3 budgies eggs now, help?

The first night I found 1 budgie egg in the box, and I assume it was laid that morning. Well for 2 days after I found that, there was nothing, maybe even 3 days later, now it's been awhile (I'm not quite sure how many days it's been) now I see there is 3 eggs. Was the first one not fertile? Are they from the same clutch? Because after that the 2 still mated and with canaries, supposedly the eggs are not fertile if they are still mating after the eggs are laid. She's constantly on the eggs that's why it's so hard to check how many eggs there are!! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-Mandi

 

Hi one of my pair used to lay an egg then not lay anymore for 4days she had 10in total and all where fertile and they were still mating.

All you can do is if the eggs have been in the nest for more than 3days you can candle them to see if they are fertile.

Hold the egg gently between your finger and thumb and using a torch or bright light place the egg next to it if its fertile you will see what we call a spiders web since this is what the developing embryos look like.

Even if not fertile leave the eggs with the pair for the full incubation period as she will only lay more eggs to replace the ones missing and this will use up her calcium reserves.

Mike

 

Yay, there is still hope!

Hey Mike, thanks for the hopeful info! She's still extremely protective of her eggs, she's fine towards the other birds but as soon as you stand up (she's in my room) she darts straight for her nest box. Is there any way I can be sure she's getting plenty to eat? She comes out every once in awhile, and the male feeds her...but is this enough for her? Also, I was wondering if I would be able to candle my finch eggs, she's got 5 now and should be due to hatch right around th 19th of this month. The third egg was laid January 5...so did I calculate that correctly? I'd love to candle the finch eggs, but I don't really know how touchy they are with their eggs, if they will abandon the nest or not. I haven't checked for more eggs yet today, because I open the lid and she sprawls all over the eggs and I can't tell. I feel bad to chase her out, so I just try to sneek a peak when she's off the nest (which was only the one time!) It's hard to check when mom's in there! But I'm glad she's like this, because that tells me she should be a good mom! Well thanks in advance to any replies! Bye!
-Mandi

 

Hi yeah she will be getting enough food as when she comes out of the nest she will eat as much as she can and since the male is feeding her also she is getting more than enough.

You can candle the finch eggs but you need to take more care when handling these eggs as they are very fragile.
If you do not want to take the eggs out of the nest since you have an open top nest when the parents are off the eggs shine a torch at an angle at the eggs and if they are fertile they will be reddish colour inside the further on in development the chick is the darker it will be.

I prefer to hold them like i say as long as your very gentle there should be no problem.

Finch's dont usually incubate until the 2nd or 3rd egg has benn laid so if the eggs are fertile this would make them ready to hatch anytime from the 19 onwards but if non have hatched 25days after the last egg was laid then chances are they will not it has been know for the first clutch of finch eggs to be failures but this is not all the time..

Birds Protective of there nest and eggs are usually very good parents so do n ot take this aggression personally as this is there defence mechanism to protect there home.

Good luck and i hope all turns out well for you..

Mike

 

more on the eggs...

Hey everyone,
I attempted to candle my finch eggs, but had a bit of difficulty getting the eggs out of the nest (the opening is kinda small!) and I ended up breaking one egg :cry: I feel soooooooooo terrible, I don't want to upset the parents. I figured she'd abandon the nest, but I don't think all birds can tell how many eggs there are or are not. As soon as I got out of there she was right back on the nest and has carried on as usual with her daily routines. As far as I can see, the eggs seem to be darker than before, so I believe they are fertile. But as you say the first clutch is always very iffy...hopefully they'll hatch tho.
As far as my budgies go, she's got 4 eggs and there is only one that I can see veins in. I'm not sure if it's because it was the first one laid, or because the other 3 aren't fertile. I've no clue which was laid first, I didn't mark them. I was glad to see that she was a very aggresive mother guarding her nest, I felt that would make her a good mother. I also think the father will be a great help too! Well I'll keep you all updated and let you know if I get any more budgie eggs. (Hopefully)
I also got my new female gouldian finch, unfortunately I lost my original female Christmas Eve. Now I've got a new companion for my male and they've become good friends! The breeder I got her from says if I've got 12 hours of light for her there's a good chance she'll lay. (I've got my fingers crossed) She was free because she lost one foot...so its not genetic. He says she's a good mom, and she raises her own babies. Most Gouldian's won't raise their own. So I'm happy with her. Talk to ya'll later.
-Mandi

 

Sorry to hear about the finch egg accidents do happen due the size of the opening and how fragile the eggs are...

Hopefully the others will hatch some finch's will replace an egg or eggs lost but some do not birds that are used to hands going into the cages usually don't mind there nests being inspected but you do get the ones that are very protective and will gladly bite hard to warn you away this shows good parents...

With eggs it usually takes 3-5days for any signs of the veins in the eggs it could be that she has just started incubating the eggs properly so they are starting to form only time will tell but i have my fingers crossed for you...

Mike

 

Yay, More veins.

Hey everyone,
I checked my budgie eggs again today and see that a second egg has got veins! I was so excited. The first one that I noticed veins in seems darker than the day before, but I wonder if this egg is dried out, or isn't good any more. It seems like one part of the egg is empty. I hope this isn't the case, but I'm not exactly sure how this works. The only eggs I've got experience candling are button quail eggs, and they are too dark to see detail like that. The other one I can see a dark spot in there. I didn't look for it in the first one, I don't want to handle them more than necessary. I just want her to get used to me going in there like that so once the baby is old enough I can get him out without mom freaking out too bad. Also, I was wondering if it would hurt to move my nest box to the outside of the cage, When I get it down to look in she doesn't budge. I don't think I should, but if any of you think it would be ok let me know. Thanks!
C-ya

 

Hi its best to leave the nest box where it is at the moment until after the chicks leave the nest then it can be moved to where it would be better access for you.

Since egg 2 has started to form sounds like mum did not start incubating until the 3rd egg was laid so the chances are the egg is still a viable fertile egg.
A fertile egg starts off with a red dot in the middle and as it forms you see the veins.
The part of the egg that looks empty is the air sack this is what keeps the developing chick alive while it is growing so this is normal once the egg gets to the hatching stage the air sack will be smaller...

Sounds like you may have a clutch that is all fertile lets hope so.

Good luck.

Mike

P.S hows the finch's getting on with there eggs..

 

my budgies keeps laying eggs!!

Please help! I had two budgies, one male one female. We decided to put a nest and guess what three eggs, this was in May. Then the male died but before he died, our female laid eggs which never hatched. Since then, even though she is alone... she lays eggs all the time but they never hatch. We decided to get a male, a lovely blue boy, a week after we got him, more eggs, now we have about seven of them, about 10 days old. will they hatch? sorry for such a silly question, but can a female lays eggs and get them hatched without a male......

 

In order for eggs to hatch you need a female to lay the eggs and a male to fertilize them. Females can lay eggs without a male present but htey will not hatch.

If your male and female are together there is a chance they will hatch but if they're not then theres no chance they will hatch.

 

All it takes is for the male to successfully breed with your female once for her to lay a clutch of fertile eggs.
A female bird can and usually does lay eggs without the presence of a male all it takes is for the conditions to be correct to bring her into breeding mode...

Here are some questions for you please do not think i am jumping on you but i ask everyone..

How old are the birds?
What does there diet consist of?
How long have the pair been together?
How big is the nest box and is it designed for budgies?
What nesting material are you using?
Are they kept in a quiet room with 14hours of light plus the room temperature kept the same at all times?
Do they have cuttlefish bone and mineral block in there cage at all times?

With knowing the answers to these questions i will be able to help you more with wether the eggs will hatch....

I will state that some females even though the male bred with her successfully never produce fertile eggs this can happen in very young and elderly birds....

Mike