4 new lovebird eggs!!

[casey_540]

for the past week my lovebird has liad 4 eggs, shes still in the same cage as the male(we obviously believe its a male) this is her second littler but teh last ones she broke open.. and didnt lay on them, but now she is always wathcing out for them and sitting on them, how many eggs are expected and if they do hatch do i need to help tehm at all or does the mother do it all by herself??

reply

thanks

[charmedagain]

Hi congratulations was she a first time breeder with the first clutch as most first timers crack there eggs until they know what they are supposed to do.

the best thing to do now is introduce soft foods such as wholewheat bread, Boiled Pasta, Boiled Brown Rice, Boiled eggs you can even give them an egg food which is designed for hand feeding and weaning of baby birds here in the uk its called EMP or CeDe, This can be given moist or dry.

If the eggs do hatch you will not need to do anything apart from make sure the food dishes are always full and water is always clean and fresh.

A rule of thumb is when lets say a pair has 4eggs that hatch you will need to make sure there is always enough food in the cage to feed 6 adult birds that way you know that they are getting enough.

Love birds usually lay 4-6 eggs but has been known for more but not all will hatch.
Also make sure there is a shallow dish of warm water in the cage so that she may have a bath which will help keep moister in the nest.


Mike

[casey_540]

k thankyou that was alot of help

[casey_540]

but how long do they take to hatch?

[charmedagain]

They do not start to incubate the eggs until the 2nd or 3rd egg has been laid. The incubation period is about 23 days during which time you should not disturb them unless its an emergancy.
So what i suggest is count 23days from the 2nd egg being laid then give or take a day or so the first egg should hatch.

Do not worry if 2 hatch within hours of each other this is normal.
The parents do not usually feed the chicks until 12-24hours after they have hatched this is the time the yolk sac is being absorbed into the body completely.

Mike