Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 5:12 am Post subject: Infertile Eggs
Can anyone please help me out. I have a pair of kakarikis who have tried breeding back in April but the eggs did not hatch ! We now have another 4 eggs and both the female and male are sitting on them. I am worried that the same will happen again - what if anything are they doing wrong or what am i doing wrong!!!!! They have been sitting on the eggs now for a week and i have been told that it can take upto 3 weeks to hatch - can anyone out there help please.
Edit: Changed threat title from "please help" to one a little more reprentive of the subject
Cheers
Admin
How old are your birds?
They may have been a little young, espec the male could very well have been firing 'blanks'...also a very young female often has a only about 4 eggs if very young.
So don't start fretting.
In 'theory" yes 21 days, in practice could be 4 weeks.
Have a look thru forums there is a couple discussions where members have had very late hatchings.
Quote:
what am i doing wrong!!!!!
most probably nothing... Kakariki breed very well...u will find a couple threads on how it can be hard to stop them and what to do with the off spring
We had a pair breeding every 8 weeks starting Oct (spring here) thru to mid winter.
So long as they are fed well, good varied diet (see other threads on that) u will be fine...problems usually occur after several layings and poor diet/mineral intake _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Thanks Steptoe for your advice.
The birds are only a year old now but this time around they seem to be sitting on the eggs a lot more than in April. She has only laid four eggs again though. Will keep an eye on them and will let you know what happens.
Once again thanks for your advice.
Hens require a fair quantity of calcium when coming into breeding season.
It is a good idea to supply them with a ready made calcium supplement as well as sprinkling calcium powder onto their fresh food every third day.
We use a calcium supplement here in Australia that is made for the pigeon industry. I am sure there would be a similar thing available in other countries. Low calcium levels can determine egg quantities but there can be other reasons as well. It is not uncommon for Kakariki to lay anywhere from 2 to 12 eggs in one clutch. So I wouldn't be concerned at 4 eggs in this clutch.
We also have one pair that shares the egg sitting duties. The cock bird spends hours each day in the box with mum and comes out at feed time to gather the food for the young. He has been in the box since she laid the first of nine eggs and is currently helping her to raise 8 chicks. This certainly isnt the normal behaviour of Kakariki but it works for this particular pair and saves us from pulling some of the young for hand rearing as they are all doing fine at the moment.
It is still relatively cool here in Australia at the moment as we head into our summer so the overcrowded box keeps the chicks warm at night. However, I dont think it would be such a good idea during the hotter months with both adults in the box. That would be my only concern that the chicks dont overheat if the temperature gets too warm.
I have had a problem with a Lutino pair laying infertile eggs (see old posts). They have laid 13 eggs in 3 attempts and only one hatched under a foster mother.
The male died a few weeks ago, so I have paired the female with a proven green male to see what will happen.
You just reminded me, I have permission to publish some papers by our resident vet, on ferlitity ( Brett Gartrell BVSc MACVSc(Avian Health) PhD, Lecturer in Avian and Wildlife Health ) will put them up latter today in the Vets section _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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