Gouldian eggs???

[slwatson]

Babs lovezebs debbie276

Well, I'm just having a string of terrible luck. The one gouldian egg that did have pink coming through the shell had a baby inside, but I guess it died. I can't find it in the nest or cage anywhere. The other eggs haven't hatched, so I'm candling them tonight. The yellow and blue pair have again completely stopped sitting on their eggs, so I have a heat lamp on them to keep them warm enough I hope. I was hoping to get at least one gouldian baby I'm thinking about putting societies in with the yellow and blue pair's eggs, and if I end up having to remove all of the eggs from the other pair, I think they'll probably breed and lay eggs again. They're awesome parents....I honestly think the cold spell we had killed the eggs. My new heater has really been working though, if this weather would just be more consistent! I did get my bccbs, parrot finches, and strawberry finches all set up in their own large flights with artificial plants, so maybe I'll have better luck. I'm feeling like a

[Babs _Owner]

slwatson

Ohhh no honey You are NOT a loser!! That could have happened to anyone. I had 4 viable eggs and we broke two of them so dont be hard on yourself

[slwatson]

Babs

Thanks Babs I have a small led flaghlight at home, but I think it gives a little too much light to get an accurate egg reading.

[slwatson]

Babs lovezebs debbie276

Last night I candled all of the eggs my second pair of gouldians were sitting on, and they were all bad I'm hoping they'll attempt to breed and lay eggs again. I removed my yellow and blue pair from their cage, and put in two female society finches. One was already hopping in the nest and sitting on eggs, but the other was very upset and kept calling to the other society finches in the large flight. I'm not sure if I'm handling that the right way. Would it be better if I removed the males from the society flight, and put the nest with the eggs and all of the females together? I think the second female was upset because her babies, who are completely weaned, were not with her.

[lovezebs]

slwatson

Hi Stacy.

Why are you feeling like a loser ?
We have all had eggs that were not fertile, eggs that were dead in the shell, and parents who have tossed eggs/chicks, or simply not sat the term. That's just a part of raising and breeding birds.

You mentioned a cold spell, were your birds outdoors at the time? If they were Inside, then I don't think that should have presented a problem really .

Regarding the Socies and the Gouldian eggs.
Just a couple of quick questions.
Did you remove the Gouldi parents from the flight?
Were the eggs incubated for any period of time?
If you have a Socie that's willing to sit tight, then by all means, let her sit. You can take the weepy female back to her kids, and place another Socie in her stead.

[slwatson]

lovezebs

All of my birds are inside, but our heat stopped working, and the temperature outside dipped into the 40's a couple of nights, and we couldn't get our heater to come on. So it got extremely cold in the bird room. I was able to get a new portable heater that's safe for the room, so now it stays fairly toasty and warm in there. We just have extreme fluctuating temperatures, so it's hard to predict the setting for the portable heater.

I felt like a loser because I can't seem to get anything to work out the way I want since my Societies had their babies...it will get better though. Thanks for the reassuring words

I did remove the Gouldi parents from the flight, and I honestly don't know if the eggs were incubated for sure or not. I think the blue hen sat for a little bit, but then stopped.

I'll put a different society in with the female who seems willing to sit and see if that helps.

Thanks so much for your advice Elana...you and Babs and everyone else who's helped me have been so awesome. I don't know what I would do without all of you!

[lovezebs]

slwatson

If your blue girl incubated for a while, then stopped, and then you had the cold spell...... I'm not sure if those poor eggs are still ok or not. I would check them first, before putting time and effort into trying to get Socies to incubate them.

Can't recall, did you candle these eggs at all?

[Babs _Owner]

slwatson

look for a bullseye for a new fertile egg. But in the early stages it can misleading. I'd put all the eggs in the society nest if that works well.

Heres a bullseye

[lovezebs]

Babs

Holy Crow!

Is that the egg Bubba was incubating ???

[Babs _Owner]

lovezebs

Bubba's got many talents ')

[slwatson]

lovezebs Babs

Elana and Babs,

This is actually the second clutch the blue hen laid, after I removed her first clutch and put them in with the other gouldian pair, who also had four. Those are the eight I recently candled, and they were all bad. During that time, the blue hen laid these new eggs, and then stopped sitting again, but I've had a heat lamp on them daily.

Yesterday I got brave and candled those too, but it's too early to tell anything. Both of the society hens stopped sitting on them in their separate cage, so I put the nest in with the society flight just to see what they would do..and no one has touched it so far.

Babs, thanks for the picture of the bullseye! I have a better idea of what to look for now!

Last night, I got to witness my bccb pair mating at the bottom of the cage! My 11 year old son witnessed it too, and he was a little grossed out....he's hitting puberty, and they were pretty intense, and the look on his face was priceless!

[debbie276]

This is a fertile egg at 3 days of incubation

Here is after 5 days

[debbie276]

slwatson

look for a bullseye for a new fertile egg. But in the early stages it can misleading. I'd put all the eggs in the society nest if that works well.

Heres a bullseye

Babs, isn't that a germinal disc. Every chicken egg has one even if it is not fertilized. The germinal disc is the area of the egg where sperm enter into the egg. This is the area of the egg which will form the embryo.

[lovezebs]

slwatson

G'morning Stacy.

I don't think a heat lamp would do the trick hon (correct me if I'm wrong).

These eggies just might be a write off (not sure though, and not your fault) check with Debbie.

I would let Lady Blue, have one more try, and if nothing good comes out of it, then I'd put her nest away till next year.

Reg. Your son and the romancing Cordons, lol
Try explaining to an Elementary group (I think it was grade two or three) on a Zoo trip, what the two Giraffes are doing in the middle of their enclosure in plain sight of everyone.

[debbie276]

Not sure a heat lamp will be enough. The temperature has to be a steady 99.5° F, eggs turned 5-7 times a day and 50-60% humidity.
Keep us posted on how your doing with it
good luck