FINCHforum

I have a question for you all. I have a pair of canaries I was hoping to breed this late in the year. They hadn't been bred all year so they did show an interest in mating. I had the cock and the hen separated by a divider for a couple of weeks and must not have introduced them together quickly enough because the hen laid an egg two days ago. Obviously the egg is not viable so I immediately placed the male in her cage and threw away the egg. Yesterday she laid another egg and I was curious if this egg was viable or not seeing how the male was only recently introduced. Should I throw away this egg as well? Should I throw away all her eggs the first round incase they not fertile and hope she lays another set? I have observed attempted mounting.

I would let them do their thing and leave the eggs with her.

I don't know if this has ever been proven. Some say that mating has to take place a few days before the egg is laid to be fertile - some say it can happen the same day. If you want babies, what do you have to lose by waiting to see what happens? Or...... candle in a couple of days to verify. Bob

I guess that's my question. How long does it take after mating for the eggs to be fertilized and for how long will fertilized eggs be laid if the male is removed from the hen.

Most birds will lay fertile eggs about a week after mating, although as Bob mentioned, there is some disagreement on that issue. Obviously, if the male is not in the cage any more, there won't be any other matings, so you can just wait about five days and candle the eggs to see if they're fertile.

From my recent research, eggs are laid first thing in the morning. Mounting can take place the day before to make an egg fertile. But on that note. A female can carry fertility for up to 1 week after being mounted. But if the male is removed and the egg is laid it will decrease the chance for survivability due to the female not being fed in the nest and when she leaves to eat the eggs get cold causing what is inside to die. It is always good to keep the male and female together at least 2 1/2 weeks after the eggs are laid so you can observe their behavior. Plus just like humans and babies, Practice makes perfect. When the hen and the male make an attempt at starting a clutch, they can only improve the second time around. This is how you differentiate a breeder pair and a show or pet pair. Breeder pairs with experience will pass their genome on to their young. Making them good breeders as well.
So I've been told.