A friend of mine has an aviary with no breeding box's, as he does not want to get into breeding. But recently he put a hollowed out log in the aviary and one of the hens has made a nest and layed some eggs. So he wants to know what he should do. My initail thought was nothing, as this is a natural thing and I am sure the hen will do what needs to be done......BUT.... I said I would ask you guys the question.

So should he just leave the eggs alone and will the hen do the feeding and stuff?

What to do?

 

Steve

Edited April 30, 200817 yr by Elly
u = you please no shortcuts only approved one in the guidelines, thank you

it all depends on if he wants and is prepared to take over for them if something goes wrong? or if he knows what he'll be doing with the offspring and if he has enough knowledge?

Your friend has caused the breeding to occur by putting something in the aviary that resembles a nest to a budgie. Just because it isnt a box does not mean the budgie will think its just a decorative log. Hope the budgie thats laid the eggs is old enough and not too old to be raising babies...12 months to 4 yrs being optimum.

Now he will have to wait it out for the 18-21 days of incubation and see what results. If there are other birds in there, you stand a good chance that another hen will decide she wants the log too and will smash and throw out the eggs and or maybe later on kill any babies in there to take possession of the log.

A budgies diet while breeding must be the very best including all kinds of vegies....but really it must be what they are getting ona daily basis anyway and especially leading up to breeding.

I think he will just wait and see what happends. He does not have many birds and can take the other hens out for a while if the eggs hatch. Then he will just keep an eye on them and hope the hen looks after them.

Also what happends to the eggs if there is no where to lay them? does the hen still produce eggs?

 

 

Steve

Edited May 1, 200817 yr by maesie
Shortcuts. Please try not to use them.

Also what happends to the eggs if there is no where to lay em? does the hen still produce eggs?

 

 

Steve

Hens lay eggs MOSTLY due to a place being available to her to lay eggs in and rear chicks. MOSTLY they wont lay eggs unless they have this place. In this case it was a log. If there is nothing in the aviary that resembles a nest then eggs generally do not occur. Some silly young hens will lay the odd egg off a perch but these drop and are no good. Budgie bonking occurs all the time. Recreational budgie sex is normal but eggs usually only happen if they have a place to raise babies. Not all budgie sex leads to eggs.

Edited April 30, 200817 yr by KAZ

I think they should take Basil Faulty's advise to Manuel...if they don't want to breed..."Throw it away" & throw them away.

I understadn your point of view Norm... but that would be hard for me to follow through...

why, in the first few days there's nothing in them... just like a chicken egg really, there's nothing to see yet... even though you know the sperm is in there it's not developing yet...

Do you eat eggs jimmy? those are unfertilised but what if one had had sperm in it that wasn't developed, you'd not even know yet, nor would the embryo who hadn't developed inside yet

I am with Norm. i think he should remove the eggs, and the log.

 

I have had situations where birds have wanted to have 2nd or 3rd clutches of eggs and I do not want them to. they have laid an egg and have started incubating it. I have noticed this egg has been layed, and not having anywhere to foster the egg, I have thrown i out and removed that birds nesting opportunities.

 

I personally think that is the most responsible thing to do. By not acting, it can be more harmful sometimes than acting is. it may seem harsh, but so often in life, the hard decisions are.

I personally think that is the most responsible thing to do. By not acting, it can be more harmful sometimes than acting is. it may seem harsh, but so often in life, the hard decisions are

I dont understand that way of thinking. I would of thought it was quite a natural thing for birds to mate and lay egg's, and raise their young, so why should'nt he just let nature take it coarse? Why wont the hen do whats needed to look after the new babies?

Because in the wild birds are free to access everything they need to keep them in breeding condition, in captivity birds are restricted to what they are fed. Unless your friend has been maintaining his birds in breeding condition and is willing to do what's needed to be done if necessary to help the hen then he shouldn't gt himself into it.

Does your friend actually know if the birds are old enough and not too old ? I was also wondering where the log is located...floor or hanging ? If it is large enough for chicks to grow in and not fall out of etc ?

I was also wondering where the log is located...floor or hanging ? If it is large enough for chicks to grow in and not fall out of etc ?

 

Good point, in the wild a bird would have lots of nest options available, in captivity they'll try and use a seed bowl if they are desperate enough! Just because she is nesting in it doesn't mean it's suitable.

If he never planned to breed & this accidental nest occurred in the log, jokes aside, it probably would be advisable to remove the log & the eggs, as if it is left to continue, the chances are pretty high that other hens will take the hint & seeing the log is the only hope, there could be fights & by the time anything is observed it could be too late & he could end up with dead hens, or at least damaged birds. If he wants to breed better to make a conscious decision & set things up right from the start.

Points taken. From what I know the birds are all at least 12 months old and the log is a bit off the ground wired onto the back of the aviary. Should he take the hen and the hatched chicks out once they hatch? and put them in a separate cage?

I wouldn’t think it’s advisable to remove birds with chicks until the young had quite a lot of feathers, as that could be disastrous & if let go for that time trouble could easily have occurred between some of the hens.

I had to remove a pair with eggs from my aviary recently. I moved them and their nest box with eggs in it into a smaller cage inside and they are very happy. If he wants to try moving them I would say it is best if he does it now. If he can send you a photo of the log to post we can maybe advise if it's suitable. There is nothing essentially wrong with a log, it just has to be the right log. If there are only a few other birds in the aviary and he intends to leave the hen with the eggs it would be better if he can move the other hens for the time being until the chicks fledge and the log can be removed.

I had to remove a pair with eggs from my aviary recently. I moved them and their nest box with eggs in it into a smaller cage inside and they are very happy. If he wants to try moving them I would say it is best if he does it now. If he can send you a photo of the log to post we can maybe advise if it's suitable. There is nothing essentially wrong with a log, it just has to be the right log. If there are only a few other birds in the aviary and he intends to leave the hen with the eggs it would be better if he can move the other hens for the time being until the chicks fledge and the log can be removed.

Good advice

I had to remove a pair with eggs from my aviary recently.

So u would need to remove both the mum and dad (hen and cock) birds? I think he has removed the 3 other hens from the aviary and will just hope the hen (and cock if he does anything?) will look after the chicks.

 

Steve

I had to remove a pair with eggs from my aviary recently.

So u would need to remove both the mum and dad (hen and cock) birds? I think he has removed the 3 other hens from the aviary and will just hope the hen (and cock if he does anything?) will look after the chicks.

 

Steve

If he has removed the others that should be fine Steve :hap: But is the log big enough to fit all the resulting growing chicks in it with Mum and Dad ? And can they fall out of the log ? Budgies dont always pick the best places to have babies.

Edited May 1, 200817 yr by KAZ

I have about 30 birds in my aviary Steve so it is much easier to remove a single pair than the rest of the birds

Just wondering why the pair? what does the cock do?

He helps feed the babies and in some cases also feeds the hen

He's a good fella then. Who said all males were hopeless

Thats the way budgies breed...the boys help by feeding the hens who are sitting on the eggs