Are my eggs fertile??

[spideysmum]

hey everyone
my red collared lorikeet has laid two eggs but i have a problem..i dont know if they are fertile or not cos about two weeks ago her mate got out of the cage and flew off...i dont know how long she has had them but it would explain why she nearly bit my finger off earlier in the week...how long after mating do lori's lay? if they arent fertile should i remove them and take the nest box off her...she loves her nest box...always in there at night..
thanks for any help..

[ozquaker]

Hi spideysmum,

I wouldn't be in a hurry to toss the eggs out just yet. If the male got away only a fortnight ago, and you don't know how long she has had the eggs, then hang onto them.

Sperm does remain viable within the hen for quite a few days, so there is every chance that the eggs will be fertile if mating had occured.

I believe that the clutch size for red collared lorikeets is 2. Can you remember when the hen first vanished into the box for the entire day? If you can, take this as a guess on the first day she started incubating. Add 24 days (incubation is about 22 to 24 days) and see if there are chicks around the predicted date. It's not long to wait.

OR you can candle the eggs. The best time would be around the third day after incubation. If you are able to guess when she started incubating, count 3 days from then and if that space of time has elapsed, candle the eggs to see if there is any development. If you are not familiar with candling, do a google search on the web. For that matter, if you waited say another week and then candled the eggs, if they are clear - ie there is a nice yellow yolk inside, then it would be safe to assume that they are not fertile. If the egg looks dark (and you can tell this without even candling) there could be a chick within (unless the egg is rotting - it will also look dark but have patches, although this is not likely to happen only after a week or two).

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Giovanni