Hi i was wanting some advice on what to do when the next egg hatches. A bit of back ground, i have 4pairs breeding in a cabinet set up, 1st cage has 3 babies and 1 egg left to hatch supposedly today sometime(so maybe no more babies for this cage), 2nd cage has 5 babies and the 3rd cage is where my problem is. It has 6 fertile eggs 2 hatched the same day yesterday day 21 for one egg and day 19 for the other. The hen was great at sitting on the eggs but after finding the 2 babies in one day and checking 12 hours later 1 had died and i removed it the other dying a couple of hours later,they were both pushed into a corner and the hen is happily sitting on the other 4 eggs. So come this morning for my check in and another baby has hatched, at my 2 pm check in its still not fed and pushed in the corner same story, this time i fostered it out to my 1st cage, but they seem to be ignoring it ??? what am i todo if and when the other 3 eggs hatch?. the 4th cage has a 1st time hen sitting on 4 eggs with the 4th laid today so really just starting her clutch.

Do you think taking the eggs and putting them under another hen in the other cages?

 

You're advice is most appreciated.

Kylie

Hi Can I suggest you mark the eggs so you know when they are laid. Say a, 1.2.3. etc with a note to tell you what date

 

each egg was laid. This will make it easier for you when & if you decide to swop eggs around. Or let her carry on.

 

Some hens don't seem to get the hang of raising chicks first time around. Then again it may be she resents your

 

intrusion into her nest.& it upsets her. Advice on bird conduct is at best only speculation, no matter who it's from.

 

You know your birds better than anyone else, so any decision must be yours. Yours B.J.

You could try swapping the new born chicks for older ones from the other pairs. Sometimes a young hen will learn to feed a chick better if the chick is a few days old. If you try this check the nest regularly to be sure the chick is being fed. Make sure to provide plenty of soft food

How old are each of your breeding budgies ?

Thanks for the replies, just letting you know the 3rd baby died today in cage 1 just not fed. Its a bit disheartening that cage 3 have had 3 babies hatch in 2 days and all 3 died.

To answer the help i've got , all the eggs are marked and i do write down dates i find the eggs and i do check at least twice a day morning and night and maybe a little more often now that this is happening.

All my pairs I've put down to bred are all over 18 months old this pair in cage 3 i have had them for 2 years I've just never bred them before.

Neville as much as i would love this pair to parent the other babies i couldn't stand if i put a perfectly fed older chick in with them and they hurt or just didn't bother to feed it , so if i did this how often would you check in and how long if its not being fed would you leave it before taking it back out?

All my cage and even my aviary birds are extremely spoilt with fresh fruit and veg, Egg and biscuit and seed of course, cuttlefish, water and a calcium bell Millet in the boxes as per Kazs advice ( i promise I've read this forum and all the tips given) all checked and refreshed daily.The other cages the parents are doing a great job with me only removing 2 clear eggs and 1 DIS out of 22 eggs so far ohh and now 3 dead babies *cringe*.

Thanks again for the help and i will let you know what happens to the other 3 eggs.

Hi again. After reading your reply. Your doing all the right things. Except... & this is just my own opinion. Your into the nest

 

boxes a little often. As I said, some birds don't like too much interference. To them your a possible predator raiding their

 

nest box. Yours B.J.

Checking nestboxes morning and night is normal and good practice..............and if it was me and I had that going on....I, too, would be checking middle of the day too.

I dont consider you are overchecking the nestbox under the circumstances.

Hi, I was assuming that Kylie's birds were bought in stock & not owner bred birds.

 

Which are used to our careful daily inspections of nest boxes. Plus the fact that we

 

are not able to see exactly what Kyie means by inspection of boxes, or how Kyli's hens

 

react. It was the only helpful thing I could think of Yours B.J.

Edited April 30, 201213 yr by Bird Junky

Thanks again.. this place is great for information and advice is really appreciated.

The 1st cages egg hatched today, well it was hatched and egg shell thrown out of the box i almost cringed having a look as i was afraid of what might be going on .

My boxes in the cabinet are slide out open boxes so i just peeped and the hen was feeding the new baby so thats good news.

BJ i could agree in the last 2 days I've been peeping in the boxes a bit often so it might well be exactly that.So far today i've checked once and will again before dark.

My birds i buy from breeders never a pet shop, because i like to ask maybe more questions then i should about colours and how they've got there set up etc.I have actually found the breeders are extremely nice and more then willing to have a chat.

you never know i might just join my local club .

thanks again Kylie

Neville as much as i would love this pair to parent the other babies i couldn't stand if i put a perfectly fed older chick in with them and they hurt or just didn't bother to feed it , so if i did this how often would you check in and how long if its not being fed would you leave it before taking it back out?

I would check the nest a couple of times during the first 15 minutes after adding an older chick and then every hour until you are sure it's being fed. An older chick will beg for food to encourage the hen to feed it. If it is not fed by the end of the first day either hand feed the chick or return it to it's own parents. If the hen is keeping the chick warm but not feeding it you could feed the chick with a syringe and leave it for another day to see if she will start feeding.

 

 

This method is often used successfully by breeders

 

Checking the boxes several times a day is never a problem if the birds are used to you checking. I check all nests at least twice a day from when the first egg is expected

 

 

Edited May 1, 201213 yr by Neville

Hi Kylie, sounds a bit like the rock and hard place. If cage 3 hatched any other chicks I think I would watch for a little while to see if she pushes it out.

If so I think I would grab it and put it in with cage 1 again, if chick is active she may feed it as it's about same as her own. I had one I thought I'd lose a few days ago. In desperation I fed it a drop or two warm water and honey. It picked up a bit and then Mum fed it, it's going great guns now.

If Mum/ cage 1 again doesn't feed it I suppose you could try a bit of hand feeding, to see if it picks up a bit and then try her again.

 

Good luck with it, it's hard when you wait 3 weeks for chicks and end up losing them.

I agree with the others about giving supplemental feedings. It sounds like in addition to not feeding them, the hen is also not keeping them warm. It sounds a lot like a maiden hen who just doesn't know what she's doing. I've had some like that, and the next time around they did great. (I waited 6 months before trying again). But it's heartbreaking and worrying to lose the first round.

 

I hope the fostering and supplemental feeding works well for you.

 

Well, seeing as it's been over a week, how did it go?