breeding cockatiels

Question
i have three cockatiels one male and two females. we my male has been with the same female for months and breeding but my female is laying no eggs.  yet the other female that is in a seperate cage and has not been breed since we have had her which has been 2 yrs is now laying eggs.  we swithced the females out and the male wouldnt have nothing to do with the female besides fight her and scream.  is this normal and what should i do

Answer
Hi, Derek.

Parrots usually stay with the same mate for life, so you need to keep the same 2 birds together...you can't just interchange mates.  This is why the male won't have anything to do with the other female.  

Do you have a nesting box set up on the pairs' cage?  If not, this might be why she isn't laying eggs.  Also, perhaps the female isn't getting fertilized by the male...they might be "going through the act" but not actually consumating.  Check to see if any perches are unstable.

Are you sure they have mated...have you seen this yourself?  If so, when was the last time?  Eggs can take up to 2 weeks to be produced.

Is the pair old enough (what are their ages)?

The second female is laying infertile eggs because her hormones are running rampant.  Her hormones are running rampant because she sees the other 2 birds together (perhaps she has seen/heard them mating).  This is normal.  However, you don't want her to constantly lay eggs...let me know if she starts doing this again after this clutch is gone.  Leave her eggs right where she has laid them until she abandons them on her own.  Then you can remove them.

If you can provide answers to my questions about, I can probably help further.

Chrys