Finnie's Breeding Journal

[Finnie 0]

I'm so excited! There are no eggs, yet, BUT, this morning when I went to check on the birds, two pairs have Really Big Poops! :what: (Sorry, no pics, don't want that to be the first image in my journal :rofl: ) I will post pictures when there are eggs.

 

Also, before I was even finished with feeding time, I turned around and saw both of those pairs in what looked like successful mating positions.

Before, I would sometimes see them trying, but it seemed like the male would fall off or fly away pretty quickly, but this time they seemed to take forever!

Is it normal for the male to switch from side to side? Maybe he's still not quite successful.

 

Here are the pairs:

 

Pair 1, Patrick and Finnie

 

 

 

Oh, let's look for a better shot of Patters...

 

Here's one from last year:

 

 

 

Pair 2, Bailey and Phoebe

 

 

 

And pair 3, Sean and Colleen

 

Last year:

 

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And this year:

 

 

 

Another sign of progress is that Bailey and Phoebe are starting to bond. I have seen them feeding each other.

 

So, it looks like things might start happening around here. I can't wait!

[renee 0]

How exciting Finnie! Looking forwards to pics and progress!

 

Remember- don't move the eggs or handle them too much as you can upset the brooding process.

[Finnie 0]

I GOT MY FIRST EGG!!!!!!

 

I can't believe it!!!!

 

I've been checking the boxes once in the morning and once in the evening, and tonight there was an egg in Colleen's box!

Even though I've been expecting it, it was still an awesome surprise!

Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry, I was in a hurry because I didn't want to disturb her too much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

None yet in Finnie's box, but maybe tomorrow.

 

 

So, would it be a good idea now to add more pine chips now, since she has thrown most of them out, or should I wait a while longer?

[**KAZ** 0]

I GOT MY FIRST EGG!!!!!!

 

I can't believe it!!!!

 

I've been checking the boxes once in the morning and once in the evening, and tonight there was an egg in Colleen's box!

Even though I've been expecting it, it was still an awesome surprise!

Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry, I was in a hurry because I didn't want to disturb her too much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

None yet in Finnie's box, but maybe tomorrow.

 

 

So, would it be a good idea now to add more pine chips now, since she has thrown most of them out, or should I wait a while longer?

 

No concave ?? Then YES start adding more nesting materials. Did you know if you use flaky bran or quick cooking porridge oats ( the finer ones ) in a much thicker layer then they rarely if ever throw it out ? Its too hard to do so

[mysixbabies 0]

congrats!

[*Nerwen* 0]

congrats on the egg, and as Kaz states add it in now.

 

also if you tap on the box to get mum out first it is easier to check eggs and that she is moving okay at the same time. she will also know you are checking if you tap first and not get startled. They get use to you checking each day too

[GenericBlue 0]

how exited you must be

:rofl:

[Finnie 0]

No concave ?? Then YES start adding more nesting materials. Did you know if you use flaky bran or quick cooking porridge oats ( the finer ones ) in a much thicker layer then they rarely if ever throw it out ? Its too hard to do so

 

okay, I will do it this morning when it is checking time. I have 2 or 3 spare cartons of oatmeal ready and waiting

And, yeah, that box is the one without a concave, so I was planning to put the bedding deep, to prevent splay legs.

 

 

congrats on the egg, and as Kaz states add it in now.

 

also if you tap on the box to get mum out first it is easier to check eggs and that she is moving okay at the same time. she will also know you are checking if you tap first and not get startled. They get use to you checking each day too

 

This is what I have been doing since I opened the door to the box, about 6 days ago. (Even with no eggs, I wanted her to get used to me tapping on the box.) She's funny, because she was actually not in the box when I first saw the egg, but then she went in as if to say "what do you want with my egg?"

 

how exited you must be

 

 

Yes, very!

 

You would be surprised how silly I feel about one little egg! :rofl: It's like after all the pictures I've seen of all of your eggs and chicks, and everything I've read, it still seemed like just a legend. But now that I have an actual egg, it's like " Oh my gosh, it's all true! They really do lay eggs!"

 

Just think how I will feel in a few weeks if I discover that they actually do hatch, too.

[Finnie 0]

Finally got done with morning chores. Here's my report.

 

I put lots of oatmeal into Colleen's box. Just sort of pushed it towards the corner with the egg. I will let her spread it around how she prefers. That way I didn't have to touch the egg, and I didn't bury it either.

 

I also added some oatmeal to the other 2 boxes. They hadn't thrown all their pine chips out, but now they will have both kinds to play with and get used to.

 

Finnie still has no egg, and today her poops are more to normal size, but I will say there is quite a pile of them! Check out her egg bum! :

 

 

 

 

 

(At least, i think this must be what egg bum looks like.)

 

She's not normally shaped like this, and no one else is, either. (I checked ) So maybe there will be another egg when I go to check tonight!

 

When I was driving my 11 year old to school this morning, he told me that if there was a new egg at morning check time, I needed to tell him as soon as he gets home. (As if I would be able to keep it to myself! )

 

He was as excited as I was last night. After we took the pictures, he kept saying "okay, time to go post this on the forum!" He's my little bird buddy. I'm glad, because he's the only one who's interested.

 

Oh, and he said I should use a bunch of these guys: :rofl:

[Finnie 0]

Well, I've been gone a couple of days. Went to Detroit for a family Christmas get-together. Only one daughter went with me, so I hired my son to take care of the budgies while I was gone. He did a great job.

 

Before I left (Dec 20), Colleen had a 2nd egg, and Finnie laid her first one off the perch.

 

Colleen's:

 

 

 

 

Finnie's:

 

We decided to put Finnie's broken egg into her box in the hopes that it would help her to know where to lay the next one. I don't know if it helped or not, but this morning, (Dec 22) she had a new egg in her box, and the old one was thrown out to the bottom of the cage. She seems to have got it figured out now.

 

Finnie's 2nd egg (first good one):

 

 

And Colleen's 3rd egg arrived right on schedule last night (Dec 21):

 

 

 

Colleen seems to be staying in the box all the time now, so I guess I can start counting down to a hatch date. I think that will be around Jan 8. It's been fun seeing a new development almost every day.

 

Phoebe and Bailey have been feeding and preening each other for almost a week, now, so I'm hoping they will start laying soon, too.

With all these eggs, it looks like I will be having a "white" Christmas!

[**KAZ** 0]

Excellent news

 

[renee 0]

Yipeedeeday!

[Finnie 0]

More eggs tonight!

 

Now the count is Colleen,4; Finnie 2!

 

 

 

 

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[Finnie 0]

Well, my birds have given me Christmas presents today!

 

Now Colleen has five eggs

 

 

 

 

And Finnie has 3!

 

 

 

 

Today I noticed Finnie spending more time in her box, so I expect that now she has 3 eggs, she will start incubating them. Let's see, 18 days from today is Jan. 12.

 

Also, I think Phoebe is starting to show signs of laying an egg soon. I checked my records, and she and Bailey have only been "bonding" with each other for about 8 days, so I would expect them to wait a couple more days before doing any laying, if they have even started mating yet, which I haven't seen. But Phoebe does look egg bummish, so you never know.

 

Well, I know most of you are a day ahead of me, but over here, Christmas is just starting to wind down. I hope you all had a blessed and enjoyable Holiday! Merry Christmas, everybody!

[Finnie 0]

Phoebe has laid her first egg!! :doh:

 

 

 

The funny thing is, it's been exactly 10 days since I first saw her and Bailey feeding each other.

 

 

It appears that all 3 hens have synchronized themselves, because Finnie and Colleen have had their 4th and 6th eggs today, too:

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now my total egg count so far is 11.

Dave and GB, to me this looks like a lot of eggs!

 

I was thinking that some of the hatchings might synchronize themselves, too. Things should be really fun around here in a couple of weeks!

 

 

I thought I'd add some pictures of the community cage, too. These are most of the birds I bought during October, when I really added to my flock. Someday I plan to post individual pictures of them in the mutations section so I can make sure they are id'd correctly. Most of these are babies going through their first moult right now.

 

 

 

[macka 0]

Have you checked the eggs to see if they are fertile :doh:

[GenericBlue 0]

Have you checked the eggs to see if they are fertile

 

macka their pet types they will be firtile and if left alone most probbly all hatch unless last eggs get pooy

i have never candled my pets eggs and very rarely candle show you can see if eggs are fertile as the go perl white as aposed to yellowish clear

[Finnie 0]

Well, I have a little flashlight with a bendable neck, so I thought i would try to candle them, just because I would be excited if I could see anything, like veins or hearbeats. It's been about a week since Colleen started incubating, so I figure I might see something in her eggs. Finnie's only been staying in her box for a couple of days now, so I don't think I will bother candling hers for a while yet.

 

I hope I can manage the light and the camera at the same time, because it would be nice to add that to this pictorial record I am making here.

[Dave_McMinn 0]

11 is a lot of eggs for one hen.

 

You have 3 hens with 6, 4 and 1 respectively. That is not that many. I am not sure the egg laying has stopped there. You should expect more.

 

I only have show birds and one has layed 7 eggs so far, so expect more from the pet types.

[Finnie 0]

11 is a lot of eggs for one hen.

 

You have 3 hens with 6, 4 and 1 respectively. That is not that many. I am not sure the egg laying has stopped there. You should expect more.

 

I only have show birds and one has layed 7 eggs so far, so expect more from the pet types.

 

 

Well, I hope Finnie and Phoebe have more, but I don't want Colleen to overdo it. It would be nice if she stops soon

[Dave_McMinn 0]

You can alwasy foster out of the nest with many into the nest with less

[Finnie 0]

You can alwasy foster out of the nest with many into the nest with less

I could, but being it's my first time, I hope I can keep a "hands off" approach as much as possible, so I don't mess anything up. That's the nice thing about this forum. I've learned a lot of stuff from you guys, so if I have to foster, I think I could manage it. Plus you guys would be here backing me up if I run into problems!

 

 

So, I tried candling Colleen's eggs tonight, and I think I saw veins in some of them. This is the best picture I could get, and it really doesn't show anything. I could tell that some of the eggs were whiter and some were pinker, but the thing is, I thought I saw veins in both kinds of colors. I guess I'm just not going to worry about it. I'm sure at least some of them will hatch.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Finnie

[GenericBlue 0]

if she stops at seven then all should be fine and she will most likely hatch out all

unless the first one in maybe not fertile which sometimes can happen due to not being practiced breeders i say do what your doing and just let them b

[macka 0]

In my opinion,if she has 7eggs & say 5are fertile, she will cover the 5

better if the 2 clear are removed,as you can see in the photo,one is fertile

& the other is not,now the clear one may be last egg layed.If you get my drift.

But if it is 3day since she last layed it is clear.

[Finnie 0]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same old, same old...everybody's got another egg...right on schedule....starting to get boring....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOT!!