Infertile Male Eclectus

[micko1]

First timer.
I bought my first pair of Eclectus approx 4 years ago. Very first clutch they hatched one egg and have had infertile eggs since then. I have split the birds by placing each partner with a proven breeder. The female hatched one egg on 2 separate occasions whilst the male with his new proven female had no fertile eggs. Since placing the birds back with together I have still had no luck. Just tried placing 2 pairs together in a single aviary and first nest was also unsuccessful. Birds were suppose to be 3 years old when got them which would make them approx 7 years old now. Not sure whether to remove the male and source a new one. Problem is he is a very stunning looking bird and I am reluctant to get rid of him.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[avinet]

You don't say where you live but if there is an avian vet in your area I would get the male surgically sexed! I know you are now thinking I am crazy and it is an Eclectus after all, but a good avian vet will be able to check if the male is "all there" and in particular if there is any sign of disease in the testes. So you are not actually getting it sexed, but having the vet give the bird's reproductive system a good check over by endoscope.

There are really only two reasons that a male is not fertilizing a female, either he has a problem internally or he isn't mating properly - have you seen him mating OK? My general rule of thumb with infertile eggs is that if eggs are being produced with yolks, then the female is fertile, and if proper mating is taking place, the problem is with the male.

cheers

Mike

[Robyn]

Hi, my experience with eclectus is whether or not they are compatible. Usually If a pair continuously has infertile eggs it's very likely they are not compatible. It seems to happen a lot with eclectus. The only success i have had is to pair them off from very young & let them grow up together.

Buying a so called breeding pair usually does have it's problems. 4 years ago no one sold a good breeding pair because they were hard to come by. There were a lot of pairs around but not proven or pairs that had infertile eggs. A few friends of mine had been caught & nothing they do will get the birds breeding.

Do you know the history of your pair. Had they bred before you bought them. It's also unusual for a hen to only hatch out 1 chick they normally have 2 or sometimes 3 chicks. Personally i would source a young unrelated pair & wait 2 & 1/2 to 3 years for them to breed.

Both my pair continually have 2 chicks per nest & they will breed all year round if i let them.

You could try breeding aid & trace minerals both Vetafarm products.

[micko1]

Thanks for the replies and comments. I live on the Central Coast NSW and have an Avian Vet in Newcastle or Sydney. I will make an appointment for him and see what the results are. This was my first pair and being naive and gullible I believed the seller. Yes I have watched them mating and all appears to be fine. The story from the seller was that they were together from very young and had bred before. I have since purchased a mature male and female from separate breeders, both mature birds and placed them together approx 3 years ago. They have successfully bred many times and the only way to stop them is to close off the nest box.
Really appreciate your input and will see what happens after I get him to the vet.

Mick