Oct 7, 2011 20:42:55 GMT
hector
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 73
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Post by hector on Jan 9, 2012 15:49:22 GMT
So... to start at the beginning: I got two breeding pairs. Everything seemed fine so far. The hen from pair nr.2 got 5 eggs at the end (had 6 but one broke). The first chick should have arrived today, so yesterday I didn't even looked into the box not to disturb the hen. Today I found in the nest box 1 dead chick (so it did hatched today) and one egg. The rest is gone. There are nearly no eggshell left. What's left that couldn't give out a complete eggshell. (No traces outside the nest either.) Also there was blood at the dead chicks mouth. The hen still sits on the remaining egg. (All eggs were fertile.)
Any idea what could have happened? Was it the hen or was it the cock? It was a wonderful pair so far. They even fostered and raised quite a few chicks from my other (more problematic) pair before.
What happened I can't undo, but I hope I can learn something from it.
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Post by barrieshutt on Jan 9, 2012 15:53:40 GMT
One of the pair will have blood/yolk on their beaks, never breed with that one again, always check twice a day that way you would have spotted the chick was not fed and you could have fed or fostered it.
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Oct 7, 2011 20:42:55 GMT
hector
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 73
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Post by hector on Jan 9, 2012 16:20:42 GMT
I just got home from work... I would think that the chick was killed as well. Otherwise why the blood in its mouth? Only see a little blood on the hens neck/throat, the male bird is all clear. This makes the hen the murderer, right?
Just thinking: might that be the case that the cock bird didn't fed the hen enough so she picked the most nutrient-rich thing nearby - the eggs?
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Post by barrieshutt on Jan 9, 2012 18:13:36 GMT
The hen must never be used for breeding again Hector.
A hen will feed itself also , popping in an out of the box during the day
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May 18, 2024 17:01:10 GMT
Deleted
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2012 22:41:58 GMT
i had a egg eater last year ...a very nice lutino hen..... i sold her as a pet.......and told the girl that had her .......never try to breed with this hen ..... and told her why .....so all wasnt lost... ..
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Oct 7, 2011 20:42:55 GMT
hector
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 73
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Post by hector on Jan 10, 2012 19:42:21 GMT
Yes, she did that - came out off the box every now and then to feed some on her own; nut often and not much.
The only thing I don't get is how come that a hen that was a great mother before turns out to be an egg-eater? I just would like to know what could have happened that made her do this? Can it be my fault anyhow?
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May 18, 2024 17:01:10 GMT
Deleted
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 6:48:32 GMT
some budgies just turn into egg eaters ...its not you falt...
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Post by BudgiesBuddy on Jan 11, 2012 7:33:48 GMT
some budgies just turn into egg eaters ...its not you falt... And once an egg eater, always an egg eater.
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Oct 7, 2011 20:42:55 GMT
hector
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 73
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Post by hector on Jan 11, 2012 19:53:51 GMT
Well, I thought I would do a "test": I put the male bird (from the egg-eater pair) over to the cage of my lonely hen's. She already had two dummy eggs in her nest, but she didn't touched them. So, the male spent one day in that cage and completely turned the nest upside down. He threw out one of the dummy eggs (the other one got completely covered with the wood shawings - I think that's why he left that alone). So.... is it possible that the cock bird was the "destructor" after all?
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Oct 23, 2011 16:56:32 GMT
darren
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 94
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Post by darren on Jan 11, 2012 20:58:47 GMT
hi hector only one way to find out is to put the male with another hen
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May 18, 2024 17:01:10 GMT
Deleted
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 23:15:51 GMT
Well, I thought I would do a "test": I put the male bird (from the egg-eater pair) over to the cage of my lonely hen's. She already had two dummy eggs in her nest, but she didn't touched them. So, the male spent one day in that cage and completely turned the nest upside down. He threw out one of the dummy eggs (the other one got completely covered with the wood shawings - I think that's why he left that alone). So.... is it possible that the cock bird was the "destructor" after all? The cock was always going to do this as he wants to raise his own
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Oct 7, 2011 20:42:55 GMT
hector
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 73
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Post by hector on Feb 23, 2012 21:10:15 GMT
Oh well, before I could have blinked twice the hen started to lay eggs again. (I got that feeling if they would have destroyed the first clutch just to start it over again...) Anyways... This time she made the new local record (new record in my living room and laid 8 eggs. They are raising now 7 chicks. 1 egg got eaten up... I think it's the hen... The cock is a not a clever one I guess and it seems like that he only likes to take fresh food. I mean even from the seed. So my best guess would be that he didn't transported enough food to the hen into the nest so she had to eat one egg in order to provide enough protein for the already hatched chicks. Does this version make sense you think? I have noticed also that the chicks are not growing as they should. And again, it must be the cock that doesn't brings the food in to the nest box. Now I have to refresh their food at least twice a day and spray some water onto their eggfood as often as I can. The chicks started to grow rapidly as they are supposed to...
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Dec 29, 2011 18:29:20 GMT
Lushen1600
Normal Violet
mutation budgie breeder
Posts: 166
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Post by Lushen1600 on Feb 24, 2012 7:17:48 GMT
I hope I don't have this problem as I am colony breeding, so if this happens I won't know who the culprit would be, sorry to hear about your loss of eggs and chick hope things work out and you figure out what's happening so that you can find a solution.
Thanks Lushen
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Post by BudgiesBuddy on Feb 24, 2012 7:20:13 GMT
You can always put millet spray in the nest box. Hen and even chicks will nibble on it. Not every pair can raise seven chicks so maybe some are weak. Post pictures of chicks.
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Post by BudgiesBuddy on Feb 24, 2012 7:23:24 GMT
I don't think that a hen will start eating eggs if the cock doesn't feed her enough. Maybe a hen would so to get some calcium. Did you provide her with some calcium supplement?
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