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Moving nest location

LitaMiko

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Hello!

Our parakeet unexpectedly started laying eggs in her metal food bowl and has been nesting on them. They are fertilized. We ordered a proper nest box and have it installed but we are having difficulty getting her to lay on the eggs in the box. We are afraid the metal bowl is way too small and probably cold for the eggs. Any ideas on helping with this transition? We have put food in the box and she goes in and will eat, but won't lay on the eggs. She has 5 eggs now, first one laid 11 days ago.
 

Shezbug

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Sometimes when a nest is disturbed the birds will abandon it.
@Zara Might be able to offer some advice
 

Destiny

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The food bowl is definitely not a suitable nest location. It would not be a safe place for the chicks, if the eggs hatched.

Before you get that far, I think it is a good idea to consider if you are ready to care for baby parakeets. Breeding parrots is a big responsibility and requires a lot of time and attention. If this is your first time breeding parakeets, it is important to consider if you are in a good position to do so.

In most cases, it is best to remove the eggs, rather than allowing them to hatch. They can be replaced with dummy eggs or boiled and returned to the nest site. In fact, you don't even need to replace them, if you don't want to mess around with dummy eggs. Parakeets are semi-determinate egglayers so they will usually lay a fixed number of eggs and then stop laying. So you can simply remove the eggs until she stops making more.
 

Zara

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Welcome to the Avenue :)

As some were laid some time ago, I would check the eggs, if they glow yellow remove them. If they glow orange and you see veins, that is your choice if you want to destroy those or not. At least 3 will be yellow and can be removed (the newest ones).

Even if you try to keep some eggs, it is good to remove some so that it´s not too hard on the hen and will give those chicks the best chance of success, given that this is the first clutch and you have zero breeding exeperience.

Ifyou decide to remove all of the eggs, or all glow yellow, then remove the nest box, materials, and move all the perches, toys and food bowls around the cage. Add a new toy too, and some foraging activities.

If you have one or two eggs to keep, place them in an external next box lined with a few inches of aspen shavings and then back up and allow the hen to go in.
If you do this, then you will need to buy a brooder set up, formula, thermometers, feeder spoon, heat pad, hygrometer, small 1CC syringe, extra bedding. Buy those now, in advance so that you are prepared should the chicks need intervention. Finding a local breeder who is willing to teach you hand feeding technique would be a huge bonus.

A similar thread just the other day;

 

LitaMiko

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Hi all, thanks for the responses. Yes, we are in a position where we are willing to take on the challenge. I am working from home (only a few hours) a week and am ready to dedicate time to this. We have owned birds for many years so I do have experience with that, just not the breeding aspect. I have done lots of research on bird care in general and am learning as much about the breeding part as possible right now. Lots of youtube videos and websites, but it is also nice to talk to real, experienced people (so I appreciate the replies!) We were able to get her to sit on the eggs in the nestbox but they are still in the bowl. Just took some time for her to be used to it. Today we will try to move the eggs properly into the box with no bowl. We have the baby food, bedding, syringe and hygrometer/thermometer. We luckily live in a city with 2 well outfitted stores that just sell bird supplies and with knowledgable owners that I can reach out to as well. Do you have any advice for a brooder set up? Thanks again!
 
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