The female of my breeding pair laid one egg, and then for some reason, (I don't know why) decided to wait another 8 days before laying the second, third, and so on in her clutch of 6..If all the eggs hatch, would the size difference between baby 1 and the rest be a problem?

It would depend on the day she starts to Incubate. I had a hen so this and there was just over a week from the first to last and she had no issues with the clutch, you also might find that the first egg does not hatch but if you are really worried you can take it out.

Well, she started to incubate from the first egg. So there's a bit over a week's difference from the first to the second, around 2 weeks from the first to the last..And I can't really remove it now, the last egg was laid yesterday and the first is now due to hatch today-Friday.

Might be a good idea to candle the eggs and see which are fertile. Maybe the first one isnt.

Well, the birds pretty much never let me touch the eggs lol..She's always sitting on them, and on the few times she isn't, the second she sees me coming she jumps into the nest again..I'll just wait until it is overdue and if it hasn't hatched by then it's probably infertile..Assuming that it isn't, and that they all hatch, what should I do then?

I have had tiny ones in a nest of larger ones with no probs. Best bet is to have some handrearing formula on hand just incase and if it looks like the tiny ones are missing out take the biggest one or two out and finish rearing them yourself.

 

Another method I have used is to hold the larger ones while she feeds the littlies and then put the big ones back but you need to make sure they don't miss out alltogether (not likely as they will generally harrass for food at that stage) Or you can also put the older couple in a seperate cage with dad if he is feeding and leave mum with the little ones.

Edited October 7, 200816 yr by melbournebudgies

When my little one was not getting feed then I put him in with Dad for a night and no issues.

 

 

Just watch them, taking the older ones out for a bit and letting the younger ones catch up is a good idea, just don't take them out for two long.

I believe if you want to candle you can gently shoo out the hen from the box and then candle them, it may stress her a little bit but then you would know or you can just wait and see .

I had a hen that laid 1 egg then started laying the rest of the clutch a week later. I candled the eggs and found that the 1st and the 3rd eggs were fertile. This meant there would have been 9 days between the first 2 chicks. I fostered the 1st egg so I don't know if she would have managed with the age difference but I have had them hatch with a 7 day space and they have managed

I had 8 days between chicks in summer - it was a small clutch of 3 and they all were fine :fly:

I agree with the others. As long as they are all being fed it doesn't matter how many days apart they are. You figure if you have a clutch of just 5 eggs by the time the last one hatches the frist one is almost 10 days old, so size difference is always a factor in all clutches. I agree with the others about fostering if necessary or if you have a hen that already has eggs due to hatch any time now or has a chick or two hatched out already put the first egg with her and it will hatch in the middle of all her babies and be in same size comparison to her chicks. Good luck.