Lovebird laying eggs

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Lovebird laying eggs

Female bird collecting paper; The 'male' bird in the background copying her...

Hi, We recently bought two year-old lovebirds from someone who no longer wanted them. He said he didn't know if they were male or female.

Their cage has a happy hut in it that the birds are very attached to. We have also bought them a nest box that one of the birds quickly became fond of.

Our thoughts on the birds' sexes were that one is male (he gets a little bit frisky with the top of the happy hut several times a day) and the other is female. She has proved us right by laying two eggs (one on Saturday and another yesterday).

I wonder now whether or not the eggs are fertile- I don't want to touch them and I don't think she wants me to either! Since laying the second egg yesterday she has started sitting on only one of them (not constantly). Is this normal? She is also still collecting paper for her nest.

Is there anything we need to do to help her along??

Thanks for you help,
Emily

Comments for
Lovebird laying eggs

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Nov 24, 2011

lovebirds
by: Anonymous

this happends two years ago with my lovebirds(exactly the same :) ) and we put the nest first then it started laying eggs. they should hatch after a few weeks so leave them in a nesting box no shreded wood it can kill the babies(though we didnt no tht time so we used it and got lucky none died) good luck!

Nov 21, 2011

Lovebird laying eggs
by: Linda

If the eggs have been laid on the floor, you'll need to move them into the nestbox. First, you'll need to see if they are fertile or not. This is done by very gently picking up an egg and shining a bright light behind it like a flashlight. If you see a dark area inside the egg, it is fertile. If you see nothing, it is clear or infertile. Throw away infertile eggs. It does not hurt to handle the eggs, and finding out if they are fertile or not is a must.

One thing I'll say here is hen needs to be encouraged to lay eggs in nestbox, so you may want to put at least one or two in box even if they are infertile. Keep a close eye because you don't want either bird breaking eggs open because unless they are fertile, the inside material will be decomposing making it toxic for them to eat.

Also make sure nestbox has only the front hole and perch inside cage and the rest outside the cage so you have access to eggs and later babies. You will need to find someone to teach you about handfeeding with baby parrot handfeeding formula with a syringe because you may have to do this for many reasons, so it's something that has to be learned before doing it. Babies have to be weighed every single day using a gram scale made for birds. If one of them does not gain weight everyday then this means a bacterial infection is present, and babies will die without being diagnosed and treated by an Avian Vet ONLY. Also, parent birds need to be examined before breeding to make sure they are infection free as these are passed directly onto babies.

Linda

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