Excited! Red Faced Parrot Finches coming soon ...

[7936tj]

Hi Elana

Thankfully just feathers missing that I can see, he only fussed with it (or tried to but couldn't reach) on the day it happened so it must really have hurt, now he just looks shabby with the bits missing. I wonder if he'll sit still long enough for me to take a photo tonight to show.

That's good to know about the eggs. I wondered how it all worked, especially with laying one per day & she'll be up to 4 today, need to check on that too

[lovezebs]

7936tj

Wishing you the very best of luck with this clutch .

[7936tj]

Thanks so much Elana

[7936tj]

Clever Teddy bird ... 4 wee eggs. I think she's started to sit so we shall see from here. I did notice a large air pocket in one of the eggs closest to the camera, does that mean that egg is no good? The last clutch had the same large air pocket?

[debbie276]

if the parents stay off the eggs for more than 15-30 minutes.

Depending on which stage of development the eggs will remain viable for much longer then 15-30 minutes, even as long as a day or more.

[lovezebs]

debbie276

Just repeating what I was told, that once parents are sitting tight, if they leave the nest, and eggs grow cold, the embryos die inside the egg.

Did I misunderstand ? If that's the case, than apologies.

[debbie276]

No worries Elana no apology necessary.
Just did want anyone to panic if they thought any parents were off the nest for over 30 minutes. There have been many cases where the chicks went on to hatch with a longer time off nest.

[7936tj]

I'll just be chuffed if these one's have chicks inside & they hatch. Last time was so sad

[7936tj]

Well, it's all over. 5 days after Teddy started sitting, this morning I opened the curtains to 1 egg on the floor of the cage broken, 2 eggs missing completely & 1 lone egg in the nest.

My husband has been home most of the day & she hasn't gone back to the nest at all. So we have removed the nest completely. The last egg inside, stone cold. Candled the egg out of interest & yes, there was a baby in there, but abandoned

While dismantling the nest, my husband found the missing two eggs buried almost down the bottom. No idea how they managed that!? And when candled, nothing inside. Good to know 1 egg had been fertilised though.

Anyhoooooo the nest is now staying out for a while & they are on holiday from eggs & babies. They can try again after a decent rest, for now, they can just have fun & be happy tweeters instead of solely focussing on having eggs & babies. Have to say, neither bird looks upset about the lack of eggs/nest unlike last time.

So I guess this is the end of this thread at least for now. Thank you so much everyone for your support and wonderful words of wisdom during this journey, it's been awesome

[lovezebs]

7936tj

So sorry it turned out this way.... sometimes these things just happen, and we don't understand why. They must have sensed, that the buried eggs were empty, and possibly decided that one good egg was not worth their while. Or possibly, the egg left in the nest, was dead in the shell.

Better luck next time......

[7936tj]

Thanks so much Elana xxx

[Smurf]

Was there any sign of development/fertility in the eggs ? if there was then at least you know the eggs would be viable.

With mine, once i know the first egg is laid i ignore nest, remove all extra nesting material and reduce or cut out the softfood, the photo you took of the eggs/disturbance could have been enough to put them off the clutch, if both birds share in the incubation and cock is young/fertile/fit then without ANY interference they should hatch/rear chicks without any problems.

[Smurf]

I'd let them try again but DO NOT get curious as to what's going on in nest, just leave them to it, remove excess nesting material and only reintroduce the softfood about 16 days after first egg is laid. DO NOT check or even look at nest after 1st egg.

BTW, if cock doesn't share in the incubation then more than likely only way to get chicks s to use fosterers

[7936tj]

Hi Padraic - thanks so much for your messages. We have always photographed them and they are fine with it, neither seems to really care and we are always super careful never to touch the nest or photograph when someone is sitting. We think the problem maybe that Bear will not at this stage help Teddy incubate. So she's getting frustrated and over it. They are having a break right now and will be given another turn at it when sufficient time has passed for them to just be birds instead of constantly trying to breed. One of the four eggs was viable, so that was good to know. Just young birds finding their way. Thanks again.

[lovezebs]

7936tj

Well good luck next time. Maybe they need to grow up a bit more, before they get into raising a family.



@Smurf

Hi Padraic.

At what age do Redhead Parrot Finches age out? I've read somewhere, that in this species, the males age out quite young, but how young is 'quite young' ?