Dud Canary Eggs

[debbyloo]

I have a pair of glosters (young hen, male probably about 2 years old), and their first breeding attempt yielded three clear eggs which the hen faithfully incubated for 19 days.... I did not interfere at all, but after the time for hatching was definately over, I pulled the eggs while she was out on a quick break, and candled them, and sure enough, all three were clear. I felt horribly guilty swiping her eggs, because she caught me in the act, and I promise you her expression was one of "how COULD you, after I have been so trusting of you all these days, and I was only gone a MOMENT and you did THIS!!!" Then, she went right back to incubating the now empty nest. The male is still in the cage with her, as he has been all along, and continues to sing away. Did I do right pulling all the eggs? I was hoping she would breed again, and attempt another nesting cycle. This is my first experience with canary breeding, so I am unsure if I should pull the nest too, and make her rebuild another one, after a short break. I did add a small amount of fluffy burlap strings, in case she wants to refurbish. Also, I have read that sometimes you need to trim the vent feather on the male, but they always sternly warn you not to trim certain of the feathers there, but I am left confused about which ones to trim and which ones to leave untrimmed. I am thinking that my male, who is very poofy, may have too many feathers in that area to breed successfully and that may be why the eggs were clear (because I did see several pairings before she began to lay eggs). Anyone out there with some advice?

[30 Seconds to Bob]

If you live in the northern hemisphere, it's not too late to try one more clutch this year. They can use the same nest, but do offer some fresh nesting material. I've always had the best luck and greatest production using birds of two to four years of age - both male and female. It's not unusual for a first time hen to have her first clutch be clear. Also, I've never had to trim vent feathers, but here is a link that you might find useful. http://www.glosters-usa.com/vent_trimming.htm Good luck! Bob

[debbyloo]

Thanks so much for your reply. If trimming vent feathers is not generally necessary, I will gladly skip that idea, although the posted link diagram was very helpful! I feel better about the first attempt yielding only clear eggs, as this hen is young - between six months and a year old, I think. She is out and about in the cage now, and has stopped incubating her empty nest. I will continue to keep some fresh nesting supplies available. Hopefully she will give it another go, maybe this time with better success. Thanks again!

[Lisa]

I had a similar experience, though a little different. This was my first experience with canaries breeding also - two Russian canaries sitting on 3 eggs faithfully.

After a period of time, I noticed one egg totally disappeared. Then a second egg it appeared they ate the shell from around the fetus, which looked exactly as it would look inside the shell, but not yet hatched. It's disgusting to say but within a day of this the baby because melded into the nesting materials. The third egg never hatched at all. The birds have access to cuttlebone and other sources of calcium so I'm not sure what caused them to eat the shell from around the baby. It appears they did it very carefully so as not to injure the baby. The baby looked fully developed as if it would have hatched naturally within a day or two.