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Re: infertile eggs w/fertile
Posted by GreyLady on 11/14/08

Okay Angela. It sounds like you are doing a great job with their
diet and other issues. Congrats on that. You are sure doing a
better, more informed job than most who want to try breeding. You
said you have had them since October but nothing about age. I'm
going to assume you don't know their age for sure? For successful
and safe breeding, the male should be no less that about 18 months
and it's generally recommended the female be 2 years. Younger than
that and you have babies trying to raise babies. Even if they have
a successful hatch, they may or may not tend the little ones
properly. I'm not saying that birds that are too young won't luck
out and do it all properly. But the younger they are, the more the
odds are against you. It might be anything from just not feeding
and tending them, to actually abusing and maybe even killing them.
If they are real young and if they should hatch any, you will have
to be right on top of the whole situation. At the first hint of a
problem, not feeding or anything else, you must be prepared with
formula on hand already, be set up to pull the babies and keep them
in an incubator with the proper temp. and humidity, know exactly
how to mix it, at what consistency, and temperature (of the
formula) is critical. For real little ones, it cannot vary more
than a couple degrees either way and they will be at risk of sour
crop, crop stasis and so on. Also, if you are not already a
skilled hand feeder, you need to get some hands on instruction for
that. You must know exactly how to feed them lest you risk
aspirating them, (getting formula into their lungs) and you need to
know about how to watch for full or empty crop and whether they are
processing the food properly. Hand feeding can get quite
complicated and in depth and is not for the novice nor the faint of
heart. Now, if they are plenty old enough, it could be any number
of reasons, including some that only a vet can sort out for you.
Also, if they have been pet birds for quite a while, they may not
make the best breeders. Generally speaking, birds are pets or they
are breeders, rarely both. If they ever do hatch and raise any,
expect to see a change in their personality and their attitude
towards you. They will not likely be pets after little ones. You
may have already seen a change in their attitude, just over eggs.
I hope this helps you some but if you have more questions, let me
know. I'll do my best. GL

Posts on this thread, including this one

• infertile eggs w/fertile, 11/11/08, by Angela.
• Re: infertile eggs w/fertile, 11/12/08, by Holly Day.
• Re: infertile eggs w/fertile, 11/12/08, by GreyLady.
• Re: infertile eggs w/fertile, 11/14/08, by Angela.
• Re: infertile eggs w/fertile, 11/14/08, by GreyLady.