Can she actually hatch eggs ????

[Crazy4Chicks]

Ok here is alittle background :

I have a female Quaker parrot named Pollie the Potty mouth

last year about this time Pollie made a nest on the bottom of her cage - I was very impressed about her make shift nest using bedding and food and she maintained the walls everyday doing little repairs on them LOL

about 2-3 days after she made her nest much to my surprise she started laying eggs - up till that point Pollie had NEVER laid eggs before - I let her keep her 6 eggs for about 2 weeks than started removing one a day till she was left with just one and about a week after removing the other eggs she figured enough is enough and left her nest

Ok -- so a few days ago I noticed Pollie rubbing her vent on her toys/perches and sure enough she has built another nest so I know it is only a matter of days before she starts laying eggs


OK here is the experiment and questions :

I have button eggs that are VERY fertile - my little flock has been busy LOL

Is it possible to remove Pollies eggs and give her a few button eggs ? ( last year I slipped a banty egg under her and she tried so hard to cover it but it kept popping out from under her lol )

IF the eggs hatch will she care for the chicks or kill them ?

IF the eggs hatch and I remove the babies will it depress her to have done all that work and no babies ?

Pollie has never had babies and has never had another bird in her cage with before male or female so I dont know how she will react to babies in her space

or should I just do the same as last year - let her lay her eggs - and than start removing them after a week or so ?

last year when I started removing eggs she was fine until I got to that last one and she protected it like a grizzly bear - but after awhile she went back to her normal self of trying to bite DH and cussing him out LOL and I was able to toss the last egg.

so what do you all think ??

 

[ibpboo]

I say, give it a try! Let her hatch them. The motherly instinct may kick in once they hatch. She so wants to be a mama!!

 

[Southernbelle]

Wow! What an idea!

My only concern is baby quail won't act like baby parrots - they don't need her to feed them, they're feathered and active from the start. I think it's a neat idea, and if you try it, just be ready to get the babies out of there if she panics.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

that is the other thing that has me worried IF I let her do this - is the fact the babies will not need her to feed them - but I was wondering if she would cover them to keep them warm enough

hmmmm

I have the bator out so if she started to set them and changed her mind I could warm the bator up and let them hatch in there - I already have a brooder with baby buttons and coturnix so I could add a temp wall and seperate the newer one just in case I have to bator hatch them or Pollie freaks out and tries to hurt the babies or ignores them totally

I guess I will collect a few eggs once she starts laying her own and she if she will hatch them

this should be intresting LOL

 

[theOEGBman]

I would be afraid of her killing them when they hatch. Hookbills can decapitate a quail.

 

[onthespot]

I agree. I would however let her incubate and pull them three days before hatching into the hatcher and hatch them out yourself. I have a lot of lovebirds, cockatiels and parrotlets and I would NEVER let a button quail hatch in the same cage as one of those little monsters!

 

[Goat_Walker]

That sounds like a really cool experiment! keep us updated with pics and news!

 

[Barn Maid Ann]

Quote:
It is hard to say if the killer instinct would take over right away. But since chickens are a precocial species, they will soon be moving around unlike a quaker baby would, and she will not be equipped to handle that scenario.

 

[Barn Maid Ann]

Oops, I meant quail, not chickes. But same principle.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

I think I will let her set them and do all the work and just pull the eggs 3 days before hand lol

I love Pollie but dont know if she would hurt them or not and I dont want to risk the babies getting hurt


thanks everyone for the advice -- so far Pollie has no eggs of her own she is making her nest perfect LOL