Infertile or fertile eggs

[Alfielucky2]

Can anyone help me?I have a pair if blue fronted amazons the female is sat on 3 eggs she laid the first one on the 1st of July and the last on the 9th of July they have not hatched yet does this mean they are infertile? We did see the birds mating 2-3 times a day for about 2-3 weeks before up until she laid the eggs they have been sexed and are definitely a male and female.

 

[henpecked]

Incubation is alittle bit different for some species of amazons. I don't do BFA but i think they are still about 28 days. I would start counting after the last eggs was laid. Could you candle them? Or will the parents not tolerate that? Are you wanting them to Breed? I'd candle the eggs and if infertile pull them. They will usually lay another clutch. Is this their first clutch for you? You already for babies and set up to go ?

 

[Alfielucky2]

Thanks very much for replying The hen won't let us in nest box. Yes we are all set with brooder etc. we would love to have new babies. I have hand reared African greys in the past. We bought them 2 years ago and this would be our first clutch.

 

[weco]

If your 'zons are young birds and since this is their first clutch, they may just need a bit more practice.....also, if your nest box is inside the cage, I might think about mounting it on the outside and installing an excluder door so that you would be able to check on future eggs without the parents trying to re-design your hands.....

Good luck.....

 

[Alfielucky2]

Thanks for reply. The amazons are approx 10 yrs old I was told by the person we bought them off were a proven pair but he said that was for the person he bought them off and not actually for him. The hen laid one clutch for him but they were infertile

 

[ShellyBorg]

I hate to say this but you may want to have the "male" bird DNAed. You would not be the first person to buy "proven" breeders and find out later you have a same sexed pair.

 

[Alfielucky2]

We have had it DNA sexed and it is definitely a male

 

[ShellyBorg]

You may have a vet scope the male see if all the reproductive parts are in good shape. The TAG I have here could never be a breeder. His testicals are less the half the size they should be.

 

[henpecked]

If you had them for 2 yrs and and the other fellow had them before you and the owner before him said they where "proven" , If their only 10 yrs old ,I think somebody lied along the way. Most of my breeders don't produce viable eggs until they're about 10 yrs old and have been "practicing" for a season or two. Rarely is the first clutch viable in my experience. If this is their first viable clutch then issues with raising/ feeding babies is a very real possibility. Good you have the brooder ready to go. I keep my nest boxes on the outside of the cage for many reasons. I also have a door in the back that allows me entrance. I use a piece of thin sheet metal that slides between the box and the cage that allows me to close the entrance hole to the box. This allows me to inspect the eggs/chicks when the hen does leave the box for a few minutes. The small video cameras also work well but you need the ones that work in low light. Back to the eggs. I would let them set the eggs for maybe a week longer than the 28 days after the last laid. So long as the hen doesn't start incubation, the eggs could still be viable for several weeks after being laid. You can only assume when the hen started incubating. My first choice would be to candle the eggs and pull them if not viable, this is your best chance at a second clutch and have babies this season. At this stage of incubation it should be very oblivious if they are good. BTW welcome to the forum. Breeding is not always a popular subject on this a companion parrot forum, i'd like to be able to keep this on the open forum so others can learn about their birds. You can always PM me if you need to. Good luck and let us know if you have questions.