An EGG question to the egg wise

[lovezebs]

Hello to the Folks who have seen many an egg.
This morning I found two eggs in a water dish. This in a flight wich contains 1- male Cut Throat, 2- Orange Cheek wax bills (unknown gender), 2-Green Singers (male & female) and 3- Gouldians (1 mature female, 1 juvi male and 1 juvi female).

Ok, the two eggs that I found are the same size and shape as Zebra eggs, but yellowish in colour. Any ideas as to who might be the possible (if stupid) parents??? I fished these poor eggs out of the water, and put them in the little sleeping tent/cozy where the Societies sleep. No idea if anything will come out of them or what it might be.

Any ideas?

[MiaCarter]

Well that's curious!
But not uncommon. I've had lots of eggs in the food and water dishes over the years.

I believe the freshness of the egg would account for the yellow tinge. New or infertile eggs will often have a yellow-ish tint.

I'm not sure about orange cheeked waxbills as I'm not familiar with their eggs, but I believe the gouldians and green singers could be potential parents.

Obviously, with a male, the cut throat can't be the egg layer. But if memory serves, I believe their eggs are freckled? To be honest, I'm not sure. The only photo I could find showed what appeared to be normal white eggs, but I vaguely remember them being freckled. It's a moot point though, since you only have a male!

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Hi Mia.
It's a toss up between Green Singers, Orange Cheeks and Gouldians, although Gouldian male is still not gone through first molt, so...(?) With Orange Cheeks being tiny, I'm thinking maybe eggs would be smaller (maybe?) So, the likeliest candidates would be the Green Singers.... Although, why in the water?

Hmmmmm?

[MiaCarter]

Well, females can lay without any sort of mating, so the young age of the gouldian male may be a moot point in that respect.

As for why in the water, your guess is as good as mine!
I've found them on the floor too, so I think at times, it just comes over them and oops, there's an egg!
I think they're attracted to cup-like and nest-like structures. I get lots in the food bowl too if there aren't nests in the cage.

[Sally]

OCW are very tiny, so they will lay an egg that is much smaller than a Zebra egg.

Once I was sitting in my bird room looking at cages. I happened to be watching a hen sitting on a perch with her back to me, when I realized there was something white appearing in her vent. For the one and only time, I was able to see an egg being laid! It just appeared as a white bubble, and then she bobbed her tail slightly, and the egg came on out and fell to the floor of the cage. The hen acted totally unconcerned, but I was blown away.

[Ginene]

I would think they are gouldian eggs. GS eggs are a very pale blue color. I have had Cut throat eggs (I know you only have a cut throat male) and they look just like zebra and society eggs; no speckles. I have never had Gouldian eggs, but it sounds like they are too big to be OCW eggs. Best of luck with them. Maybe they are fertile and your societies will foster them! That would be awesome

[finchmix22]

GS eggs have speckles sometimes and can be white too, but they are usually an off white in color, more than the show white color. My guess is gouldian eggs. I hope you got them out of the water before they were damaged. Let us know if they hatch.

[Colt]

Gouldian eggs are also quite a bit larger than your zebra or society eggs. I can tell the difference when I can see them in a nest.

[lovezebs]

Yikes! So these eggs are too small for Gouldians. Too big for Orange Cheeks. Too yellow for Green Singers and my Cut Throat can't lay eggs on his own...
I have aliens in my flight!

[lovezebs]

So far, my Socies haven't tossed them out, so there is hope I guess. The Zebra eggs I put in there haven't done anything, so...
I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm thinking these two eggs sat in the water overnight or at least for several hours. Not too sure what that would do to them.

[Colt]

There is a chance being submersed in water removed the protective coating or "bloom" the hen puts over the shell of the egg to prevent bacteria and stuff from getting in. This is why people who raise poultry and gamebirds who incubate the eggs don't wash them. Washing them increases the likelihood of bacteria coming through the pores of the egg and preventing embryo formation, or killing the embryo outright.

It's possible the eggs will hatch though. I've heard stories of people incubating eggs they'd washed and put in the fridge before. Hatch rates weren't great, but you might get a chick.

Personally I hope they both hatch just so we'll know who layed them...lol

[MiaCarter]

Indeed, it will definitely be interesting to see if they hatch as I want to know who laid them! Mystery eggs!

I think the water could also cause them to absorb water, which could create problems similar to what you see when the humidity is too high in the incubator (the chick swells and the air pocket can essentially disappear.)
But since it's so early in the game, I'm sure it will have plenty of time to normalize. I'd be most worried about infection.

[lovezebs]

Hi All
So far so good. Socies don't seem to mind the eggs in their little tent, but don't appear to spend a lot of time in there so far . I guess time will tell. For now I'm just leaving it alone. If they choose to incubate, let them, and if they choose not to, then so be it.
I'm leaning more and more in the direction that it might be green singer eggs. I think that would be the only logical possibility. Orange Cheeks would be smaller. Gouldians would be bigger. CT has no mate. So only other option would be the Greens (Mr and Mrs) Harper has been singing a lot lately (finallyl). Maybe he finally convinced Willow that the time is right and the water dish is beckoning.

[Corkysgirl]

Sally that's so cool you got to see her lay an egg. And funny she acted like no big deal. It will be interesting to see what happens and who is born if there is success.

[FinchLover&Breeder]

Did they ever hatch?