nesting problem-URGENT!! (rejecting eggs)

[oceansky]

First off, we are 100% new to parakeet breeding/eggs. Especially seeing as we had not considered it a possibility, we believed that we had two female parakeets. We understand, of course, that these eggs may very well be infertile. But we simply think it best to care for them as if they were until we know otherwise.



Today, to our surprise, we looked into the cage to see two (which soon became three) small parakeet eggs. The problem was the eggs kept on rolling away from her in the cage, and she was having trouble keeping track of them. She would sit on one egg, and then later find another egg, and sit on it, and try to bring the other egg back, but it would roll away. unsure of what to do, we began to do some research. In the end compiling a list of what we should immediately get (but still basically void of proper understanding or information about what we should really be doing).



We made our way to the only open pet store and asked a member a few questions regarding parakeet eggs and bird eggs in general as well as nesting habits. He responded with what seemed to be helpful and accurate information, saying that we should scoop the eggs into our hands, very carefully, using hay and then place them into a wooden nesting box until the eggs were surrounded by about 1-1 1/2 inches of hay. Then, we were to place the box into the bird cage and let the mother make her way into it and get comfortable.

So, we did this, but the mother never wanted to get in the box. As time passed, we got nervous about the eggs getting cold and tried to "encourage" the mom into the box, something in retrospect I now regret after reading stuff about not upsetting the mother in her fragile condition (I didn't do anything terrible, but I let her bite my glove and then put her in the box and close the lid on her, I just really wanted to reunite her with her "kids".) She has refused to go in the box. Now, in desperation, we have taken the eggs out of the box and left it in the hay and put them in the corner of the cage. She has not gone to the eggs. As I write this, However, she is sitting on the bottom of the cage, next to her potential mate, and maybe, just maybe is laying another egg - I don't dare look for fear of bothering her.


What to do about the other eggs!!!


Thanks for any advice - urgently!!!!!

 

[MonicaMc]

It probably would have been better to leave the box open so she could easily see the eggs, or find something smaller and *very* open for the eggs.

Do you have pictures of the pair?


If you aren't interested in breeding, and you can figure out what's triggering your hen to lay and remove the triggers, then you can also remove (but save!) the eggs. If she ends up laying another 2 eggs despite removing the triggers, then you would need to give her her eggs back and allow her to attempt to go through the motions of incubating them. It may be best to find out if you have two females or not just so you know whether or not to expect the eggs to hatch.


She may not accept the eggs simply because you have moved them and put them on hay and she just doesn't like that right now.

 

[ChristaNL]

If you have eggs 'by accident'- do not do anything.
(hardboil the eggs, cool down to room temperature and put them back in the cage - "mum" wont notice, esp it you take out one at the time)

You are not ready for the possibility of young ones, the egg-laying bird is a mess.
Just let it get her out of her system- she most likely will stop laying after she reached a certain number (lots of info in that one availble on the interternet).
(That is why it is important you put them back in the cage or swap them for plastic ones)

Make sure she does not get calciumdeficient - so cuttlefishbone, lots of dark leafy greens etc.etc.

Wait for the normal incubationperiod and then remove one egg each day and hope she does not start again.

These are not chickens who are selected over the centuries to tolerate long periods of egglaying- so make sure she stays okay.
(If she does not stop laying ...you are not alone! Lots of treads about it.)

I know I sound cruel- but nobody there is prepared for the hassle of babybirds so just don't go there.
(Even if against all odds you would have some surviving babies - where would they go?)


So- just make sure this does not go any further that "just egs" this time and give yourself some breathing space.
Plenty of the time to read up un anyhting, get your birds DNA-tested (if you have 2 females there is no risk of fertilized eggs and you can stop worrying about that) - you will know in about 2 weeks.


Not running around with your hair on fire is the best start on almost everything - don't worry, start boiling.

 

[oceansky]

Two photos of our parakeets should be attached, let me know if they aren't. She still hasn't produced a new egg, although she has been periodically looking like she might, going through the motions. The timeline says she is due to produce another one sometime today. The perhaps male is very attentive. As you will see by the photos his/her beak color does not make me think she is a male, but upon reading there are anomolies and illnesses in parakeets that can produce strange beak colors. As to behaviors, they have exhibited male/female differences in the past. In addition, the female has exhibited nesting behaviors in the past.



I agree with one of your posts that I think that she may be rejecting now because we "messed with" the eggs. Perhaps if she has another egg, we can let nature take its course with those and see what happens.



We were thinking of putting the eggs in a more visible paper box with a hole in it that is at her eye level in the cage and seeing if she goes for it, but perhaps it is too late.

 

[itzjbean]

Hi there. Thanks for reaching out.

Just because you have two birds that lay eggs, doesn't mean you should let the eggs hatch. Are you sure that they are not related, siblings? Siblings that breed end up with babies with health and genetic problems. If you are not for sure of this, then do not let them breed.

Breeding is a tricky venture to take on, and when it's a newborn chick's life on the line, you simply need experience to know what to do or the babies WILL perish. Eggs are typically laid a day or two apart from each other. About every 24 hours the hen should lay another egg until a clutch of 2-8 eggs is laid. This is basic information, if you don't know this, then you should not let the eggs hatch.

Say the eggs actually end up hatching and, uh oh, mom and dad decide they don't want to raise babies anymore and abandon them? It happens. They pluck them. They mutilate them. They neglect them, or kick them out of the nest. As a breeder, it's up to us to know how to intervene to save babies should they need our assistance in thriving.

That means having a brooder warm and ready to go should the parents refuse to feed or abandon the babies. You should have hand feeding experience especially, because if the babies are not getting fed by the parents, then its up to you now to take on that responsibility. Newborns need around the clock feedings or they will die. Get the formula temperature wrong -- too hot or cold -- they die. Not warm enough? They die. Are you prepared to do this?

Do you have the necessary equipment to take on breeding, such as a gram scale for weighing chicks daily, hand feeding syringes, formula, food thermometer, these are just a couple things you need as a breeder.

When you aren't prepared to take on breeding bids, ultimately your inexperience can and will cause birds to perish under your care.

I hope you reconsider letting them hatch eggs and instead take out the nest box and just let them be happy bids, no reproducing needed. Responsible owners keep females and male budgies/parakeets separated to prevent breeding!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

In the pictures,to me,it looks like the dark blue budgie is a female,by the tan color of the cere,and the other being a male...but I am no expert! A visit to a certified avian vet for a dna test would solve that,but I wouldn't do it until the egg laying stops...JMHO here.




Jim

 

[Terry57]

It probably would have been better to leave the box open so she could easily see the eggs, or find something smaller and *very* open for the eggs.

Do you have pictures of the pair?


If you aren't interested in breeding, and you can figure out what's triggering your hen to lay and remove the triggers, then you can also remove (but save!) the eggs. If she ends up laying another 2 eggs despite removing the triggers, then you would need to give her her eggs back and allow her to attempt to go through the motions of incubating them. It may be best to find out if you have two females or not just so you know whether or not to expect the eggs to hatch.


She may not accept the eggs simply because you have moved them and put them on hay and she just doesn't like that right now.

Great advice! I have a pair of budgies, and after removing the triggers as Monica has suggested, she hasn't laid any eggs in over a year. When she used to lay, we replaced them with dummy eggs since we are not interested in breeding.

Responsible owners keep females and male budgies/parakeets separated to prevent breeding!

I disagree with this statement. I feel responsible owners do not break up bonded pairs unless there is absolutely no other choice.

 

[itzjbean]

Responsible owners keep females and male budgies/parakeets separated to prevent breeding!

I disagree with this statement. I feel responsible owners do not break up bonded pairs unless there is absolutely no other choice.

I will clarify this....

- If the pair is related they should be separated to prevent inbreeding.

- If the pair is constantly laying eggs and hatching babies and nothing is done to stop them from reproducing, they should be separated.


There's nothing wrong with keeping a pair together -- if measures are taken to ensure they are not laying eggs and reproducing constantly. That's what I meant by this statement, as what is seen happening in this situation. I have no doubts your budgie pair is well taken care of and as you mentioned you've taken measures to stop egg laying, that is excellent.

 

[ParrotLover2001]

Two photos of our parakeets should be attached, let me know if they aren't. She still hasn't produced a new egg, although she has been periodically looking like she might, going through the motions. The timeline says she is due to produce another one sometime today. The perhaps male is very attentive. As you will see by the photos his/her beak color does not make me think she is a male, but upon reading there are anomolies and illnesses in parakeets that can produce strange beak colors. As to behaviors, they have exhibited male/female differences in the past. In addition, the female has exhibited nesting behaviors in the past.



I agree with one of your posts that I think that she may be rejecting now because we "messed with" the eggs. Perhaps if she has another egg, we can let nature take its course with those and see what happens.



We were thinking of putting the eggs in a more visible paper box with a hole in it that is at her eye level in the cage and seeing if she goes for it, but perhaps it is too late.

Both look like females, so the eggs won't be fertile.

Try putting the eggs back where she left them. If she completely ignores the eggs then toss them out, if she shows interest in them then maybe try putting them in something small and open? Maybe something with an open top, like a small container or something similar. Just to keep the eggs from rolling away when she tries to sit on them.

Sent from my Galaxy s8

 

[MonicaMc]

They are indeed both females! The "white" female actually reminds me of a hen I had. Loved her colors! She was both blue and violet! I've had two hens and one male that looks like your blue hen. In fact, one of those blue hens even displayed male behavior towards another female, despite the fact that she had a [male] mate of her own!

So no need to worry about eggs hatching at least! However, that said, you do want to make sure that she's eating a healthy diet, is getting plenty of exercise and if possible, removing the triggers to egg laying or allowing her to go through the motions of laying and incubating, then removing the triggers.

 

[EllenD]

They do look like females, so those eggs aren't going to hatch...HOWEVER, for future reference or just for the sake of clarity, birds do not typically start laying on their eggs that they lay, fertile or infertile, until they lay at least 2 eggs, usually at least 3 for Budgies as their clutches tend to be larger, with an average of 6 eggs to a clutch (the largest clutch I've ever had a pair lay was 12 eggs). So until that mother lays at least 2-3 eggs they aren't going to pay much attention to them at all anyway, so that was normal for your bird, even if those 2 eggs had been fertile.

I agree with Monica that both of your birds are females (assuming that both of them are the same age/both are at least 6 months to a year old), so you don't need to worry about having any babies, which I totally agree is not something that you want to get involved with since you have no experience...It's not at all uncommon for the parents to neglect a baby once it hatches, kick the baby out of the nest-box, start hurting the baby, etc., and that means that even though you planned on letting the parents raise and feed the babies, in any of these situations you must always be ready to remove the baby, put it in a Brooder at the correct ambient temperature based on it's age and feathering at the time, and start hand-feeding formula on a very strict schedule. It's not an easy thing to do, it's exhausting, and it can also be heartbreaking. So if you get anymore Budgies I would be sure to not put them together with these two females until they are at least 6 months to a year old so that you can be sure of their genders, and if they turn out to be males then they need to be kept in a separate cage.

***Now, as far as having a female that is laying infertile eggs, with Budgies (and cockatiels) they have a bad habit of continuously laying egg after egg after egg, and clutch after clutch after clutch, which is extremely hard on their bodies and can actually result in their death, either from malnutrition or a deficiency disease, or from them increasingly becoming more and more likely to become Egg-Bound. So there are a few things that you need to do in order to try to curb the infertile egg-laying:

-Allow any infertile eggs to stay in the cage (or buy fake eggs to replace them with, either way it doesn't matter since they are definitely infertile) until the mother loses interest in them and stops laying on them, and then you can dispose of them (Remember that they are going to lay at least 2-3 eggs before they start sitting on them anyway, so just let them in there until she lays on them and then eventually stops, then dispose of them).

-Remove the nest-box and any types of materials inside of the cage that could be considered/used as "nesting materials", such as bedding, hay, straw, etc., as nesting-materials and any small, dark places like nest-boxes or any type of box usually trigger hormonal activity and influences them to continue laying eggs. Since the eggs are going to all be infertile you don't need to worry about giving them a nest-box, as this will only serve to encourage them to keep laying eggs. The female will lay eggs in the bottom of the cage and will figure out how to make a nest for them, they always do. If they lay an egg in their food dish then just move it to a corner of the cage. If you want to you can put a piece of newspaper in the bottom of the cage and lay the egg on top of the newspaper, and mom will shred the newspaper and make a place for the egg to be, that's fine, but you never want to give a nest-box of any kind to a female laying infertile eggs, as this will usually result in continuous egg-laying.

-Be sure that you have both a Cuttlebone and a Mineral Block inside of the cage at all times so that both females are getting adequate vitamins/minerals, including Calcium, so that their bodies do not start leeching Calcium from their bones to make eggs. This extra Calcium will also help to prevent them from becoming Egg-Bound due to weak, underdeveloped egg=shells not being able to pass. Offer lots and lots of fresh veggies each day, lots of dark, leafy greens. Always have ample seed-mix/pellets and lots of water in the cage at all times, as females who lay infertile eggs often start losing weight and develop issues from malnutrition.