Cockatiels

Question
I have a male & female cockatiel they laid 6 eggs only two out of the 6 hatched, the first one was hatched on 12-10-07

and the other egg hatched on 12-27-07 ,the oldest baby has gone to it's new home,the other one is being taken care of by both the Mom & Dad,but my question is the adults have started mating again is this a normal behavior and what can I expect from this point on? The male will mate with the female and then sit there & whistle & sing like his really happy with himself.

Answer
Hi, Vicki,

I found your question in the question pool this morning.  I don't know why it was not answered when you submitted it.

Yes, this is normal behavior as long as a nesting box remains installed.  Nesting boxes are cues for birds to go to nest.  As long as one is up, they will continue to lay and produce offspring.  This problem occurs a lot when bird owners/breeders do not handfeed any offspring.  When handfeeding offspring, the hatchlings are pulled from the parents at about 10 days of age to be cared for completely by their human owner.  When no further babies are desired, the nesting box comes down.  In addition, reducing light sources to 10-12 hours per day (8-10 hours per day if necessary) helps to curtail egg laying.  When the owner/breeder doesn't handfeed, the adult birds will go to nest again about the time the first baby leaves the nesting box.

Chrys