm clearly bad with genders. Ha ha

Is there a reason you are providing her with extra calcium or minerals? Is she deficient? If not, then a balanced diet* will provide her with what she needs! The only exception is if she is laying eggs-- she may well need more calcium then.
It's sort of an old fashioned approach to always provide calcium and mineral blocks to caged parrots and actually stems from research done on chickens. Back, many decades ago, the only research into domestic birds was done on chickens-- because chickens are a utility bird and thus the money was spent on research into them.That knowledge was then applied to the parrot world-- keeping parrots commonly in the household as a pet is a fairly recent trend as compared to keeping chickens-- and actually published in many parrot-raising books. This information was an okay basis and better than nothing, but ground dwelling galliformes (chickens) have much different nutritional requirements than most of our parrots do.

A balanced diet for cockatiels is no more than 40% seed, with the rest being veggies, cooked or sprouted legumes, etc. Fruit is okay too in small amounts but it's high in sugar. Here's some reading http://www.rationalparrot.com/diet.html

 

[Chicks & Chickens]

Hmm...... I actually wasn't ever expecting eggs, so it would be a lot less work if she didn't...
That does sound very stressful, but if that happens (egg laying) I'll use my Cockatiel knowledge to figure it out. Ha ha And I didn't ever hear about her family's egg laying/health history... But I did ask why she was giving them away and she said that she had way too many birds from her mother (it was a lady) and that she couldn't take care of all of them. I asked if they were sick or anything and she said no. But about the egg thing, let's just wait and see what happens.

- Chicks & Chickens

 

[Chicks & Chickens]

Is there a reason you are providing her with extra calcium or minerals? Is she deficient? If not, then a balanced diet* will provide her with what she needs! The only exception is if she is laying eggs-- she may well need more calcium then.
It's sort of an old fashioned approach to always provide calcium and mineral blocks to caged parrots and actually stems from research done on chickens. Back, many decades ago, the only research into domestic birds was done on chickens-- because chickens are a utility bird and thus the money was spent on research into them.That knowledge was then applied to the parrot world-- keeping parrots commonly in the household as a pet is a fairly recent trend as compared to keeping chickens-- and actually published in many parrot-raising books. This information was an okay basis and better than nothing, but ground dwelling galliformes (chickens) have much different nutritional requirements than most of our parrots do.

A balanced diet for cockatiels is no more than 40% seed, with the rest being veggies, cooked or sprouted legumes, etc. Fruit is okay too in small amounts but it's high in sugar. Here's some reading http://www.rationalparrot.com/diet.html

Well, not really... I got a Cockatiel kit that came with all of that stuff. She doesn't eat it anyway. But now I feel bad because I used to feed her seeds on a 100% daily basis, and then I recently changed to about 99% fruit and 1% millet sprays. That must still be really bad then, right? I think I'll try some... I'm going blank. What kinds of things do they eat aside from Fruits and Veggies and millet? I know they like birdie bread, but she's not open minded enough to try anything like that. I'll read on that link and in my books and see what I can come up with.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Nambroth]

Hmm...... I actually wasn't ever expecting eggs, so it would be a lot less work if she didn't...
That does sound very stressful, but if that happens (egg laying) I'll use my Cockatiel knowledge to figure it out. Ha ha And I didn't ever hear about her family's egg laying/health history... But I did ask why she was giving them away and she said that she had way too many birds from her mother (it was a lady) and that she couldn't take care of all of them. I asked if they were sick or anything and she said no. But about the egg thing, let's just wait and see what happens.

- Chicks & Chickens

Then you can leave her nesting box right out. It will help to keep her 'nesting' triggers lower, too. I am no expert,but I've had female cockatiels for 25+ years and I've never provided any sort of nesting materials or nesting prompts and they have been happy as can be. They can be very friendly pets!

As far as food, this is what I feed mine: http://parrot-chow.livejournal.com/24403.html Along with some organic pelleted parrot food on days that I won't be around to change their fresh foods out.
The ultimate decision on what to feed is up to you, but yes... 99% fruit and 1% millet is probably nutritionally lacking indeed!

 

[Chicks & Chickens]

Okay! I put the nest back in and she likes it in there with her. I give her seeds and bread now... Starting last night. Ha ha! And I was shocked to see her chewing up the mineral block, actually! I didn't know she liked it. I give mine the ZOO-Vital Fruit pellet thingy and then millet every time they do a trick or give a speech. I mixed Seeds in with the fruit so they have a better source of healthy foods....

 

[silkiechicken]

My tiel subsists on a kaytee pellet base, with fruits and veggies on the side. Mine is a glutton for seeds, breads, grains, anything that is high carb. I try not to let her eat too much sugar (fruit/grains) and fat (seeds).

Tiels will breed like rats given the chance, and chronic egg laying is common. Avoid anything that is nest box like if you don't want babies.

 

[Chicks & Chickens]

Okay! It sounds like your Cockatiel has a better health source than mine does. I used to use Kaytee, but I recently switched to ZOO-Vital. I think she's not old enough (as others said) to be mating and she doesn't seem that interested in it at this age. And if she happens to lay eggs, I'll be prepared

 

[dwhite]

Have you had a chance to see some of the male pearls that retain the pearling? beautiful birds, basically the nice pearling of a hen combined with the brightness of a male, it appears to run in a few lines, I know several in NCS have some of these lines.

Pearling in cockatiels is linked to gender-- after maturity, 99% of male pearl cockatiels will lose their beautiful speckles. If this bird is over a year old, it's a 99% sure a hen!

Most cockatiels are sexually dimorphic once they are mature. With so many mutations these days, 'bright cheeks and face' is NOT a reliable way to sex them, however other clues are! Spots under the primary feathers (the flight feathers on the wing-- only visible when the wing is open), and barring on the vent feathers (feathers that cover the vent-- barring, not spotting) are two great clues to a hen, as well.

 

[silkiechicken]

Okay! It sounds like your Cockatiel has a better health source than mine does. I used to use Kaytee, but I recently switched to ZOO-Vital. I think she's not old enough (as others said) to be mating and she doesn't seem that interested in it at this age. And if she happens to lay eggs, I'll be prepared

I'd use what ever pellets you can get and your bird likes. Harrisons gave my bird the runs and zupreem was beaks up. So I'll stick to kaytee naturals since she'll eat it and it has no food coloring. I finished her hand feeding and kaytee was what was easily purchased in town at the time. That said, mine started displaying maiting behaviors and laid her first clutch of eggs under a year old, think she was 10months or something? Either way, that prompted some housing and lighting adjustments to discourage the behavior.

 

[AquaEyes]

Have you had a chance to see some of the male pearls that retain the pearling? beautiful birds, basically the nice pearling of a hen combined with the brightness of a male, it appears to run in a few lines, I know several in NCS have some of these lines.

I would love to see pictures! All I've ever seen of "males that retain pearl markings" are faint "ghost-pearls" to varying degrees.