Cockatiel: Eggs

Question
hello...I have like a 11 month old female cockatiel. A few nights ago I relized she had layed a egg. I did a little research and read that they usually lay a clutch of 4-6 one evry other day but so far she has only layed one. She don;t have a mate or anything and it is not fertilized but she has been attached to that egg for 3 days so far(sits on it, pushes it into her fur etc.) She is eating and drinking and stuff and I can take her out of her cage when she is not paying attention to it but otherwise she won't let me near her w/ it. She hisses and sqwacks at me when I put food in her dish. Is i normal for them to only lay one? When should I take it out? What will happen when she realizes it is dead? Thnx.

I've been reading up on it so I am going to get her like a cuttle bone or mineral block because I am terrified of the Egg Binding thing? How do I prevent it?

Answer
Hi, Emma.

A single female may lay only one egg, however, I suspect she'll lay more.  Don't remove it or any others that are laid.  Let her abandon it on her own before you remove it.  Otherwise, she may continue to lay and lay and lay, which would not be good for her health.  Egg binding happens when a bird doesn't have enough calcium in their body and soft eggs are laid.  A bird can't expel a soft egg...it gets stuck at the vent.  The fact that she has laid one egg successfully most likely means she won't get egg bound, but sometimes it does happen.  If you would happen to see an egg partially sticking out from her vent and she goes to the cage bottom acting really sick, get her to an animal emergency clinic or avian veterinarian immediately or she will die.  Prevention is to ensure your bird has sufficient calcium available.  Don't feed too much corn, as corn binds calcium in the body and a bird won't be able to absorb the calcium.  Make sure your tiel is on a good diet...not an all-seed diet.

Chrys