|
|
Post by jeremy on Oct 24, 2004 9:16:42 GMT 10
I have a pair of Red Collars and they are both about 2 and a half to 3 years of age and they have been together for about 10 months now and i haven't seen a single egg. i thought the hen might be infertile until recently when i found half an egg on the bottom of the cage floor, she has obviously been eating the eggs all this time because i have seen them mating plenty of times. I saw them mating about 12 days ago and i am going to check the box for eggs today, if there is an egg in there would it be possible to give the egg/s to a pair of lovebirds and let them hatch it and raise it until about 10 days of age and then i can raise it myself?
|
|
|
|
Post by AussieBirds on Oct 24, 2004 13:50:46 GMT 10
Hi Jeremy,
If you hen is eating the eggs I would suggest that she has a problem. Eating eggs usually means a diffeciency in the diet of the bird, perhaps a calcium deficency. My opinion is that you would be better off trying to fix this problem rather than foster the eggs out. Im sure that the members here can come up with a few suggestions as to why your hen is eating her eggs and what to do to fix the problem. As far as fostering the eggs out to love birds is concerned I wouldn't suggest i, not with love birds any way, perhaps if you have any tiels they may do the job for you.
[glow=red,2,300]John[/glow]
|
|
|
|
Post by fischer on Oct 24, 2004 18:27:23 GMT 10
Hi Jeremy, Hens eating eggs, thankfully, is pretty rare in birds, and can be hard to stop once the habit becomes ingrained behaviour, John is right, it is a lack in diet that starts egg eating, I have yet to find out exactly whats missing , Ive tried a lot of things with only limited sucess.
You can pin a piece of cuttle bone in the hens nestbox, and mix crushed cuttle bone with the nesting material, Ive found sometimes this helps, try to make sure she has acess to plenty of shell grit, both on and off the floor, and plenty of high calcium greens etc in her diet.
I have a hen Princess that does this, and all I really can do with her is to try to get the egg first, the habits become ingrained with her, its difficult but sometimes I beat her to it.
Your fostering question is tricky too, Lories have a rather unique diet, and there is a different shape and form to the tounge that dosn't occur in other birds, for these reasons I think fostering would be difficult, at best, because the foster hen would have trouble feeding the chicks.
Try the things Ive suggested Jeremy they do work if the bird hasn't been eating eggs too long.
Hope this helps,...Cheers Tony
|
|
|
|
Post by hillcresttiels on Oct 24, 2004 19:20:37 GMT 10
Gday Jeremy sometimes in combatting egg eating artificial eggs are used whilst the originals are fostered or in an incubator, then as the eggs pip they are replaced under the parents to rear which in turn changes their maternal instincts. cheers frank  |
|
|
|
Post by jeremy on Oct 25, 2004 8:12:54 GMT 10
i've heard that you can grate cuttlebone into their fruit, is this true???
|
|
|
|
Post by AussieBirds on Oct 25, 2004 9:45:07 GMT 10
Yes Jeremy it is true it's a good way to get a bit of extra calcium into the diet.
John
|
|
