2 out of 6 hatched

[Caprice Acres]

Yay! Two babies were noticed in the nest on the 21st. I'm not sure of exact hatch date as I try not to bother them too much - I have to gently slide the cage out from the wall to peek in.

I noticed before hatching that there were 2 eggs that were darker in appearance, and those have hatched. I've hatched out bazillions of chicken eggs on the farm so this wasn't news to me - I saw the darker eggs and assumed I'd only be getting 2 chicks.

The question is, what to do with the rest of the eggs? Should I try to scoop them out of the nest?

Is the low fertility/hatch rate part of the learning curve for these parents? They're doing a good job it seems so far, but it is their first time.

Per usual, they're not eating anything except their seed diet despite having mashed eggs, egg food, veggies offered regularly. Just gonna have to hope it's enough to raise babies on.

[lovezebs]

Caprice Acres

Hi Donna,

Congratulations!!!
Babies are always so exciting, aren't they?

Regarding the extra eggs...
I would leave them in the nest with the babies.
They make the parents come back to the nest to sit, and they also serve as little hot water bottles to keep babies warm when parents are out of the nest.

There is also always the chance that they were laid later, and may still hatch at a later date(?)

Regarding the low fertility...
If they are first timers, that may explain it. Also a smaller clutch is easier for first timers to feed and raise.

Probably their next clutch will be bigger.

[Caprice Acres]

Excellent. They don't look like eggs that have rotted, they just look unfertilized to me. Still lightly colored - I know in the incubator at home, a spoiled chicken egg often changes distinctly in color and these look 'nice' still. I was hoping I could leave them alone for a while.

Thanks!

[lovezebs]

Caprice Acres

With Finch eggs, they usually don't go rotten, they sort of dry up.
You can actually save them and use them as fake eggs if you ever need them.

Good luck, and enjoy your babies.

[ac12]

Gouldians are fussy and unpredictable.
The disturbance to remove the unhatched eggs from a woven nest, may cause them to abandon the nest. So best to leave it alone.

[Dave]

Also, leaving the eggs helps the hatched chicks have something to push against to raise up for feeding. Sometimes a 1 or 2 chick clutch will result in a chick having splay leg, because a leg slides outward due to lack of something pushing back.