I put a cloth on the cage to make it dark , tonight she will lay her fourth egg I won't put that and I wil leave the light on , keep finger cross.
She is in the nest at the moment I can hear sounds of her tearing the cardboard box ,
This is her first clutch .
I can lift the top cover and see what's happening inside but only do it when they are out , if I open the top when they or she is in will it frighten her and she might not go in again is that right when can you watch
I had made some egg and bread feed with the egg shell in it , used full wheat bread and boiled egg , the male has taken some bites on it female is busy in the nest ,
Will she chew open the box , I need to reinforce it with a second layer of cardboard , the base is secure as it's on another thing , so only the sides she is chewing .
Thanks

The parents won't like it if you look in the nest while they're inside but they aren't likely to abandon the nest because of it. It's actually good for them to get used to humans looking in the nest frequently. That way you can monitor the situation and take action if you see a problem, for example if a baby is having trouble breaking out of the egg or if a baby wanders away from the main group and gets cold.

Try to avoid putting your hand in the nest while a parent is in there, for now at least. They're likely to start jumping around trying to bite you, trampling the eggs underfoot (and later on the babies) in the process. The eggs can get damaged this way. If there's a reason that you need to put your hand in the nest right away, quickly scoop the parent away from the eggs and toward the door. My parent birds are aggressive in the early stages of the breeding process, but later on when the babies are past the tiny newborn stage they'll let me put my hand in the nest with only minor complaints.

Some people like to use egg shell and some don't. I don't use it myself but it's fine if you like it. But once the babies hatch I would suggest NOT using it for a while. The parents will be regurgitating everything they eat to the babies, and a piece of egg shell that's fine for an adult might cause problems for a tiny baby. Cooked egg with no shells is fine for newborns, it's a soft high-nutrition food.

P.S. You don't want to startle the parent birds in the nest. So any time you want to look inside, it's best to announce yourself first. I knock gently on the side of the box with my knuckle and talk to them to let them know I'm about to open the lid.

The fourth egg was given in the nest this morning. She spends more time in the nest. I've put some shredded paper towels in the nest.
I put the cloth on the cage half and left the light on she stayed in the nest.
Have reinforced the nest box, they are eating boil rice, the egg and bread crumb, sweet corn.
I give them wholemeal bread with butter and millet spray daily

She may have started incubating. Some pairs divide up the duties differently, but the most common pattern is for the hen to sit at night and the cock to sit in the daytime.

Found another egg which was in one corner to be crAcked sticky towels underneath it on putting a torch to it showed only yellow yolk on on side stuck , the male sat on it while the female sat on the other egg, I have removed it .
Now this morning saw male sitting on one egg and the female sitting on other , she was supposed to lay her 5 th egg today .
Should I let booth sit on two corners on two sets of eggs , should I keep them closer so only the one sits on them

Removing the cracked egg was the right move. I wonder how it got cracked though, the eggs should be fairly safe in the nest.

It's OK to let each parent sit on one egg if that's what they want to do. If one decides to stop sitting, the other will probably move the unattended egg and sit on both.

It's possible that she has stopped laying, or that egg #5 will be delayed a bit. Just keep an eye on her to make sure she isn't egg bound. There's information on egg binding at http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... nding.html

It's also possible that there's an egg buried in the loose material in the nest - if you get an opportunity you can feel around for it.

She laid the 5th egg today in the nest and I have put them all together and she is sitting on it , she is coming rarely out of her nest to feed herself , think she has started the incubation
,
Now I leave the light on and cover half the cage with cloth where male sits on a perch and sleeps
Will make egg and toast feed for them again , the old one has got a bad smell so not given it , is it cause of the shell which I put in , should I just hard boil an egg and grind it to small pieces and
Give it to her or should I add some whole meal breadcrumbs in it

You wouldn't want to give a whole egg all at once. But you can cook an egg (either scrambled or boiled) then chop it up and store it in the freezer in a small bag or container. When you want to give some to the birds, take out the amount you want and the rest will remain unspoiled in the freezer.

There are some bird species that use a LOT of eggfood as a breeding food, but these birds are mostly insect eaters in the wild so they're adapted to a high level of protein in the diet. Cockatiels are mostly seeders and excessive amounts of protein are hard on their kidneys. Plus it's high in fat and cholesterol. When my birds are breeding they get a small amount of egg every day (about half a teaspoon per adult bird), and when they're not breeding they get this amount twice a week. They eat their egg ration very quickly so there are no spoilage issues from it sitting around in the cage for hours.

You may find that the hen eats a lot more egg than the cock does, which is OK because she needs it more. Laying eggs is a major nutrient drain on her body. Egg contains vitamin D3 and calcium which are essential for good eggshell formation and lots of other nutrients that will be needed inside the egg for the embryo to grow on.

She has laid 5 eggs eggs plus the 2 which were broken , so 7 in total .
Today while checking them I found two eggs which had beak marks and were broken , the yellow yolk stuck to one side , I had thrown them , the others show on torch the yellow yolk to one side and eggs look white from the other side ,
I doubt that they will hatch , it's nearly over a week that she started to incubate ,
I think the paper towels are white in colour , and one of the eggs was buried under the paper towel , she might not have seen it and beaked it while tearing the cardboard box
What should I do