Easy egg checking??

[briand]

Hi guys, I currently have a RS hen who I am almost certain is sitting on eggs. The problem is because both her and the cock are aviary birds I am a bit hesitant to go in and check the box. They were mating s couple of times a week or so ago, and I have noticed that she spends 3/4 of her day in the box only coming out to sit on the perch outside the box. The cock has been feeding her at the entrance to the box for a few days now. She is very protective especially when I change their food bowl whih is next to the nest. Does anyone have any ideas / suggestions as to what might be an easy way of checking for eggs and for pulling the babies if need be. Thanks

[AussieBirds]

From what you have described I would say she is definitely sitting on eggs, the best way to check is just to lift the top of the box and have a look you wont disturb or frighten her off the eggs, birds are usually very tolerant of you looking in the box as long as you don't do it too often, I check my nest boxes at least once a day and they get used to it. If you want to pull the babies for hand raising wait for about three weeks and then pull them, is this the first season they have bred or are they proven breeders? is there a reason why you want to pull the babies? I hope this helps you out.

John

[briand]

Thanks for your advice John. My only concern about lifting the flap to check is that she tends to get really angry and aggressive. I don't want her to trample the eggs or chcks. She lunges out any time I am changing her food when she is in the box. I would prefer to check when she is outside the box but this doesn't happen to often. And when it does she will quickly go back into the box as soon as she sees me approaching the aviary.

[AussieBirds]

Yes they do get aggressive but it's all show all she will do is lunge at you and there is more chance of her trampling the and damaging the eggs and chicks jumping into the box. As i said in my previous post I check my nest boxes at least once a day especially the occupied ones.

If you want to try and check the boxes when they are both out try around sunset or about half an hour before, both birds will be out of the box at that time changing shift ;D, It's an exciting time of the year and I love it all the expectation of new chicks and the possibility of hand raising ............yep I love it.

John

[briand]

Thanks John. I have decided to give it a go on the weekend. I will let you know how I go... Thanks again

[vankarhi]

If you can I would try to put her food dishes further away from the nest box. They can become very aggressive. I have read of some people who's females have been lovely pets even while breeding, with one lady actually having her pair breed inside the house and allowing her full access to the babies. But I have read of other females (I am talking eclectus here not any other breed of birds) who do attack even when the owner enters the aviary.............and after my female physically attacked me a few weeks ago (without even having a male around).............I would be careful, I now know exactly how aggressive these girls can be . I can remember as a child when I had budgies I would check the nest boxes daily and there was never any problems. So maybe just checking the nest boxes for a few weeks until you are ready to pull a baby (or both) might be ok, just be careful and as John said, "pick your times when to check".

[AussieBirds]

I'll give you an example as to why you should check your nest boxes daily, especially if there are babies.

Today I was doing my rounds and as is my habit I check the budgie aviary first, I have 9 babies at various stage of development and they were all fine this morning and doing well. I opened the first box that contained two violate babies about a week and a half old and the mother had one of them, the oldest one, on its back and was attacking it around the head area, she had drawn blood but fortunately I caught her just in time, I can assure you both babies would have been dead in the morning.

I am now hand raising both babies, take my advice check your boxes at least once a day you don't have to touch the parents just have a look in the box and talk softly to the birds as you look in they will soon get used to you and won't mind at all.

John

[vankarhi]

wow John that was lucky you were checking.

I wasn't meaning to sound like I was saying not to check either.............just warning that eclectus hens can be aggressive and to just be careful. I know when and if I ever breed with Skye (or Shrekie) I will be dying to check the eggs/babies every day. lol I will just try to plan everything so I can hopefully avoid any damage to me or babies. ;D

P.S Briand when you said RS hen, I assumed you meant a Red Sided (eclectus hen)...........I hope I got it right, I just re read you original post. That is why I went on about the eclectus females.

[briand]

Thanks guys, unfortunatley today when I went to feed them I noticed an egg next to the ledge on the food bowl. The hen was still in the box. The egg looked to of been bitten into and thrown out of the box. This upset me a bit and I didn't feel taking a look in the box at all in case there was more bad news. I was wondering if there was a reason for this? Is it possible that she still sitting on another egg?? Will she abondon the other one as well?? Appreciate any info guys.......

[vankarhi]

I am not a breeder, but if she is an eclectus then you could get heaps of info from Carolyn Swicegood on "the eclectus connection". Or "the land of vos". I am a member and it has been a mountain of info purely on these birds. There are breeders and just pet owners (I am not a breeder) on this mailing list and it costs nothing to join and they only talk "eclectus".

[briand]

Today built up the courage to check the box. I noticed another small piece of a shell in the box. I am not sure if this was from the first one or what was left of the second egg. The hen is still spending alot of time in the box. Not as much as before, but he is still feeding her at the entrance hole. I am almost certain it wasn't the male because she would never let him in. Would it be possible that the box is to small for her?? She is a fairly large girl?? The boox size I am using is an L shaped box which measures about 55cm from top to bottom and about 15 cm on the end bit by about 20cm on the front.
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|55 |___
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55

[AussieBirds]

Can you see the second egg Brian? if not the piece of egg you see may indeed be from the second egg but it may have hatched and you may have a baby.

John

[vankarhi]

I really hope that there are babies there for you Briand. How long had she been sitting???

[briand]

Cheers, but no such luck as she had only spent about a week or so on them. It may be possible that she just laid the one??

[Shelly]

I have a budgie that does this very thing briand.

She lays eggs then about 5-7 days later she throws them out of the breeding box, I cannot tell you the number of times she's done that now. I've tried now having the boxes in there (aviary) but she just lays on the ground and I need the boxes for the other birds.

Very frustrating but I have given up on trying to breed her, I figure she's just got a loose wire in her head, lol