New here with budgie questions

Hi everyone I'm new here and have a question about my budgies. I have a pair of budgies that I have had for 2 years now. I decided to get them a nest box a few weeks ago and the female is now sitting on eggs! She threw one of the eggs out because it broke. I have been giving them hardboiled eggs along with their usual seed and millet spray. What other soft foods should I be offering? I'm so excited I hope at least one of them hatch. The male is feeding her and she doesn't come out of the nest box very often.

 

Hi and congratulations on the eggs..

Eggs do on occasions get broken when the pair become startled while in there nest also sometimes eggs and chicks can get stuck to the pairs feathers when they leave the nest...

I feed my pairs on boiled eggs mashed up with the shell as this gives extra calcium they also get, Boiled pasta, Boiled Brown Rice, Wholewheat bread, You can also buy a egg forumla which is designed for hand feeding chicks this can be given to the parents in a seperate dish from the start of there breeding cycle right the way through to the chicks leaving the nest.

It has all the vitamins and minerals that are needed for strong healthy chicks you can buy it from any good pet store here in the uk it is called EMP egg food or CeDe egg food..

Once the chicks are old enough to start feeding on there own they can be given this to help wean them from there parents..

Cuttlefish bone and mineral block is a must in the cage at all times.

Budgies lay between 4-6 eggs sometimes it can be more like mine laid 10 eggs in one clutch.
Eggs are laid 1egg every 2nd day sometime the female does not lay another egg for 3-4days do not worry to much aslong as she is sitting on them things should be fine.

They do not incubate the eggs until the 2nd or 3rd egg has been laid even though they may look like they are sitting on the eggs they are not actually incubating.

The incubation period is 19days with usually 2 eggs hatching within hours of each other...


Mike

 

I've read that in situations like that, you can buy baby cereal and put it in a seperate dish than the eggs and other foods. I've heard that you shouldn't give your birds the white of the boiled egg because they can get Melanin? poisoning I think it's called melanin but it can be fatal. Only the yolk should be fed to them. I hope I helped a little.

Ashley

 

None of the egg is poisonous to birds i have been feeding this to my birds since i started breeding a few years ago and alot of breeders i know have also fed this.

Most baby cereals contain milk which are not good for birds as birds are lactose intolerant

 

Does the baby cereal you add water to contain milk then beacuse that was the kind I was told to give my birds when they lay eggs.

 

If you read tha box or jar it states it contains dried milk or milk this is bad for birds because of them being lactose intolerant and can cause sour crop in chicks and older birds.

 

ok...Thank you for letting me know. Sorry for being wrong it was just what I was told, now I feel stupid :? Good thing Mike was here to tell you whats right. Thanks again.

 

Thanks so much for the help! I'll go the the pet store and see if I can find that Mike. I do always keep a cuttle bone and mineral block in the cage at all times.

 

Even though I know absolutely nothing about this topic, I have to say to lilprincess - don't feel stupid! Everyone here tells what they know and sometimes it turns out that there is a better way to do things. We are all here to learn. I usually post in the dog forum and boy, when I started here almost everything I thought I knew for sure turned out to be wrong. So don't feel stupid - keep sharing what you know and what you've heard and be grateful if it turns out to be wrong that you found out before any harm was done! We do the best we can with what we know and when we learn differently, we adjust.

 

HI i agree i have to admit i have been dealing with all types of animals for years and there is always something new to learn..

Never feel stupid we are all here to learn sorry if i made you feel like i was on at you i never meant to come across like that.

Mike