cockatiel nesting

Question
I found out Barney (9mo. old) is a Bernadette when I found an egg on the kitchen counter.  How long do they nest? What is normal behavior.  She has so far 3 eggs. What are the average amount of eggs they can produce? I have a male cockatiel also named patches,  but much older,  he just  puts up with Berni. Berni guards her eggs but does not lay on them. She comes out from behind the sugar canister to eat for a while and drinks then returns to nest. I purchased a wooden bird house with a large opening on the bottom and filled it with nesting material purchased at a reputable pet store. She isn't that interested in the nesting material.  This has been going on for about a 8 days.   Is there a cycle for her breeding and how long does each cycle last?     Any insight would be appreciated.

Answer
Hi, Carol!

Now I have a question for you:  do you want baby cockatiels?  If you do, you need to purchase a nestbox, add untreated pine wood shavings, put it in or on the cage, allow the male to prepare the nestbox and "invite" the female in, and then let the female do her thing.  Letting her hide behind the sugar canister isn't a good idea for her or any potential babies she might have.  Of course, if she's not sitting on her eggs, there will be no babies anyway.

You might want to read my article called "Incessant Egg Laying in Cockatiels."  She is really too young in my opinion to be breeding at this point, so any measures you can take to stop her will make her healthier.

http://www.cockatiel.org/articles/incessant_egglaying.html

Good luck,

Cindy