New member, old lovebirds owner

[MjNess]

First off I live in a non-english speaking country, so forgive me if my grammar is wrong.

Now, I have a pair of lovies the male is with us for a long time (probably more than 6 years) his original partner got away when someone left the cage open after putting some food in it lol. So, last year we decided to get a partner for him and they clicked with each other right away! (Yes I know it's a long time but I'm afraid that if we got another bird he won't accept her at all) Around a couple of months ago we decided it's time to breed them, so I gathered all the necessary materials. And after awhile they got it on the perch lol. Sunday last week the female laid her first egg and laid the 2nd egg on Wednesday I haven't checked the cage now to see if there's a third one but I noticed that the female still have a bulky rear so i think that she still has an egg inside. How long does a female lays eggs? I'm afraid that she might get eggbound.

2nd, what to feed them at this point? Normally I just mixed some veggies or fruit in their container along with some seeds (I noticed how the male is really addicted to sunflower seeds, it's the only thing that he eats, so i try to remove them before serving) Right now I grated some carrots and sweet potatoes and mixed it with the seeds and then I also grated a small cuttlebone (made it into powder) and also mixed it with the others because I kinda noticed that they became picky these past few days all they eat are seeds, they weren't interested in some fruits and veggies that I served them. Is it enough specially for the female? I tried to feed them some strawberry, chicoo, oranges and white squash but they are not interested at all (the male will try some but that's it, and he's the one thats actually feeding the female) but he loves bananas, celery and lettuce but I know lettuce is not that good so I try to avoid it and some of them are not always available thats why I tend to alternate between types of food. I still have some apples and oranges but I don't want to waste it if they're not going to eat them. Are there other tips you can share?

Lastly (whew, lol) this just optional I plan to hand train the chicks after they hatch and I have absolutely NO experience in doing that both of my lovies are not trained whatsoever, any tips? and they are not inside the house as not to deprive them of natural sunlight and sometimes birds of other species flock around the cage in search of dropped food it's actually cute lol. They are still in a relatively small cage around 28 x 14 inch. And I was actually planning on making a small aviary big enough for a couple of person to fit and move freely to give them enough space to fly around. Now in case I finish making the aviary is it alright to move the entire cage to the aviary (not the nest) then I will open the cage entirely so that they can examine their new location first or should I wait for the eggs to hatch first?

I'm sorry for the big wall of text I just want to get into details lol.

 

[RavensGryf]

Hi, I don't breed so can't give advice in that area. Many others on here can tell you about that. I just wanted to say welcome to the forum, and that your English is perfect! better than many native English speakers.

 

[Terry57]

Hello and welcome! So glad you joined us
When I feed my birds their veggies and fruit, I use a separate dish because the fresh food needs to be taken out and thrown away in a couple of hours so it doesn't spoil. do you have kale available there where you are? My lovebirds eat it right up when I put a whole leaf into their cage.
Your English is wonderful, by the way

 

[MjNess]

Hey thanks for the compliments

I usually put the fresh fruit and veggies on a separate plate but they tend to completely ignore it until it spoils which becomes a waste that's why I mixed it with the seeds hoping they would eat it along with the it . I think I spoiled their diet when I introduced sunflower seeds in their diet a week ago espcially the male all he does is dig through the seeds throwing out the others until he can reach the sunflower seed, that's why I remove them before serving but he still digs through it until he realize that theres no sunflower seed then he leaves ignoring the other seeds. And the male feeds the female so what he eats she eats. Well he does loves celery but thats not always available around the house so I tend to alternate.

I also tried doing tough love where I complete removed all food inside the cage for a couple of hours until they make noises which I interpret as "HEY! WHERE'S OUR FOOD!" Lol but when I put in the greens, he tries some then continues with the noise until I put back the seeds. I'm getting quite worried that they don't get the nutrition they need especially the female.

 

[MikeyTN]

Welcome to the forum!!!

It is not easy breeding birds as there can be potential issues. You may have to yank the chicks to hand feed if the parents isn't caring for them and if you start from day one, it can be very tiresome and stressful as you must feed every hour around the clock the first 3 days of it's life. Then every 2 hours around the clock til 5 days old, then every 3 hours til 7 days old. Then the schedule changes at 8th day. Do you have the time to devote to the babies? I know I work a lot but I can do it if I must as I do the feeding throughout the night and in the morning I can place them with a breeder friend who lives right down the road as she can do day time feeding for me while I work. But since you have them laying eggs already....They lay eggs every other day so either your not checking properly or she's got an off schedule which can happen! They lay eggs either early in the morning or late in the evening. Incubation period is around 21-28 days, I've had them hatching as late as 28 days. You've gotta candle to eggs to check for fertility. IF you can mist the eggs daily with a spray bottle, it would help with the humidity situation. For now, watch Youtube videos and learn about how to hand feed if you have to. The training part can come later after weaning but the raising part is your main problem right now. Prepare everything you need just in case!

 

[MjNess]

Hey mikey thanks for the awesome insight. I'm not concerned about the humidity because I live in a tropical country and it's almost summer time so it will be hot enough for the eggs but not hot enough for the birds to overheat, that's one of the reason why I kept them out of the house. About time scheduling for feeding the babies I think we can manage to do it since me and my sister have different schedules in work (she works in the daytime and I work at night time) but let's see what happens first. But I do hope the mother will not abandon them very early lol.

UPDATE:I just checked the nestbox but there's still 2 eggs in there. It's almost been a week since she laid the 2nd egg. Should I be worried now because of eggbinding? I don't know if there's an avian vet around here all I know are canine or feline vets.

 

[MjNess]

Hey again. I've got a new update my female finally laid her 3rd egg after a week or so, however... she laid it at the bottom of the cage! Should I remove the egg right away? Or should I try to put it with the other eggs? However I think this one is infertile it has a small bump maybe because she laid it while sitting on the perch or somewhere a bit elevated. And if I do remove it wouldn't the female feel bad? I'm kinda nervous that she might abandon the other eggs if I touch one of them.