Lovebird Eggs

[shanie1107]

So about a week ago one of my female lovebirds laid four eggs. She is bonded with a male, so I believe they are fertile. Though I have bird experience, I have not dealt with newly hatched baby birds. I saw in a few places and was told that I would not necessarily have to hand feed the babies and that I could just let the parents feed them and just give them human contact so that they are used to people. I was just wondering what I should do. If I let the parents feed them, is there still things that need to be provided specifically so that the parents can do their job? Any information would help. Thank you.

 

[MikeyTN]

It's not for sure fertile even though you paired her up with a male! You need to candle the eggs to be sure! Or use a flash light to look through the egg to see if it's fertile or not. Yes you can allow the parents to feed them and handle them if you can. The parents can be very vicious when it comes to their offspring. I still believe handfed baby lovebirds makes much better pets! You must provide calcium supplement, seeds, pellets, fruit and veggies, just basically what you feed your bird on a daily basis but provide more of it during the period when they have babies.

 

[shanie1107]

I'll check to see if they're fertile tomorrow morning when the parents are eating. Thanks

 

[YNAMomma]

Oooo congrats on the eggies and i hope thier fertile! good luck.

 

[IolaniAviary]

I personally do not "hand-raise" opposed to "hand-feed". A hand raised bird is never quite as friendly or tame as a hand-fed. When you are hand-feeding you essentially take away any parent interaction. If the parents are not friendly, the chicks will mimic much of their behavior. For instance, my hand-fed chicks allow people to hold them on their backs, kiss them everywhere, pet them and do not bite. I have worked with hand-fed chicks and many of them bite and allow limited interaction (they'll step up but dis-like petting and so forth). You can definitely see the difference, but it's all up to what you plan doing with the chicks.

 

[MilitaryBrat]

If you have plenty of time on your hands I would most definitely recommend hand-feeding them.I just got done a few weeks ago hand-feeding my first baby lovebird and he is the sweetest bird i've ever seen.He doesn't bite, he loves giving kisses, he'll let me pet him and he just loves me to death.You'll love it in the end but it does take ALOT of your time.It was alot for me with only 1 baby lovebird so i'm sure its alot harder with more.You'll really love it in the end though.

Good luck!

 

[shanie1107]

I'm mostly afraid of how easy it is to mess up. I don't mind waking up to feed them every few hours, but I've read a lot about it and I know that the tiniest mistake can lead to death. I've had a breeder show me once, but I'm still worried I'll mess up. I checked, and they are ferile. There's a dark shadow in each of the eggs. I think I'll go back to the breeder for a few more times before I make my decision. I know I still have a few more weeks to get prepared. Thanks for everything =]

 

[MilitaryBrat]

No problem.

I know what you mean about being scared to do it.When I first got Rio back in August(He was 2 1/2 weeks when I got him) The breeder led me on to making it sound like a breeze and told me none of the easy mistakes you could make or anything.I'm glad I got on here though and learned alot of stuff to do.You can feed with a spoon and its alot safer but alottttt messier lol

 

[shanie1107]

Do you recommend anything? Like the brand of formula or anything else that helped you? Thanks

 

[MikeyTN]

I really like the zupreem formula better then kaytee!

 

[MilitaryBrat]

I used Kaytee but thats just what the girl told me she was using so I don't know about other brands.I've heard that weaning baby birds can be hard sometimes too but my bird just went straight from formula to seeds.He wouldn't even eat the weaning food I bought.

 

[IolaniAviary]

Military, the bird shouldn't of been weaned onto seed. You should wean onto a mixture of pellet and seed and also offer fresh fruits and veggies. It is not hard to wean a bird as long as it is properly done.

Anywho, the site I'll post below is like the hand-feeding bible! It's very useful, and I use it myself. It is easy to mess up, but only if your really not doing research or paying attention. Both formulas are fine, if you don't mind the extra money a high energy formula is best. If you follow the times and amounts on this website they are right on! If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

http://www.flyinggems.com/Lovebirds/handfeeding.htm

 

[MilitaryBrat]

Well I didn't know that an all seed diet is bad for them until I took my other 2 birds to the vet Wednesday.The vet gave me a list of good pellet food and a list of the fruits and veggies they can eat.