Parakeet Eggs ADVICE PLEASE!

[dainerra]

Ok, the 2 "Dudes" as my daughter calls them, just laid 3 eggs. We made her a nest and put the eggs in it. She has gone in and out several times, but I know that she won't "set" until she is done laying.
How long should I wait until I know that she isn't going to set? I'm not sure if the nest is good either. It's a woven grass one, says for parakeets. We've been leaving them alone and not bothering them.

 

[theoldchick]

I wait 3 days. Longer than that and the eggs will not hatch.

 

[dainerra]

I wait 3 days. Longer than that and the eggs will not hatch.

She has laid 1 a day for the last 3 days. So if she isn't sitting by Monday, then I can toss them?
How long before she might lay again? Should I just leave the nest there? Honestly, this is a new one for me. I've had birds lay the rasndom single egg, but that's it.

 

[theoldchick]

Yes, you can toss the eggs on Monday. If you don't want to raise babies you can remove the nest and toss out the eggs on a daily basis. She might start again in three weeks or may never do it again. Occasionally a hen may start again as early as one week.

 

[dainerra]

Thanks for the tips. She is going in and out of the nest all morning. Stays for 5-10 mins, then back out. Then back in a little while later. I assume she will stay in constantly if she DOES decide to sit? lol

 

[Poultrybonkers]

You do NOT want to toss them shell just keep laying more. Decrease her hours of daylight. So she goes out of condition. Is she with a male? And a weaver nest I can't believe they didn't chew it! Mine chew through those for fun!!

 

[dainerra]

the woven nest was all we could find on short notice. They aren't getting a lot of hours of daylight and are fully covered at night; I'd guess 5-9 hours. They've been together 2 years, this is the first eggs.
I don't think that she is going to sit on them though. DD will be a bit disappointed lol

 

[silkiechicken]

I tried reducing lighting for my breeding pair to 12 hours light, 12 hrs covered. They still kept breeding when that usually stop them. LOL

I use the big box type nests. Did not know they made woven nests big enough for them. Think my box is 7 inches by 6 inches and 8 inches tall.

That said, my girl lays eggs every other day. She has had a clutch size of 7 eggs. She started sitting 3 days in on that clutch, and the oldest to youngest egg was 14 days apart! On her first clutch, she did not set till she had 4 eggs total, and did not sit till day 5.

But... do think what you'll do with all the babies.. They breed like rats and chronic egg laying can be an issue for the girls. It wears them out. Keep the eggs in the nest, boil them quickly, or add fake ones. Taking them away before she is ready to give up will just induce her to lay more eggs.

 

[dainerra]

She laid another egg last night. She pulled them out of the woven nest, no idea how, and piled them back on the floor of the cage. She's still not setting on them, but she is dang protective of them. I'm not sure she knows what to do with them. DH put the temporary tupperware dish back in the cage and put the eggs in it. She happily went over and covered the eggs all up?

breed like rabbits? Looks like these 2 are going to get separated. She's up to 5 eggs so far. I increased her diet, she already gets fresh veggies offered every day in addition to her pellets. I just don't know how many eggs she could possibly have in there? I think the egg pile is almost as big as her body! I'm not sure if she could set on them all if she tried.

I'm covering now at about 11 hours. but will that make her not want to set on them? Just curious.

 

[silkiechicken]

She can probably cover up to 8 or so at one time. If they all hatch, she'll feed as many as her and the boy can maintain and may just not feed the later ones if they think it's too much. As for wanting to set vs not... not sure on that one. Females are silly. LOL