Briefly, the situation. 2 cockatiel siblings mate on and off for several years. She finally decided to lay eggs. Of course, I don't do anything to promote egg laying, given that siblings are not allowed to have offspring. First 3 eggs were wasted when she had them in random locations (fell from the height and broke, she wasn't trying to do anything with them). My birds are out of cage for most of the day. Finally she laid her egg in a shoe cubby, and its still there. I know that I shouldn't hide or destroy eggs not to promote her to lay more. Then she laid another egg in that same cubby too. She's been protective of her eggs after she laid one, then usually I'm able to get her out of there to put into the cage for the night. The second surviving egg was laid Saturday eve, then I put my hen to sleep and while she was sleeping, I blocked that cubby with some random stuff. On Sundau she was not trying to get in there, but keeps wandering the house in search of cozy places (I can't eliminate them all). Most likely, she will lay another egg today. What should be my politics about her 2 eggs in the shoe cubby? What should I do? I don't want to be cruel to her. its not her fault that she can't be a mom.
Also, do dummy eggs look like real eggs and what is a good place to get them? thanks

Dummy eggs are so realistic that it's hard for me to tell the difference from a real egg. You can get them here: https://dummyeggs.com/

Have you tried the long nights treatment? That's an effective way to stop most cockatiels from laying eggs. There's information on it here: http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... mones.html

It's up to you to decide what to do with the eggs that have already been laid. My personal approach would be to not let her sit on them. You don't want to let these eggs hatch, and if they're fertile then the longer she sits on them the more the chick inside will develop. I would feel terrible letting a well-developed embryo die, but it's not so bad with an egg that hasn't developed much. If she keeps laying eggs, you can buy a set of dummy eggs and give them to her all at once so she has a full clutch. With some cockatiels this will stop them from laying any more, although it never worked on Shodu. She usually laid exactly five eggs, regardless of how many or how few were in the nest.

Thank you, Carolyn.
I was copy-pasting from another group while at work, so it turned out rather impersonal. Didn't mean it this way.
Hi everybody, its me, Chipper. I'm glad to see/hear you all.

speaking of long nights, I leave for work at 7.30 and there is nobody else here to take care of birds. that means that they have to be put to sleep at, well, 7.30 pm? This is a huge inconvenience, I can't do it. I am super unhappy about inconvenience called work.

Now is the question "where" should I give her the eggs? She has no nest... Also I don't plan to have her sit on eggs days and nights... I should have a couple real eggs left from weaning Cuddles from egg laying long ago. Still a confusing situation.

In total, she already laid at least 5 eggs but has 0 in her possession. I m afraid she's be laying more and more.

The 1st question is - should she have the eggs she laid into her possession (could be dummy eggs when I get them). Right now I am pretty much hiding her eggs from her in the cubby that is blocked from her
2. If yes, then where should that "nest" be? I m for sure not providing them with a nest box. I remember how extremely hard it was to get Cuddles out of it.

Wait for her to select a convenient nesting place and give her the eggs there. If she has her own cage, you can put them in the bottom of the cage. But if she shares a cage with several other birds this may cause problems. The others may want to sit on the eggs, and she may fight with them.

Hi, Chipper. I definitely sympathize with your situation. If it’s any consolation, 14 hour nights don’t seem to deter my birds from egg legging. Or, maybe they would be laying even more. I remember, when I was a child seeing a cartoon about a farmer who decided that, since his hen laid an egg every day he would use an electric light and blanket to make two eggs every day. Then it was four. Then (well, you get the picture). Then hen comes out of the box thin as a rail. Anyway, it was funny when I was a kid.

Dianne, thanks for sharing.
Bella laid last egg on Saturday night, then no egg was laid on Monday at all. I for some reasons thought that she would lay this morning, I always uncover them at the last moment before leaving to work, thus I can't assess the situation well. I made a stupid mistake - before leaving, I unblocked their shoe cubby where 2 previous eggs were. Came back from work with no more new eggs but she was sitting on those two. I wish I didn't let her in there. Maybe she stopped her egg laying for good.
My another hen also was laying some time ago. After laying and then losing two eggs (fell and broke) she just stopped a whole thing

I am ordering dummy eggs. How long do you think it takes for embyo to develop to the point when its painful to remove it from under the hen?

Dianne, thanks for sharing.
Bella laid last egg on Saturday night, then no egg was laid on Monday at all. I for some reasons thought that she would lay this morning, I always uncover them at the last moment before leaving to work, thus I can't assess the situation well. I made a stupid mistake this morning - before leaving, I unblocked their shoe cubby where 2 previous eggs were. Came back from work to no more new eggs but she was sitting on those two. I wish I didn't let her in there. Maybe she stopped her egg laying for good.
My another hen also was laying some time ago. After laying and then losing two eggs (fell and broke) she just stopped a whole thing

I am ordering dummy eggs. How long do you think it takes for embyo to develop to the point when its painful to remove it from under the hen?

I don't know enough about embryonic development to answer your question. My suggestion is to block the cubby again and not let her sit on the eggs.

I will see how it goes. Right now, they both are out of there and nobody is sitting. Maybe they will get tired and bored. A whole idea, I thought, is that losing eggs would make her lay more.
Don't worry, I won't let her incubate for too long. Im trying to get dummy eggs in a local bird group. Our store doesn't carry them
For sure, I m not leaving anyone there overnight. That cubby is near the front door, which is bad. They can get startled when someone is coming in.
By the way, I read today that breeding siblings isn't a big deal (unless they carry some bad genetics). I'm not going to test this of course. but still interesting