Umi laid an egg!

[Umi]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum. I have two green cheeked conures - Deku and Umi - who came to me a year ago, their sex was unknown. They're friendly but not too tame. Anyway they just laid an egg and are nesting. I have supplied and tried to put beech chips into their nesting box but they won't let me and are not using them. I started providing egg food as I read that it could help to prevent egg binding. Umi is now sitting on the egg/eggs (I can't see if she has laid more than one), and Deku is feeding her and only seems to be interested in the egg food. I've read as much as I can but would really appreciate any advice please. Thank you in advance.

 

[itzjbean]

Breeding is a daunting task that only ones with experience should take on! You're going to want to dive into the Breeding/Raising Parrots subnforum, read through at least the first 10 pages of threads to get an idea of what goes on.

Have your birds been to the vet lately or right when you got them? They will need more than egg food to ensure they can properly raise babies. Even then, lots of things can go wrong!

Here's a couple great links....

Before I start to breed...

So you bought an unweaned baby...

The second link I posted is important because, sometimes as hard as they try, some birds are unfit to raise chicks. For a number of reasons sometimes is just doesn't go perfectly, and it is naïve to think your birds will be perfect at raising babies on their own. A lot of times breeders have to step in to take over care of the babies and when you are inexperienced with raising chicks (knowing they need to be in a temperature and humidity controlled brooder, know the proper consistency of formula and temperature it needs to be, how to wean chicks onto real food, etc.) it can be an extremely stressful task for a newbie especially if you are somewhat new to birds, too.

What are your plans for the babies? If they are not handled or hand fed with formula by humans, they will not be tame, just like the parents.

Bottom line is, unless you know how to take over complete care of chicks should the parents fail (mutilating or rejecting them, refusal to feed them, etc.) you should leave breeding to those more experienced and take out he nestbox. Birds don't need to breed and raise chicks to be happy birds. As long as you love them unconditionally and they get the proper care hey need they will be fine.