• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Quartz and Eggs

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
My pflb Quartz is laying eggs. She lives by herself and has no nesting. I'm leaving the eggs alone due to serious aggression, had to cover the top and sides of the cage to prevent injury to other birds. My question is... for a first time layer what should I be alarmed about? I'm watching for all the usual stuff such as binding and calcium problems. What else should I be wary of?
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
. What else should I be wary of?
If she is alone, make sure she is coming out of her nest to eat and drink. Try to encourage her to fly a little too.
Incubation is 21-23 days so count 22 days from laying the last egg and then make sure she has abandoned her nest by that date, hopefully she will abandon sooner :)

edit: it is good to check the eggs, looking for abnormalities or weird markings as they will indicate calcium deficiency should that occur. However as you can´t get near the eggs, just be sure she´s getting what she needs in her food. Next time, when she lays an egg, you could fit an external nesting box to make it easier for you to check the eggs, it just takes a couple of seconds to block the doorway, and have a quick peak in.
 
Last edited:

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
Thank you. I have her on supplements, vitamins, or whatever its called and she has a pretty broad range of foods. I've got egg laying chickens so I know what things to check for in eggs. And I have my vet on alert. They aren't an avian pro, but the best I can do in my area.
 

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
Ehhh... I did a check on the eggs via candling. Well, seems one is fertile. Maybe two. I ordered some baby bird food and feeding supplies. Better safe than sorry. She still lives alone so I don't know what to do with that. Daddy is likely my only remaining male... i guess I didn't watch time outs carefully enough. o_O
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
I did a check on the eggs via candling. Well, seems one is fertile.
When did you candle the eggs? If you look now, they will be very dark if they are fertile as they would be hatching in the next few days. You would see the air pocket has grown, and also the beak can sometimes be visible.
Do you know how to raise baby parrots? handfeed?
Does this male not live with your hen? You will have to make some changes to the cage to compensate, moving food and drink closer to the box and monitoring her to make sure the hen is eating and drinking enough.
Ideally your box would be external to make it easier for you to check in. Having an internal box will make monitoring the chicks very difficult.
 

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
I hand raised the parents from hatch date. The box is internal since I wasn't expecting babies and was meant for non breeding birds. According to the files and their hatching period it should be tomorrow to the 14th the baby will hatch. I've raised chickens before and learned candling as a side habit. Its also a good way to identify the age of an egg if you know how to look for that.

Three are yellow, one has visible movement, one is still very dark so its hard to say.

The two parents of these guys are hand reared by me after their father started killing babies. Their mother raised their siblings ( i fostered eggs under her from another female when I discovered a violent streak), two sisters, that I've rehomed since. I have my eyes on these two and the baby. I've hand reared since the hatch date before - though I hope to avoid it if I can.

I'm as set up as I can be...

The parents never got to spend day one with their moms and dads, so I don't know if that had any effect on their immune systems. I'm using the kaytee exact baby formula and have a brooder ready to go. If I can, I will leave them with their mother but she never got the care from her parents so its hard to say... also being her first lay... I'm placing a lot of faith on instincts here.

As for the hardest bird I ever raised... a zebra finch. o_O The easiest was a chicken.
 

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
Today is due date from brooding point, Quartz is out of the box... so until day 32 I will wait and check off and on.
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
I hope all goes smoothly for you all :)
 

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
I found second egg has movement. I've decided to honor Dr King and V-day for names so I'll be looking into history for that. I would also appreciate gender neutral suggestions within that scope.
 

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
First baby hatch date feb 14. Mama is a slate, papa is a wild green, granddaddy birds were both dutch blue while Quartz mama is an olive slate and Blare mama is a cinnamon. Blare had sisters pallid and dutch blue.
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
Awwww a Valentines baby!! :swoon:
 

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
I checked the baby's eyes today and they're showing red. And the down on him is turning yellow.
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
I checked the baby's eyes today and they're showing red. And the down on him is turning yellow.
Australian cinnamon maybe?
Can´t wait to see him grow, please do post progress! I love chick pics! :swoon:
 

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
Australian cinnamon maybe?
Can´t wait to see him grow, please do post progress! I love chick pics! :swoon:
Amore has a sibling pipping out during the pic. Mom gave me a nasty bruise for a cleaning attempt.... maybe you can direct me to a thread on how to safely clean the cage during this time?

I also let my male in and he seems to be thrilled. I'll take the babies at 4 weeks for hand taming.
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
I like to try and coax my girl out of the cageand quickly wipe down with a cloth. I’m not gifted, the cage doesn’t get cleaned daily because some days she won’t leave. Dishes and tray are cleaned as usual.
Sorry for late reply, I went out for dinner. Has the second egg hatched now? :)
 

Phocyn

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/12/18
Messages
442
Real Name
Laura
I was invited to look an hour ago but no. Strange how she called me over to see. I might get a chance tomorrow.
 
Top