lovebird laid 6 eggs

Im almost 100% sure they are real.When will they hatch? She laid them about 2 weeks ago. Id like them to be parent fed hand raised, how should i go about handling them...will the parents mind if i touch the babies? The father is quite friendly with me but the mother is quite territorial and mean. Will the parents stop feeding the babies if i handle them?


Both the parents have healthy diets consisting of pellets and vegetables. They are exposed to plenty of sunlight, and their living conditions couldn't be better.


kthx in advance

 

Determined Lovebirds can build their nest in 4 or 5 days. The first egg is laid about 10 days after mating, and another egg is laid every other day until the clutch is 4 to 6 eggs. After 6 or 7 days, you should be able to tell if the eggs are fertile by "candling" them. Hold the eggs gently near a bright light. If you can clearly see a dark spot surrounded by blood vessels, the egg is fertile. The incubation period for Lovebirds is 21 to 26 days.

If planning on handfeeding best time to pull them from the nest is 10-14days if you do not pull them the pair will kick them from the nest at around 5-6weeks old so they can start on a new clutch.

Handfeeding really should only be done if the parents are not looking after them otherwise best to leave them to it.
They can be handled a few days after hatching but its best to leave for about a week.

Both parents become very aggressive when they have chicks in the nest and can give a nasty bite the female is usually more aggressive and should not be disturbed unduly as this will stress her out..

Make sure she has plenty of soft foods... Such as Boiled pasta, boiled brown rice, boiled eggs crushed up with the shell, wholewheat bread.
You can also buy a substitute egg food which is designed for handfeeding and weaning chicks this can be purchased from any good petstore and this can be given to the parents in a seperate dish either moist or dry its called either EMP or CeDe egg food.

Mike