Eggs, Eggs, and More Eggs

Post by **Sally** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:32 am

I had cleaned out the nest on the BCCB pair after they abandoned one clutch and I removed the second clutch, which had 2 clear, 2 dead in shell, 1 fertile. My Societies raised the one baby. The BCCBs promptly lined the nest again, and started sitting. They should have hatched out the eggs about 2 weeks ago, increased their mealies consumption tremendously, started going in and out of the nest--my hopes were up for a successful clutch. Yesterday, I noticed the male courting the female with a stem of grass...hmmm. This evening, I decided to check the nest. No babies, but 21 eggs!

That is like 4 clutches. I can't figure out this pair. The hen still seems in great condition, you'd think she'd be worn out by now. I think I just need to pull the nest completely, perhaps put them in the community flight, and let them just be finches for the time being. The thing that really steams me is that those two have been eating a fortune in mealworms, with nothing to show for it! No more mealies for them!

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:37 am

Dang Sally! That's a lot of eggs. Obviously they were eating the mealworms for egg production!
Did you candle any of the eggs to check for fertility?

williep · Post by **williep** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:27 am

All I can say is, unbelievable. What inspires a hen to lay 21 eggs? Hope you have more luck with them in the future.

In what size breeding cage did you keep them?

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:41 am

sounds similar to my st helena pair, all they seem to do is build a nest fill it with eggs then move on and start again.

hope your not paying for mealworm Sally, it is so easy to breed your own.only cost me about $20 to set up and I now have enough mealworm to feed them to the birds year round.

here's a link to help people get started if they are interested in breeding there own mealworms
http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm

Post by **Sally** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:07 am

To answer your questions, I candled the eggs, and most of them are clear, though I stuck them under Societies anyway, just in case some of them had just been laid and not started incubating yet. Two look viable, maybe they will hatch under Societies. Some were cracked, hard to remove 21 eggs from a wicker hooded nest without some damage.

They are in a 34x18x18 breeding cage. Maybe they don't like being confined in a cage.

I do grow my own mealworms, but hit a stretch where I had lots of beetles and large mealworms, but not many of the mini size the CBs like, so I broke down and ordered some.

I think this pair needs a break, so I'm going to try them in other housing. I really feel I need to redo my birdroom, think I have too many cages in too small a space.