new member with lovebird question

bonton036 · Nov 18, 2012

Hi- My name is Bonny and I live in Dover Delaware. I am new to parrotforum and new to birds. I had recently taken over the care of a pair of lovebirds Romeo & Juliet. Yesterday Juliet became a new momma and layed her 1st egg. my question is: shouln't one of them be covering the egg and keeping it warm all day? What could I do if they do not tend to their eggs?

Thanks much

Birdlover11 · Nov 18, 2012

Welcome to the forum ! I don't know much about egg laying in birds but Im sure someone else will answer your question.

henpecked · Nov 18, 2012

Most birds won't "set" until they have a clutch of eggs.So chicks hatch almost the same time. You can always incubate.

andreavizzuso · Nov 18, 2012

Wecome to the forum,
the eggs has been laid at the bottom of the cage or in the nest?

Normally the female should make the nest and only after she should lay the eggs;
The eggs are warmed from the female that takes care of all the eggs; the heat source is the body of the female (that during this phase her body undergoes an increase of the temperature);
After 23 days (starting from second laid egg) the chicks will be born (which means she begins to incubate the eggs after the second egg);

If the female has laid her at the bottom of the cage, I doubt that the chick will be born, though;
good luck

bonton036 · Nov 18, 2012

Thank you for that reply. Is it true that they will lay one egg for about 5 days? when can I take away the nesting material?,.. I don't want them to mate. should I seperatethem? They have been together for a year & I am their 5th care taker. I feel bad for them

and want to do the right thing.

thanx
~Bonny

bonton036 · Nov 18, 2012

the egg was layed on bottom of cage.

andreavizzuso · Nov 18, 2012

bonton036 said:
Thank you for that reply. Is it true that they will lay one egg for about 5 days? when can I take away the nesting material?,.. I don't want them to mate. should I seperatethem? They have been together for a year & I am their 5th care taker. I feel bad for them and want to do the right thing.

thanx
~Bonny

The eggs are laid each two days (it's not a rule though);
Normally the female lays 4/5 eggs. The female adores to use willow branches as nest material.
If the female persists to lay eggs and if you don't want to mate them,then the separation could be a solution;however leave them side by side so that they will be not alone;

MonicaMc · Nov 18, 2012

Hens typically don't start sitting on the eggs until they have 2-3 eggs laid. I have heard that an egg can remain viable for at least 2 weeks after being laid as long as the incubation process hasn't started.

Here's a list of suggestions you could try to get a hen out of egg laying mode.

Remove Eggs
- Rearrange the cage
- Move the cage to a new location
- Use a cage grate
- Get a new cage/Use a different cage
- 12-14 hours of complete darkness
- Decreace calcium and protein within the diet (if she is on a high calcium & protein diet prior to laying eggs)
- Remove anything that could be taken as a nest
- Remove anything that could be used as nesting material
- Don't allow her in any dark place or enclosed area
- IMPORTANT: save the eggs in the fridge
- If she lays more than 3-4 eggs, put them back in the cage
Leave the Eggs
- Leave the eggs alone in the cage
- [Optional] Replace with fake eggs (prevent eggs from breaking)
- Increase calcium
- Let hen sit on eggs for 3-4 weeks or until she gets bored of them
- Once done sitting, toss

bonton036 · Nov 18, 2012

Oh my gosh! thank you for all that info,..very helpful. I noticed that she is tending to the egg more & I can tell that soon she will be laying another. Since caring for birds is new to me, I will have many questions along the way.

~Bonny

JoSweetDreams · Nov 19, 2012

Welcome to the forum

I am also new to birds so can't answer your question, but it seems like other people have been very helpful

new member with lovebird question

bonton036

New member

Birdlover11

New member

henpecked

Active member

andreavizzuso

New member

bonton036

New member

bonton036

New member

andreavizzuso

New member

MonicaMc

Well-known member

bonton036

New member

JoSweetDreams

New member

Hello from Texas.

Hello!

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