Lime is laying again, and previous to her first egg I noticed Alex copulating Lime. So I thought, that's greyt! I know who the father is for sure. Then, Lemon *and* Alex began to mate with Lime and now I'm completely confused as to who is the legitimate father.

 

On a technical note, I know that a human woman is only fertilized by one male's sperm. After that, the egg is no longer permeable and all the other sperms are eventually killed. I'm wondering if the same holds true to birds. If so, then wouldn't Alex be the father? To complicate matters more, both Alex and Lemon share the burden of keeping watch on the nestbox and they both feed Lime. However, Lemon has always been a better dad and sometimes sticks his head inside. So, what do you think? I'm waiting for some daughters to be born because Alex is opaline and I'm fairly certain Lemon does not carry the opaline gene.

They're both the father. I think that some eggs will be one daddy's and others will belong to the other one.

They're both the father. I think that some eggs will be one daddy's and others will belong to the other one.

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Bea is correct or incorrect. Let me explain.

 

The female will deliver eggs every two days from the ovium. She would have save up the sperm to fertilise the eggs. As she has mated with a number of males. It would be difficult to determine the father except for DNA testing.

Also to remember is although you saw the act, it may or may not have been successful.

 

Reasons for Not succeeding in egg laying.

 

Recognising when our Budgerigars are in an active fertile cycle, or breeding condition, is not always an easy task. Even the most experienced breeders have put up birds that have failed to go to nest, been ?out of cycle?, or have not fertilised their eggs. In fact, some studies suggest that up to 76% of all infertile Budgerigar eggs laid in captive breeding programs are due to:

 

1. Failure to mate due to lack of pair bonding.

2. Incorrect apposition of genitalia during mating.

3. The cock or hen not being in a fertile cycle.

 

Hope this helps.

 

You will have to wait for the eggs to hatch and see what you have?

Edited May 7, 200520 yr by daz

See now, I was wondering if it was possible for a hen to be impregnanted by both fathers. Going through human biology course, like I said above, a woman's egg is impregnated only by one sperm. After that, the egg is no longer permeable and all other sperms die. Now, I know birds sort of 'store' the sperms, but would it be possible for some eggs to be impregnated by Alex's sperm and the others to be impregnated by the other sperm (this is assuming they both came into contact and all eggs are fertile)? I just find it hard to believe because I know the female body is rather hostile towards sperms, LOLOLOL. I *think* both fathers are in cycle, vibrant lightish blue marks their cycle, right? Well, I guess I'll have to wait until/if they hatch!