I have one pair of budgies who finally took an interest in their nestbox. The female laid six eggs about 3 - 4 weeks ago and has been sitting on them constantly. The male guards the box and feeds her - very attentive. I started wondering if the eggs were fertile, so broke one (hadn't seen the instructions here yet about how to tell) and it was definitely fertile, but the embryo was not fully formed and I think was dead.

 

What would cause the chicks to die in the shell? How long should i wait before just removing the eggs? I feel bad for the parents - they are working so hard at this.

 

thanks!

Jill

Hello,

 

Each egg takes about 18 - 21 days of incubation to hatch, so If they haven't hatched after the 21 days...

 

You should candle them to see if they're fertile or just duds, as for being dead in shell, I'm not much help, I'm new to breeding as well.

 

But someone on here is bound to know more about this.

 

Good luck!

Edited October 20, 201113 yr by ParakeetVal

A dead in shell chick causes the outside shell to become stained. You said 3-4 weeks too..........if you are that unsure of the dates you should have never opened one of the eggs.

 

Each egg takes 18-21 days from point of incubation, so if one or two of the eggs are overdue the others may not be.

Fertile eggs appear as a solid white look where an infertile eggs appears peachy coloured.

Learning what to look for and candle is a real good idea.

 

Eggs can become dead in shell by being knocked all around in the nesting box, by hens getting off their eggs for too long, by hens being frightened by lightning and thunder, by chicks just dying partway through incubation due to inherited illnesses or lack of something vital.

 

 

JMG, on 21 October 2011 - 04:31 AM, said:

I have one pair, the female laid 6 eggs and sat on them faithfully, but they are dead in shell. Appear to have died early in gestation. Parents eat zupreem pellets with occasional greens and hard boiled eggs. Doesn't seem like there should have been a nutritional deficiency. Any suggestions welcome! Thanks.

 

No seed ? Just pellets ? If you are only using pellets I question the belief in full nutrition

Edited October 21, 201113 yr by **KAZ**