Does anyone have experience breeding cockatiels? I’m considering getting a female to pair with my male.

[ColtHandorf]

Ok great thanks! Also do you have any recommendations for videos or websites that explain properly how to hand feed? Thank is for being such a help!

There's a group on Facebook, but honestly one of the best ways to learn is having an experienced handfeeder teach you.

Hand Feeding and Weaning Baby Birds on Facebook.

 

[Cinnamon11]

How many times a year is it safe to breed them?

 

[ColtHandorf]

I usually limited them to three clutches or so.

 

[Cinnamon11]

I usually limited them to three clutches or so.

Ok perfect!

 

[JaeG]

If you get a female that isn't a pearl (as girls either are or they aren't, whereas boys can carry that pattern without showing it) all of the female offspring will display the pearl pattern (which they will inherit from Storm) and the male offspring will not (they will be carrying it but not displaying it because of the non pearl gene from their mother) so you'll be able to sex them once they feather in, which is very helpful as often people are looking for a particular sex when looking for a pet bird. Sometimes the males can be carrying other sex linked traits and unless you know their parentage you can get a surprise in the nest.

It is very fun breeding them but we always seem to end up keeping a bird or two. Some babies are very hard to part with, but they are such great pets that it's nice to find them good homes as well.

 

[Cinnamon11]

If you get a female that isn't a pearl (as girls either are or they aren't, whereas boys can carry that pattern without showing it) all of the female offspring will display the pearl pattern (which they will inherit from Storm) and the male offspring will not (they will be carrying it but not displaying it because of the non pearl gene from their mother) so you'll be able to sex them once they feather in, which is very helpful as often people are looking for a particular sex when looking for a pet bird. Sometimes the males can be carrying other sex linked traits and unless you know their parentage you can get a surprise in the nest.

It is very fun breeding them but we always seem to end up keeping a bird or two. Some babies are very hard to part with, but they are such great pets that it's nice to find them good homes as well.

Thank you! I do think I’d be nice to be able to sex them but I do want to try to find a pearl female because I just love the pearl gene they are so pretty! Definitely my favorite color! I definitely hope both parents if I decide to get a female have some surprise genes!

 

[snava94]

I got both of my males wild and I hope to sell babies pretty quick after weaning (within a month or so) and I hope to sell them tame. I won’t be hand feeding but I’m wondering if it would stress the parents to much to hold the babies when they are still being parent feed to get them used to people without having to have such a large commitment.

I’ve been blessed to have raised 3 different clutches. Our babies (the parents) are tamed and use to us. They never seemed to mind when we peeked in on them. I also helped feed the babies to give mom a break and both parents were ok with that too. The male bird only helped with babies for 2 weeks. After that mom was on her own. That part can be very stressful and tiring on mom. I helped her a lot when it came feeding babies. I was very much involved when new babies came in, very tired me consuming but worth it bc of bond I made with the new babies. Good luck.

 

[snava94]

I’ve been blessed to have raised 3 different clutches. Our babies (the parents) are tamed and use to us. They never seemed to mind when we peeked in on them. I also helped feed the babies to give mom a break and both parents were ok with that too. The male bird only helped with babies for 2 weeks. After that mom was on her own. That part can be very stressful and tiring on mom. I helped her a lot when it came to feeding babies. I was very much involved when new babies came in, very time consuming but worth it bc of bond I made with the new babies. Good luck.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Ok perfect!

I usually limited them to three clutches or so.

Three is really stressful for tiels. If they do give you three clutches, make sure you give them a good 6-month break afterward so they can recuperate their strength

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Also, cockatiel cottage has a lot of great info on how and when to hand-feed