Hi all, the clutch of five from my first ever breeding attempt have all happily fledged and are eating superbly. The hen started laying her second round about 2 days before the last chick started leaving the nest.

 

She has currently laid 6 eggs, and is due to lay a 7th tomorrow (if there is to be one). The interesting thing is that with the exception of the 5th and 6th egg which are too early to tell, of the first 4 eggs, only the FIRST is fertile. I cant figure out why.

 

I have seen the birds mating quite frequently. Her first round of 6 eggs were all fertile and all hatched, the 6th dying from asphyxiation (siblings too large).

 

If all eggs were clear that might make sense, but it is apparent she was successfully mated as the first egg is fertile. Why not any more? As i said, eggs 5 & 6 are too early to tell, but i have a suspicion they too are clear.

 

Thoughts??

Hi all, the clutch of five from my first ever breeding attempt have all happily fledged and are eating superbly. The hen started laying her second round about 2 days before the last chick started leaving the nest.

 

She has currently laid 6 eggs, and is due to lay a 7th tomorrow (if there is to be one). The interesting thing is that with the exception of the 5th and 6th egg which are too early to tell, of the first 4 eggs, only the FIRST is fertile. I cant figure out why.

 

I have seen the birds mating quite frequently. Her first round of 6 eggs were all fertile and all hatched, the 6th dying from asphyxiation (siblings too large).

 

If all eggs were clear that might make sense, but it is apparent she was successfully mated as the first egg is fertile. Why not any more? As i said, eggs 5 & 6 are too early to tell, but i have a suspicion they too are clear.

 

Thoughts??

 

Couple of ideas for you ,

The Hen has held fertile sperm from the previous matings for the first egg to be fertile,

The young chicks that are out are interrupting the mating parents ,

The cock bird is worn out from feeding and not in condition to produce fertile sperm,

Pluck the cock birds feathers from the vent area so you have a more successful chance of mating, you can also do the hen.

Move the young out if they are feeding by themselves to a nappy cage so the parents can get back down to business.

Edited January 10, 200916 yr by Neat

Hi all, the clutch of five from my first ever breeding attempt have all happily fledged and are eating superbly. The hen started laying her second round about 2 days before the last chick started leaving the nest.

 

She has currently laid 6 eggs, and is due to lay a 7th tomorrow (if there is to be one). The interesting thing is that with the exception of the 5th and 6th egg which are too early to tell, of the first 4 eggs, only the FIRST is fertile. I cant figure out why.

 

I have seen the birds mating quite frequently. Her first round of 6 eggs were all fertile and all hatched, the 6th dying from asphyxiation (siblings too large).

 

If all eggs were clear that might make sense, but it is apparent she was successfully mated as the first egg is fertile. Why not any more? As i said, eggs 5 & 6 are too early to tell, but i have a suspicion they too are clear.

 

Thoughts??

 

Couple of ideas for you ,

The Hen has held fertile sprem from the previous matings for the first egg to be fertile,

The young chicks that are out are interupting the mating parents ,

The cock bird is worn out from feeding and not in condition to produce fertile sperm,

Pluck the cock birds feathers from the vent area so you have a more successful chance of mating, you can also do the hen.

Move the young out if they are feeding by themselves to a nappy cage so the parents can get back down to business.

 

 

Agree with what has be said above, you would also remove all eggs that arent fertile. she shall either lay more eggs or just sit on the ones that you leave are fertile. as you know she is a good mother you could then foster eggs to her if you wanted. All depends on how good a pair they are.

I'm sure I posted in this thread before. Anyways, I'd agree with lochlan too. Is there a chance that she didn't sit straight away on the other eggs and they might show signs of fertility in a day or two?

Hi all, the clutch of five from my first ever breeding attempt have all happily fledged and are eating superbly. The hen started laying her second round about 2 days before the last chick started leaving the nest.

 

She has currently laid 6 eggs, and is due to lay a 7th tomorrow (if there is to be one). The interesting thing is that with the exception of the 5th and 6th egg which are too early to tell, of the first 4 eggs, only the FIRST is fertile. I cant figure out why.

 

I have seen the birds mating quite frequently. Her first round of 6 eggs were all fertile and all hatched, the 6th dying from asphyxiation (siblings too large).

 

If all eggs were clear that might make sense, but it is apparent she was successfully mated as the first egg is fertile. Why not any more? As i said, eggs 5 & 6 are too early to tell, but i have a suspicion they too are clear.

 

Thoughts??

 

Couple of ideas for you ,

The Hen has held fertile sprem from the previous matings for the first egg to be fertile,

The young chicks that are out are interupting the mating parents ,

The cock bird is worn out from feeding and not in condition to produce fertile sperm,

Pluck the cock birds feathers from the vent area so you have a more successful chance of mating, you can also do the hen.

Move the young out if they are feeding by themselves to a nappy cage so the parents can get back down to business.

 

My apologies, i should further clarify.

 

*The young chicks are in a nursery cage, away from the parents. At the time of laying, only the last chick remained with the parents and was removed to the nursery before the second egg was laid.

*The hen started sitting fully after egg 2 was laid.

*Both cock and hen have had feathers plucked about 3 days before the first egg was laid as i expected a second round soon.

 

Having read your post however, i wonder if the idea about the cock bird being tired or out of condition is a possibility. Sounds plausible at least. Either he was just coming out of condition or into it at the time of laying and his sperm count was low. Or perhaps he has no sperm currently, and the hen did somehow retain sperm from the last successful mating of round one.

 

Tricky indeed. I may just remove the eggs that are clear, given that beyond all reasoning some should have shown veins by now (eggs, 2 and 3, possibly 4).

 

Any other ideas or suggestions? Its a shame i have no other pairs with eggs to foster under this great hen, or to foster her fertile egg to. Such is the way with breeding budgies i suppose!

 

Oh, one further question. I have two males that are my best cocks, yet they spend all their time preening and feeding each other (ie they appear homosexual for all intents and purposes, having never shown interest in any hens). Would anyone advise putting one of these cocks with the hen (after removing the eggs if it comes to that) and trying for a 3rd and final round of eggs?

 

It's hard to get things right with so few budgies, given they are sometimes fickle :thumbs_down: Thanks for your help!

Edited January 11, 200916 yr by Neat

Oh, one further question. I have two males that are my best cocks, yet they spend all their time preening and feeding eachother (ie they appear homosexual for all intents and purposes, having never shown interest in any hens). Would anyone advise putting one of these cocks with the hen (after removing the eggs if it comes to that) and trying for a 3rd and final round of eggs?

 

Two cock birds will often bond in the flight but if they are put in separate breeding cages with a hen each they will usually bond with the hen without any problem

 

I think you have got the answers to your other questions.

okay here is where we are currently at.

 

Egg #1 is fertile, and has a little embryo moving around. I removed eggs #2,3 & 4 as they were definitely infertile. Egg #5 is or was fertile. I say was, because it definitely was, but when i shone the torch in the nest today, i saw a ring of blood that goes right around the middle of the egg. If i recall correctly, this means something has gone wrong with the embryo and it is now dead. Correct?? If so i will want to throw this as soon as i get confirmation, as the hen has started laying to replace the eggs i tossed.

 

She laid an 8th egg today, and it is too early for me to tell if egg #6 and 7 are fertile. I just shine the torch over each egg while mum is out feeding, as i am familiar with the veining that comes with fertile eggs after a few days and don't need to handle them.

 

Is it quite common to have egg #1 fertile, a few infertile, then a few more fertile? I will certainly be happy if even one chick hatches and survives, i am just hoping to reduce wastage by clearing infertile eggs (of course i would love more fertile ones to be laid if possible and if it doesn't strain the mother too much - she is a great hen).

 

Thanks again for your assistance. By the way, does anyone have a link to videos demonstrating egg candling? I had a link but it no longer works, and its a pain because i wanted to double check the video where they show the blood ring

Edited January 10, 200916 yr by Neat

Hi all, the clutch of five from my first ever breeding attempt have all happily fledged and are eating superbly. The hen started laying her second round about 2 days before the last chick started leaving the nest.

 

She has currently laid 6 eggs, and is due to lay a 7th tomorrow (if there is to be one). The interesting thing is that with the exception of the 5th and 6th egg which are too early to tell, of the first 4 eggs, only the FIRST is fertile. I cant figure out why.

 

I have seen the birds mating quite frequently. Her first round of 6 eggs were all fertile and all hatched, the 6th dying from asphyxiation (siblings too large).

 

If all eggs were clear that might make sense, but it is apparent she was successfully mated as the first egg is fertile. Why not any more? As i said, eggs 5 & 6 are too early to tell, but i have a suspicion they too are clear.

 

Thoughts??

 

Couple of ideas for you ,

The Hen has held fertile sprem from the previous matings for the first egg to be fertile,

The young chicks that are out are interupting the mating parents ,

The cock bird is worn out from feeding and not in condition to produce fertile sperm,

Pluck the cock birds feathers from the vent area so you have a more successful chance of mating, you can also do the hen.

Move the young out if they are feeding by themselves to a nappy cage so the parents can get back down to business.

 

 

Lochlan fantastic reply - It is great to read what members have learnt - replied in questions .......

 

I had posted Videos for egg candling - But the websites are working

Edited January 11, 200916 yr by Neat
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