I have a nut job of a hen who has chosen to ignore the nest box and lay her eggs on the cage floor in the corner underneath a seed cup. She has layed 9 but broke 2 so she is sitting on 7. I took out the insert from the box (the part with the nest depression) and she let me move her eggs into it as she was having a real problem getting the eggs under her on a flat surface...as soon as she'd get one under her, one would role out the other side. The male hasn't been doing a fabulous job of feeding her but he's trying and to help her along I've made sure to put handfulls of seed, millet sprigs and veggies within easy reach of her when she's on her eggs. This all seems to be helping. I finally found another light to candle the eggs (I lost my usual one) and of the seven, only one looked infertile. Two looked like they are fairly well developed but had big blank spaces (?air bubbles???) at one end which I'm thinking might mean they are no longer viable...is that likely true? Three looked fertile and hopefully fine but one let us see something that gave us a true "aaaaaaaaaaaaawe" moment...a beating baby budgie heart! It was a very beautiful moment for us all....the beginning of a new life...so sweet. Not sure if she'll be able to bring this group of chicks to fruition with the awkward nest choice she has made but we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Edited January 10, 201015 yr by defieldsfamily

:sadsorry:

That is so neat!