Got egg, need advice..

[Lolle]

Just before newyears, Chica gave us alittle surprise. She let Chico mate with her. So we started to worry that she was gonna lay eggs in their tent, so we removed the tent and put up a nestbox. They have been mating 3-5 times a day, even yesterday at noon, and then she layed an egg last night at 01:00. Im worried about everything cause of what happened with Pearl (dieing from eggpoisoning). Their in our livingroom, and its about 20-23 C degress. Should I try and keep the nestbox warm? Should we turn up the heat in the room? We have a heating pad that we could also use, but would really like to hear what you think, any advice is welcome.

 

[JLcribber]

The most important thing is to make sure the hen is getting good nutrition with emphasis on foods with calcium.

If you have no experience with caring for babies or finding them good homes to go to you should not be letting these eggs hatch. Either sterilize them or replace them with fake eggs and let them complete the cycle. JMHO

 

[Julio]

Who knows john maybe this is 3rd time the charm for you to see that we do not have any bad intentions. My guess is the limited amount of posts we have has contributed to your opinion about us in general, i do see you dont like breeding in general but thats not what this is about. We dont have 70 birds and 140 babies no. We have 1 "Breeding Pair".

I will not make a big story about this but yes i have experience in feeding caring and loving for birds and baby lovebirds. My Girlfriend Louise not as much but she is trying •••• hard to learn about everything and that makes me happy. Then there is also places where you can ask for advice like here on AA. I know you are one of the more known people here but that doesnt mean you can keep bashing the same people down.

While typing this i thought i might aswell give you the big story again , who knows maybe you will remember it this time.

Louise and me are trying to make a difference here in Denmark. Here in Denmark lovebirds are treated as an object either for show or money. Their is only 1 birdrescuecenter here and unfortunatly that is only for the bigger birds. Not everyone can or dares to handle big birds and most people are probably not suited for birds in the first place but everyone on here knows that very well.

We are not breeding birds for money , fun, fame or anything like that. Lovebirds are our life , i personaly love every bird and they warm my heart but lovebirds are undescribable for me. We order all our stuff from USA because we want the best for our birds and we can not get that here unfortunatly. We are lecturing people about the responsibilities of having lovebirds. I have been living with lovebirds for almost 20 years now and its because of me that Louise got in contact with lovebirds.

I know i am just babbling around now and i know you dont mean it personaly but im afraid that all the bad breeding has affected your opinion about it and many others. Breeding is something that needs to be done very carefully and with the right reasons.

I AGREE with most that if you can resque a bird its in my opinion better then to breed a bird. In Denmark on the other hand thats not possible for lovebirds.

Anyways to shorten it up, we are not giving any babies to anyone, we will keep them ourselves and if in the future we do then we would only breed if we allready had found the right people and do a good screening before we actualy start breeding.

Just writing down my thoughts.

 

[DutchHillAviary]

No, keep the pair at normal room temperture, they will incubate the eggs just fine and if fertile should hatch them just fine. Around hatching time, you may want to increase the humidity in the room alittle, buts that about all you will need to do. Just give them some peace and privacy while they do this and let their natural instincts kick in.

 

[Lolle]

This thing with Chica and Chico's mating was a surprise to us, i have been writing here on the forum about how the drama was here with Chica wanting Twisted and alot of things. So for Chica and Chico to mate, we did not expect that. Now that they have an egg i want to be excited about it, i would like to think that i can have a baby bird for us to keep. I do not want to give away any of my birds, cause i dont know what i would do without them.Im worried about everything cause we lost a bird to eggpoisoning, and i can see Chica is doing great. She is active and moving around good, she is eating and she even let Chico mate with her still. But a part of me can still see how Pearl went, how badly she was feeling. How she died at the vet, and its braking my heart. Im not a breeder, i dont want to breed birds cause of money and using the birds. I want to change the way people see lovebirds. Denmark is all about having 20-30 birds in a big cage outside, and going to shows and winning prices for their birds. I want to show lovebirds as a loving pet, i want to show how much joy they give me everyday. Im writing all this cause i care so much about my birds that i worry if they make a small peep sometimes. And then i come here to be calmed down aswell as try to help others. I just hope that Chica and Chico can do this perfectly, they have both had babies before. They are getting the food they should get. Im not a bad person, i just want the best for my birds.

 

[Greycloud]

Most bird forums have a Breeder Section, this is specifically used for questions just like you have. The breeder section is safe for you to post any and all questions regarding these issues. If a moderator sees this they should move it to that section.
You have to understand that many people in all parts of the world have different opinions on breeding versus rescue. There are so many birds available to us with out breeding.
I understand this was an accidental breeding. I also understand that you do not really have options to you in your country. I think John was just saying that if you weren't expecting a breeding and did not know how to handle baby care that it is best to replace the eggs.
I bred birds for 15yrs and had many lovebird color mutations. Lovies do very well in breeding in captivity. They know what to do. Your house temp that is comfy for you should be fine for them too. They will keep the babies warm. Diet is most important at this time to help prevent eggbinding and calcium deficiency.
My breeders were on a breeder pellet (Roudybush), some seed for fat, eggfood with shell included for calcium. Dark green veggies and orange veggies ie.sweet potato and carrots and some fruit. Lovies should have cuttlbone available especially.
If and when babies hatch you have to decide whether to handfeed at 14 days or let the parents raise. Handfeeding must be done by experienced people and even expereinced people have been known to lose babies. You need a broder and all supplies for handfeeding. So if the eggs hatch you will need to decide where to go from there. I wish you luck.

 

[JLcribber]

I think John was just saying that if you weren't expecting a breeding and did not know how to handle baby care that it is best to replace the eggs.

That "is" all I was saying. I'm glad you know what your doing. 99 times out of 100 when that question is asked they don't have a clue what they're doing. The clarifying statements made after my post should have been made up front to avoid the confusion (and in the breeder section)

Good luck.

 

[Lolle]

That "is" all I was saying. I'm glad you know what your doing. 99 times out of 100 when that question is asked they don't have a clue what they're doing. The clarifying statements made after my post should have been made up front to avoid the confusion (and in the breeder section)

Good luck.

Its hard for me to always express myself, cause sometimes i just have alot of things buildt up that has to get out NOW, im trying, but its not always perfect. Im also danish so typing in English doesnt always make it any better.

I wanted to hear that everything is going to be okay with my baby girl, cause im scared! I have read up on everything, but that just made me even more scared cause of all the things that can go wrong that i have no control of.

 

[JLcribber]

I understand and apologize. It is hard to get the point we want to make across in print. It's easily taken out of context and we all do it.

My post was directed to Julio.

 

[srtiels]

Hi...can you explain what was the actual cause of the hen that died...meaning peritonitis, soft-sheeled egg, etc. MANY times a hens egg related problems can be caused from lack of proper lighting. I have learned that either sunlight or full specturm lighting greatly reduces these incidents by almost 90%. The diet can be excellent, but lighting helps the body produce D3, which in turn aids in utilization of calcium.

As far as the room temp...if it has been contstant the birds body will acclimate to it. Sudden drops in temps could be problematic with laying.

 

[Julio]

I understand and apologize. It is hard to get the point we want to make across in print. It's easily taken out of context and we all do it.

My post was directed to Julio.

Yeah im sorry if i overreacted, that was not my intention so my apologies. Louise might think that i am a know it all when it comes to lovebirds but its not like that so its then good to see people with other experiences who might give better advice. 2 experienced heads are wiser then 1 (Most of the times )

 

[Julio]

Hi...can you explain what was the actual cause of the hen that died...meaning peritonitis, soft-sheeled egg, etc. MANY times a hens egg related problems can be caused from lack of proper lighting. I have learned that either sunlight or full specturm lighting greatly reduces these incidents by almost 90%. The diet can be excellent, but lighting helps the body produce D3, which in turn aids in utilization of calcium.

As far as the room temp...if it has been contstant the birds body will acclimate to it. Sudden drops in temps could be problematic with laying.

Well today i am still not quite sure yet, but the problem was she layed a shelless egg. One might think a calcium deffiecency but she got all the nutritions cuddle bone, Veggies. And the lighting was excellent at that time of the year. The reason she died was because of the shelless egg, poisoning inside her. But no awnser for why the shelless egg.

Our current female is receiving less light because of the winter but still same food altho we do have a bird lamp and she layed an egg just fine , we will have to see and wait for the next eggs to come to see how they look. But yeah im not quite sure still. Perhaps she could not absorb the calcium.

 

[Jan]

Before I strickly got into breeding Pionus, I bred 25 pairs Cockatiels prior for at least a good 5 years and never had any problem in egg binding in my hens. They were in outdoor aviaries.

In a living room, your temp in there will not be too cold and she would incubate and keep proper temp providing she sits on them faithfully.​

 

[srtiels]

Jan...moving my cockatiels outside eliminated any egg related problems by 100%

As to the shelless egg, there was not enough calcium in the bloodsteam (main source is from the bones) while the shell was in the uterus. When this occurs I have learned that proper lighting IS more crucial than diet.

here is an article I have been working on.Egg Related Problems - Just Cockatiels! NOTE: it is incomplete, but does list some causes, and signs to look for. I also have illus. of oviducts I can post which shows where some problems can occur.

 

[srtiels]

In looking at your pix of the shelless egg, the texture is rough, which can be an indication of an infection in the uterus. But, the infection would have occurred prior to this, if there was a tear in the oviduct and yolk went into the abdomen. it is sterile at first and body heat helps to breed bacteria, then it becomes septic...meaning the abdomen fluid wascontaminated with bacteria, which can also go into the bloodstream, and affect shell qualities of succeeding eggs. In the US I have found that the ONLY really effective antibioic is pipercillin in treating this.

 

[Bokkapooh]

Our current female is receiving less light because of the winter but still same food altho we do have a bird lamp and she layed an egg just fine , we will have to see and wait for the next eggs to come to see how they look. But yeah im not quite sure still. Perhaps she could not absorb the calcium.

If you want the pair to successful lay and hatch the babies, they need more light. The mortality rate is very high due to lack of light.

 

[Greycloud]

When we mention light, I want to clarify this means Full Spectrum Lighting. UVB and UVA. These lights help provide birds with Vit D that helps with the absorbtion of calcium for the breeders and young.

 

[Lolle]

We do have a bird lamp, and it is on a timer for them and everything. Chica is still doing fine, and she is moving around good. She does not look tired, and she is acting like she normaly is, but she is spending most her time in her nest. Chico is taking good care of her, and we can see he is feeding her. Chico is eating for 2 at the moment, and their both doing good. Chica also comes out to eat a few times a day. Chica does not show any of the signs that Pearl did, she is really amazing.

 

[robin's my baby]

it sounds like shes gona be a good mommy

 

[Julio]

Sorry if i did not clarify that right, what i ment was , she is not getting the same amount of sunlight because the sun is not up that much in the winter. She is offcourse receiving it trough full spectrum lighting. When we saw they went into breeding mood and started mating alot we gave them a nestbox, we have al the equipment here thats not the problem , wintertime is not the best time to breed in my opinion but once they got the nestbox we slowly started increasing the lighttime they got per day to simulate summer.

She is doing fine right now, the 2nd egg looked great also, now its just waiting to see how many eggs she will lay and her incubating.We are giving her and Chico all the privacy and rest they need, we are not disturbing them alot right now