Annie82

Quick update. I went and check my sick girl and the good news is she has eaten something, she is not looking so fluffed up and her tail isn't bobbing anymore. I'm considering leaving her inside for the rest of winter and won't be reintroducing her to the avairy or outside until she is 100%. I still have to deal with the feather loss and her scaly feet but I figure eating and not looking so stressed means that the lamp is helping her and I may be able to have her long enough to take her to the vet after all. Won't get my hopes up too high though. She still has to make it through the night. Anne Marie

Thanks Finnie I too understand the two sides of the coin, like I said I thought at the time that I was making the right decision for her, I was not to know that the eggs would be infertile and now that I do I understand the time and effort it takes Sky and Budge to sit on these eggs (Budge sits on the eggs, when Sky comes out for a stretch and drink etc) I'm thinking your idea of marking the eggs are a good idea, I have already written down the dates that all the eggs were laid, and know that she was laying consistantly every even day then 2 days in a row she laid and now we are on odd days. Shall find out tomorrow if any more eggs are to appear. I was also thinking about a week before pulling the plug, if I wait until Friday at the most, that will be the first 5 eggs at their hatch dates and beyond. And as for her to stop laying, well I am totally open for suggestions on that one. Thanks again Anne Marie

All the best for tomorrow Kassidy and Koko

Hi Robyn, Its 2 days past due date and nothing. Hopefully as GB said in another post the cold weather delays hatching so I may still end up with one or two. Heres hoping anyway. Anne Marie

I have checked her over and she has only the scaly mites on her feet. Her beak is clean as is under her wings. This has happened so fast. Would change in the weather be a possibility. It was fairly cold last week but now we are getting quite warm (for winter anyway) and it has been drizzling non stop for about 3 days now. The soonest I would be able to take her to the vets would be friday maybe monday, rellies coming so I could get them to drive me (even if I had a car I can't drive, medical problems) depends on what day they get here. I just worry that she won't make it. Should I give her anything special like some vitamins or something as I know treating her with medications won't be of any use, and do you think it would be safe to keep handling her to do her feet, she isn't a tame bird and is a bit stressful to have to hold her?

I wasn't 100% sure that he was out of breeding condition, I'm still new to this and am still learning. I know that Sky most definately is in breeding condition though. I also thought that if they were so keen on having eggs by laying in a pot plant then I should give them the opportunity to do so. Besides I could not have been certain that even by disposing of the eggs and removing the plant that she would have attempted to lay some where else. I took what I thought was the safest option for her and her eggs. As for the eggs being pushed aside I think it was in the middle of a rotation as when I looked later they were all in the middle again. How many eggs are too many though, she has laid 11 and he was asking for some more action again today? Is it possible that they can lay a second clutch whilst still on the first lot of eggs? I mean this is getting really silly now. Basically when is enough enough? Anne Marie

So here's the thing, one of my birds has had scaly feet, started treatment with olive oil, it is working her feet look heaps better, but when I went to feed them this morning she has lost alot of feathers. Around her beak, around her legs, up her stomach, and on her back. She is sick, this I know as she is now fluffed up with tail bobbing and she is lethargic. All in one night. Her poos still look normal. Have not seen her eat anything, she was late yesterday. She is still perching on the highest perch, and still has ability to fly. No chirping (never has been a talker though) oh and her wings are hanging down real low. Avain vet unfortuntely is out of question, closest one is nearly an hour away and I have no car, hubby took it to work and he won't be home until 6pm. Have I done something to cause this by treating her feet? She was in a cage with 2 other birds who are in perfect health. Been keeping a closer eye on them but they are fine. I have her inside with a lamp, and some water and seed. Pesky cats have finally gone. Advice please. Anne Marie

she is up to number 11. There is no room left in her concave and she has pushed 3 eggs over to the side. Two of which are infertile, the other a nice white one. I really don't think Budge is in breeding condition and said so when I first mentioned about her having laid two eggs. I have looked at his cere now compared to when I took a photo of him for you guys and his cere is now a much lighter blue then before. I really think these new eggs are probably infertile as well. The first egg was suppose to hatch yesterday, my guess is if any were of any use it would have been the first few, then again maybe I am being impatient for the eggs to hatch. That is why I mentioned about leaving them for a week, if none hatch then none good.

Yes that is similiar to Sky's eggs though I would say not that dark. Then again it could have been the light as well. So what do I do? Leave the eggs, take the eggs, wait a week???

I know I am no expert but one of my dad's finches had a similar problem and it was caused by a mosquito bite. The finch is completely paralysed in one leg, luckly dad can still use her as a breeding hen.

okay went and had a quick look and from what I can tell all of the eggs seem to be a really nice white colour except definately 3 maybe 4, they are still white but are not as bright, hard to explain really, all I can say is they are not brown, they are still white just a different white to the others. How many eggs can a bird lay? I believe Sky is going for number 11. Looking a bit big in the bum.

What if I leave them another week. If none hatch in time then I remove all the eggs, remove the box, and leave the birds in the cage for a week. I will then stick with my original plan and prepare for some eggs in September. Oh and I'll remove that plant that Sky thought was a good nesting spot as well. In one of my other posts I mentioned that Sky laid two eggs in a plant in the avairy, I placed the eggs into a nest box, and put them and the box into a spare cage, as I was unable to bring the cage inside due to cat sitting I kept the cage in the avairy where they could still be protected from most of the elements.

I am not able to candle all the eggs as she has so many and I am unable to tell with the ones in the middle. That is why I said about taking them out so I could see them. I know you are not suppose to touch the eggs but wearing something like a latex glove should be alright shouldn't it? Or maybe if I remove just the ones that I know are infertile and leave the others a bit longer, I really don't know. I could always leave them in their cage a little longer and just remove the nest box. The cage is already in the avairy, I was just going to open the door and let them come out when they were ready.

I was thinking about taking the eggs out and checking each one at a time if any are fertile I will return the whole lot but if all are infertile I was just going to let mum and dad back into the avairy. Sky won't become depressed or anything like that if I was to take the eggs would she?

Hi all, Just been to check Sky's eggs and I'm fairly certain that the 5 out of 10 eggs I checked were infertile. The light just shines straight through the egg. The first egg was due to hatch about the 8th but adding on an extra 2 days that would have been yesterday. Anyways my question is: Should I leave the eggs with Sky or should I take the whole lot off her and try again when I was originally going to (around September)? I don't think she should be wasting her energy sitting on nothing but on the same token I would hate to upset her to much by taking the eggs away. Any help would be much appreciated. Anne Marie

Hi Robyn, Thanks for the help. I do believe Sky is heading for egg seven today, I hope not I just want her to stop laying before she runs out of room. I really hope I don't have to do any life-saving but if needed I will do what I can. Anne Marie

My son holding his cousin okay how about a funny photo one to make us all laugh

Hi Splat, I just read this and I am so sorry that he is sick, I hope he gets well soon, I would give you some advice but firstly I don't think I am qualified and second I don't think you would need advice as you seem fairly clued into these birds. So good luck and I hope all ends well for you both. Anne Marie (hope that dosen't sound too corny :question: )

:rofl: groan, groan, groan :question:

Thanks for all the replies. I feel really stupid at the moment letting Sky lay these eggs, I should have got rid of the ones she laid in the plant and be done with it. Unfortunately I couldn't bring myself to do that. I believe that if Sky wanted to have babies and I prevented her from doing so she would get upset even depressed (all animals have feelings and emotions, so I believe anyway). So now that she is laying and sitting and waiting I figure I had better do everything that I am able to do to help her. Do the eggs hatch around the same time of day that they were laid? If so, well I would be looking between 2:30pm and 5:00pm as somewhere between these times is when she has laid all of her eggs. Still mostly daylight I suppose. Maybe if I wrap an extra blanket around the actual nestbox to help keep the chicks warm, do you think this would help or scare the birds? Just a thought. Again thanks for the help it is much appreciated. Anne Marie

I have to admit Kaz I love that hen. She has gorgeous colouring. I'm trying not to worry about Sky and her babies, but I'm the kind of person that thinks of the worst possible scenario so that when things happen it tends to not be that bad and I feel a little better. Yes I do expect some of the chicks to die or not to hatch and at the moment I guess I would be happy if she only even has one. I only want Sky to do one round so when would be a good time to take her away from the babies. I was thinking when they are getting ready to fledge but not sure. I don't want to take her away too early. Suppose I should wait though the eggs haven't even hatched yet. See I worry unnecessarily about the stupidest things. I call it being prepared. Sorry rambling abit now. Thanks for all the advice and whatnot it is much appreciated. Anne marie

Thanks for that RJT I really do feel a bit silly but I'm trying to not upset Sky too much. I limit my veiwing of the nestbox to twice a day. Unfortunately I'm now getting concerned for when the chicks hatch. There are six eggs and by the time the last one hatches I'm thinking the older ones will kill it (assuming that many hatches), I don't have any other birds to foster the eggs to so am really unsure what to do at the moment. Anne marie

One that my daughter told her class when she was in year one. Why did the cane toad cross the road? To see his flatmate.

Hi Kaz, Thanks for the reply, at the moment I am absolutely paranoid with the silly bird. If it had been my choice I would have waited until summer for her to have babies, but alas it was not meant to be. I keep thinking that maybe the eggs aren't fertile or that one of them is going to addle or eat the eggs etc.. She is sitting well only ever see her now when I go into feed them in the morning and at night when covering them up. Fingers crossed I really do feel like a first time mum with her. (feel quite silly really.) Anne Marie

Hi, Just wondering about Sky's eggs. We had a frost last night which sent everything white and froze all the water in the water containers, bird baths even the dogs water. Wanted to know if Sky was unable to keep the eggs warm would she still be sitting on them or would she realise they got cold and push them to the side? She is still nesting and is now upto egg number six. Anne Marie