I have a couple health and breeding questions.

[Stinch]

Is it ok for me to use invermiticin on a breeding/laying gouldian finch pair? You called it Sally and Debbie, you called it... They layed an egg today, and the copulated a couple more times yesterday. But I doubt they'll incubate, since the last time they layed, they layed only 1 egg and never layed more and didn't incubate it either. They go in ocassionally, but they don't spend too much time in the nest. How long can a 1st egg last before it goes bad without incubation? I have a society pair, but they aren't laying eggs or anything.

[debbie276]

The hen will not sit till she has 3-4 eggs. Eggs will last a week or more depending on the environment.
I would leave them be and let them work it out.
Why do you want to treat them with ivermectin?

Best of luck, keep us posted

[Stinch]

I am kind of worried he has scaly mites again, and she is in the nest. She is actually in the nest, they are now taking turns incubating the eggs. Only the male has scaly leg mite though, or it is hyperkeratosis. I am trying to be as quiet as possible, since she might get out easily. It's pretty hot, since it's summer. Probably about 28-32 celsius now/80-90 degrees farenheit now. Except he dosn't seem to have any nutritional deficiencies, so hyperkeratosis is unlikely.

[debbie276]

Hyperkeratosis in birds is caused by a vitamin deficiency from what I've read so I wouldn't think that is a problem for you.

Usually once you cure the bird of scaley mites they don't come back unless exposed to them from another bird. And if one bird has them all birds have them, it's very contagious.
Can you post a picture of the areas your concerned about?

Even though the birds go in and out of the nest they may not be sitting tight just yet. When the hen sleeps in the nest over night then incubation has begun.

[Stinch]

I put a cover over the cage and nest to keep it a bit more warm, since it has cooled down now. Tell how long an egg can be viable in a warm and cool areas please. I'm guessing it is also 7 days when warm, 1-3 days when cold and 3-5 days when cool.

[debbie276]

I wouldn't worry so much about slight drops in temperatures, the parents will regulate the eggs. Let them do their thing. If you fuss too much your bound to put them off the nest.

What would be warm, cool and cold? 90F is not all that hot for gouldians and mine are used to 50's in the winter though they aren't breeding then.

[Stinch]

Not really messing with their cage or anything, just changing food and water. And blowing the husks from the feeder, I'm think of getting/making a seed hopper to disturb them less. Warm would be 80-90 degrees farenheit, cool would be 80-70 and cold would be 70 to a rare 60 degrees (Very Windy or rainy days).

[Stinch]

They broke one of the three eggs Probably the one I found on the cage floor this morning, I put it back and 2 hours later it was broken. Luckily there was paper or it would have wet the other eggs, I added shaving without disturbing the birds to soften the nest and to give a rough surface for the babies to move their legs (If they hatch, and to absorb more moisture. Didn't put too much, just a small/thin layer). Now there are even less days for the eggs "valid date". Hopefully she doesn't have many more eggs, I know the average is 3-6 eggs. Fingers crossed here.

[Stinch]

She has been laying eggs while she is asleep on the perch... They broke when they hit the cage floor. What can I do to prevent this? She has laid the 3rd and 4th eggs like this and they both broke. What can I put to ease the fall? And the height of the cage is higher than 30 cm, so that doesn't help.

[debbie276]

She should not be laying the eggs on the perch. It doesn't sound like she is ready to raise a clutch. At this point I would be sure to give her hard boiled eggs, shell and all for the calcium and let them figure out what to do.
good luck

[Stinch]

I give them hard boiled eggs with osyter shell and vegetables (This time I added carrots), liquid vitamins (I can't give them pellets and vegetables all the time), (When I can) pellets. But they usually don't pay much attention to pellets, only ocassionally eating them. They started incubating full-time today though, so I guess today was their last egg. It took nearly 1 year to get them eating hard boiled eggs, they only eat veggies in their egg-food container and rarely eat veggies and pellets (Veggies that aren't in their egg-food container). They really aren't getting out for anything at this point, only food and water, but they stay out for nearly 10 minutes though. They really aren't going to go out anymore.

[Stinch]

1 more week or so and the eggs are going to hatch. Had to put them under my societies butts, since it was a couple days before the eggs "expiration date". I guess they weren't that ready after all, but I have one concern and question: How do I get the bids to act like gouldians, because they will have to be fostered under society finches. Plus I am going to buy invermiticin just in case something happens with mites.

[debbie276]

I think you are worrying too much about "expiration" dates. Eggs don't have a drop dead expiration date, a lot depends on the temperature and environmental conditions.
Jan 6th

She is actually in the nest, they are now taking turns incubating the eggs.

jan 8th

They broke one of the three eggs

Jan 9th

She has been laying eggs while she is asleep on the perch

They started incubating full-time today though, so I guess today was their last egg.

They really aren't getting out for anything at this point, only food and water, but they stay out for nearly 10 minutes though. They really aren't going to go out anymore.

Jan 15th

1 more week or so and the eggs are going to hatch. Had to put them under my societies butts, since it was a couple days before the eggs "expiration date".

Wish I could help more but I'm very confused with your timeline. Personally I would let the birds do what they want to do, let them learn. You'd be surprised how when given a chance they work it out and are successful.
good luck

[Sally]

I agree with Debbie, just relax and give them a chance to be parents. They will never learn if their eggs are always fostered out. IMO, when eggs are always taken away to be fostered, we are actually training the birds to be bad parents.

[Stinch]

Well not 1 more week, but it was the 6th day and I didn't want them to die. Wasn't a couple days, I checked the date I put it down on a piece of paper and notepad on the computer.

Should I give them a rest or let them try 1 or 2 more times?

Christ... I'm saving up for a bigger cage or aviary supplies, breeder cages should only be used for transort or quarantine. They're so small. Already know what cage I should buy and where I should buy it.

I know there isn't an "exact expiration date". I don't plan on selling them or anything, just pets really. Just asking here, how many birds can fit in your average budgie or finch nest box without problems? Mostly because there are going to be 6 more birds, I doubt ALL of them will survive because of ants too much work for the parents. Usually 4 out of 4-20 survive though.