Hi everyone. I'm a beginner breeder and am just wondering if anyone knows how to tell if eggs that have been laid are viable? I have an olive green cock and hen and they started courting as soon as i put them together. My hen has laid 5 eggs in total and she has been sitting on them for awhile now. The cock is feeding her and she only occasionally comes out of the nest box. I just think it is coming up to 3 weeks that the eggs have been in there and i'm just wondering if there is a way to tell if there are baby budgies happening inside the eggs?? I don't want to remove them if they do contain babies!!!! Help please!!

At this stage you would be having hatchings either right now or any day soon.

You can tell by colour difference

fertile egg on the left and non fertile egg on the right.

 

See the difference in colour ?

 

 

You can candle eggs but since they are due to hatch if fetile I wouldnt be touching them now.

 

You can get the hen out of the nest for awhile and shine a bright torch behind each egg pointing forward to where you are looking from ( dont touch or shift the eggs by hand ). If nearly due you will see most of the egg or around two thirds of the egg looking dar inside and around one third being an air bubble sort of.

eggs take 18-21 days from the moment the hen sat continuously to keep them warm

Edited February 6, 201015 yr by KAZ

as Kaz said, you can candle them. It takes approx 18 days for them to hatch. Mine are sitting on 5 eggs too and they were the same as yours, though yours started before mine.

Hi Lisa211! Welcome to the forum!

 

I hope you stick around. There is a lot you can learn here, and it is fun.

 

If you haven't already, go to the faqs section. There are a whole lot of topics you can read there about breeding. And the welcome center is helpful, too. -Finnie

At this stage you would be having hatchings either right now or any day soon.

You can tell by colour difference

fertile egg on the left and non fertile egg on the right.

 

See the difference in colour ?

 

 

You can candle eggs but since they are due to hatch if fetile I wouldnt be touching them now.

 

You can get the hen out of the nest for awhile and shine a bright torch behind each egg pointing forward to where you are looking from ( dont touch or shift the eggs by hand ). If nearly due you will see most of the egg or around two thirds of the egg looking dar inside and around one third being an air bubble sort of.

eggs take 18-21 days from the moment the hen sat continuously to keep them warm

 

I had a look at the eggs and i know that you said not touch them but i wasn't sure of the colour so i took one out so i could have a look closer with the torch. Inside there seemed to be about 3/4 a darker substance with the rest being a bubble. I'm not too sure if the darker substance might just be yolk?? Also what will happen now that i have touched the egg?? Hope i haven't upset the mum too much!! Also if the eggs arn't viable would the hen be upset if they were removed?

Just to be on the safe side, I would not even think of removing the eggs until well after they were due to hatch. Many forum members have told how they thought their eggs woudn't hatch, only to find a few day later that they did.

 

I would just leave them alone, and wait. And wait. And wait.

 

Do you know the exact date the last egg was laid? I would wait at least until 4 weeks after that date, because even if the early ones are infertile, you don't know which ones were the last laid, and they could be good for a long time, still.

Dont touch the eggs. Read how I described hoiw to candle with a torch....a torch behind the egg pointing forward to where you look is how to do it.

Sounds like fertile eggs to me.

 

again.........do not touch or move the eggs

Edited February 6, 201015 yr by KAZ

Dont touch the eggs. Read how I described hoiw to candle with a torch....a torch behind the egg pointing forward to where you look is how to do it.

Sounds like fertile eggs to me.

 

again.........do not touch or move the eggs

 

 

 

i have taken a photo of the eggs. How do i put the picture on here? When i go to insert image it comes up that i have to enter a http address. Help please.

Are you using photobucket? If you have an account upload the picture onto photobucket. Then edit and go into your album. Run your mouse over the image and copy the IMG code. Then paste it in when your posting. It took me a while to work it out, but eventually I got it.

Dont touch the eggs. Read how I described hoiw to candle with a torch....a torch behind the egg pointing forward to where you look is how to do it.

Sounds like fertile eggs to me.

 

again.........do not touch or move the eggs

 

 

 

i have taken a photo of the eggs. How do i put the picture on here? When i go to insert image it comes up that i have to enter a http address. Help please.

Read in my signature....the link on how to post pictures.

Dont touch the eggs. Read how I described hoiw to candle with a torch....a torch behind the egg pointing forward to where you look is how to do it.

Sounds like fertile eggs to me.

 

again.........do not touch or move the eggs

 

 

 

i have taken a photo of the eggs. How do i put the picture on here? When i go to insert image it comes up that i have to enter a http address. Help please.

Read in my signature....the link on how to post pictures.

 

 

 

Here is my piccie of my hens first eggs. Do they look right?

Dont touch the eggs. Read how I described hoiw to candle with a torch....a torch behind the egg pointing forward to where you look is how to do it.

Sounds like fertile eggs to me.

 

again.........do not touch or move the eggs

 

 

 

i have taken a photo of the eggs. How do i put the picture on here? When i go to insert image it comes up that i have to enter a http address. Help please.

Read in my signature....the link on how to post pictures.

 

 

 

Here is my piccie of my hens first eggs. Do they look right?

Great job posting the pictures Did you use a flash ? If so the colours arent natural and its hard to tell. I would hazard a guess and say fertile.....but a photo without flash is better.

Edited February 7, 201015 yr by KAZ

Thank you everybody for your help. I think i will wait 2 more weeks and see what happens! Its all just so exciting. Its like waiting for your own babies!!

Yeah, I know the feeling