<3 ([info]01010) wrote in [info]cockatiels,
@ 2005-01-29 17:04:00
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so i went to the vet and had a blood test, and come to find out, Bo Beau is actually a girl. for six years, i've been referring to her as a boy because she never laid eggs. what age do females start laying them?

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[info]ruffian_wind
2005-01-29 02:27 pm UTC (link)
Wow, I absolutely LOVE that picture!

Regarding your question, I have no idea what age they start laying eggs. If I am correct, females will only lay eggs if certain conditions are satisfied. From what I understand, the best way to determine gender in 'tiels is DNA testing.

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[info]runrunmarch
2005-01-29 02:42 pm UTC (link)
It seems it varies o_O Your Beau hasn't laid for six years, and my Eriza laid the first (and only) time before she hit a year. Not sure what the average

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[info]soniabunny
2005-01-29 02:51 pm UTC (link)
Don't feel bad. ^_^ "Spike" was 10 years old before we realized he was a she (renamed Chicken Boo-- her boyfriend, a hawk on campus, is named Chicken Beau) even though we only had her for a few months. :) And someone on the Internet tried to tell me that this pretty normal looking gray with a spray of pearl was pied. Eesh! ^_^

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[info]legoishminesoha
2005-01-29 03:18 pm UTC (link)
hm. mine began laying eggs maybe 2-3 months ago and she's only about a year old.

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[info]dizzydezzy
2005-01-29 06:55 pm UTC (link)
usually, when kept in 'mixed company' and in an aviary setting, hens will start laying at around 18 months of age, but they can lay as early as 6 months old. However, when kept on their own or insde in a cage, many hens will never lay eggs at all... there are a lot of signs that a female tiel needs to recieve from her surroundings before her body starts producing the hormones which 'unpack' her reproductive system (most of the time it's shrivelled up to save on weight as an adaptation to flying). The sign include presence of other birds, long hours of light every day, warm temperatures, a nestbox or a similar place to lay the eggs, a high fat high protein diet, high humidity and familiar surrounings.
Considering all the hormonal moodswings and possible health risks and complications that can come with egg laying, I think you should consider yourslef lucky that your little girl hasn't had the need to lay any yet :D

I have a 3 year old hen who hasn't layed any egs, either.

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[info]ltdead
2005-01-29 07:41 pm UTC (link)
I have a female cockatiel, housed with a male cockatiel. And they do mate occassionally... but she`s never layed an egg. It really depends on the bird. Unfortunately, genetically, many cockatiels come from stock that breed excessively, because they produced the most young for the breeders. But since your bird hasn`t produced a single egg in 5 years, it sounds like you won`t be having this problem!

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