I went out into the avairy today and discovered Matilda has laid 3 eggs!!!!! :nest: I can't belive it. I don't know who the father is because Poppy(who i thought was female) and Harvey both jump in and out of the box and feed Matilda.

So what happens now? I'm not sure how long she has had them although i do go out everyday to check on them etc. How long do I have to wait until the bubbies hatch?

 

I guess i will just have to wait and see what happens. It has been really cold here at night so i am preparing myself for the worse.

 

 

When they do hatch what should i do?

If Matilda is pied bright yellow and green, and Harvey is blue what will the babies be like? or if the father Poppy is pied lemon yellow and teal what will they be like? (don't ya just love my lingo?) hehehe

There are pics of these birds in my flock section of the forum.

Well i'm very excited!!! Will keep you posted on how things are going and I would love all the advice you awesome people can give.

 

Thanks Jodie

Hi Im Jodie,(he, funny that)

The incubation period of an egg is around 18 days. when they do hatch the mum will take care of them like feed them ect. then when they start living outside opf the nest box you can start thinking about selling them. you can sell them to the petshop or privatly if you like. or if you want to keep them that is also okay. but if not try not to get attached. it can be hard letting them go.

Edited August 1, 200619 yr by budgie

As budgie said the eggs should hatch in about 18 days. The hen lays an egg every other day so the chicks should hatch two days apart. They will stay in the nest box until they are about 28 to 34 days old. This is when they will start to leave the nest. They really won't be fully fledged until around 42 days old. The parents or more liking the father will feed them after they leave the nest.

okay so basically i just gotta be patient!!! Something i'm not really good at :bluebudgie:

 

This might be a dumb question but my breeding boxes are up high on the back shelf of the aviary, when the babies leave the nest they won't get hurt getting out will they? Once they do come out should i put them in a cage out of the avairy to keep them off the floor. (we have micey prob and would hate something bad to happen)

 

Am i paranoid or what? :hap: hehehe

 

Oh yeah and how soon can i touch them? The mum won't reject them if i do? :bluebudgie:

I handle mine around the week and half mark, once they have the fluff on their bodies they are okay to handle. If only for a short time around 5-10 mins the mother should reject them, I say shouldn't becuase every hen is different. Check the box each day if another egg appears you can count back and work out when the first one will be due for hatching.