# Eggs and Parents Problem.. HELP??



## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

I am a little upset this morning. We went away yesterday afternoon after my last posting and came home late last night and noticed that I had been home for an hour last night and neither the dad or mom had gone into the nest box. I thought maybe they were just taking a long break but it was kinda odd because they are usually in the box ALL the time other then for a quick maybe 10 minutes to eat and drink at a time. Well I covered them up and went to bed and I got up this morning and they still were out in the cage so I thought I should check on the eggs. All 5 were ice cold and I noticed a funny look to one of them which were one of the non fertile ones so I picked it up and noticed it was cracked and had a hole in it. I tossed that egg and candled them and one fertile one looked like it was moving slightly but nothing compared to what it was the other day when I candled them to see if they were fertile and the second fertile one looked like it was not moving at all. I'm afraid that one maybe dead  Is there anything I can try to do to get them to sit on them again and hopefully save atleast one?? God I wish I had an incubator  I have no clue what caused this. They were sitting on them all the time as of yesterday before I left. I don't know what happened. No one was home other then the dogs but my Shih Tzu was crated and my Springer was in the kitchen with a baby gate up so no one could of bothered them. I'm stumped. I put a piece of millet in the box hoping that would attract them. Any ideas anyone????


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You said what I was thinking, stick some millet in there and see if that helps. Something obviously scared them, sounds like that's how the one egg got cracked (you can patch eggs too and possibly save them). I'm not sure that any of the babies will make it at this point though, even the one that's moving. When babies get chilled, they can develop clots that can kill them right before hatching. So now its kind of a wait and see type thing.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

Ok thats what I thought  Thanks. I'll let everyone know what happends. They are supposed to hatch around the 15th or so.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

Ok so now im even more worried. Last night before I went to bed the male was going in and out of the box so I thought maybe she would too at some point. Well I got up this morning ready to clean cages and give fresh feed and water as I do every morning and when I moved a water cup I found a new egg on the floor under the cup (theres about an inch from the floor to the bottom of the water cup) but it had been broken open and the yolk was seeping out of it when I picked it up. At that point they were both out sitting on a perch just hanging out so I opened the nest box real quick and the eggs in there were still cold. What is going on with this pair???


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

How well does this pair like each other? Are they truly bonded to each other, or are they only breeding with each other because a better mate isn't available? Birds that aren't well-bonded are more prone to not taking good care of the eggs/babies.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

This is the only breeding pair and they are VERY bonded. They are not hand tamed they are always with each other preening each other and cuddling. They have been together breeding and bonded for 4 years.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Are they in a new environment? Like have they changed rooms or anything? This could throw them off their game.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

They have been in my livingroom since I got them last month. They came here and then laid eggs rate after.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It sounds like you got them in late July so they're adjusting to a new environment. Since they started laying eggs right after you got them, they must have been in full breeding mode at the time you got them. Maybe the big change put the brakes on their breeding urges but it took a while for the hormone levels to drop.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

Update.... As of last night mom started going in and out of the box now too. A few minutes ago they were occupied by eating so I took a quick minute to candle the eggs and they were both warm and moving around inside. Now I will just sit and wait and see if they start hatching around the 15th.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

That's good news! It sounds like the parents have recovered from whatever problem was keeping them off the eggs.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

Thank god but I just wish I knew the problem so I could try to make sure it doesn't happen again.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

If it was related to the move, there shouldn't be any problems in the future. If it was something else, maybe it will never happen again. But if it does happen again, do everything you can to figure out the similarity between the new occurrence and the old occurrence, so you can identify the cause of the problem.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

tielfan said:


> If it was related to the move, there shouldn't be any problems in the future. If it was something else, maybe it will never happen again. But if it does happen again, do everything you can to figure out the similarity between the new occurrence and the old occurrence, so you can identify the cause of the problem.


I really don't think it was the move because they were fine and always on their eggs at all times other then to quickly eat but I think something happened that scared them when I was not home.
I will keep a close eye on them and hope it never happeneds again. When I got up this morning mom was inside sitting on the eggs and dad was out eating but within 5 minutes he went back in the nest. 

Thank you all for your suggestions and help. This forum really is a big help. I've learned so much over the years on here.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

Update 08/14/12
Ok guys, for those who remember my pair laid eggs and something happened when I was not home one day and they refused to lay on them for 2 days but then finally did but we didn't know if they would make it because they were ice cold... Guess what I got up this morning and was going to give mom and dad a nice fresh piece of millet in their nest box (thats how I think I coxed them back in there) and egg #1 hatched. Its white down with red eyes which means I have one of their whiteface lutinos or one of their whiteface follows right? Im so happy, now I hope the others hatch and they make it. I will be keeping a close eye to make sure this baby and any others make it after what they have gone through already but looks like mom and dad are already doing a great job. Baby has already been fed. It is already dry and fed and it had to of hatched between 10 pm last night and 5 am this morning.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Whiteface for sure, plus lutino or fallow. What color are the parents? If both parents are fallow or split fallow, you can get fallow babies. Neither parent has to be lutino to get lutino babies, but dad has to at least be split to lutino. If the baby is lutino and mom is NOT lutino, the baby is a girl.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

Dad is a Whiteface pearl pied and mom is a Normal Whiteface. They have had whitefaces, whiteface pieds, whiteface lutinos, whiteface fallows, whiteface follow pearls and whiteface follow pearl pieds. 
From what I got from others in this group dad is spit to lutino and fallow and mom is split to pied and fallow and any baby that's visual pearl or visual lutino will be female, whether it's combined with other mutations or not?
So white fuzz (which they all will be) with red eyes will be either a whiteface lutino or fallow?
See photo of past babies.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Yes, all of that sounds right to me. Your lutino girls will actually be lutino pearl, since all daughters of a pearl male will be pearl in addition to any other mutations that they have.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

tielfan said:


> Yes, all of that sounds right to me. Your lutino girls will actually be lutino pearl, since all daughters of a pearl male will be pearl in addition to any other mutations that they have.


Wow didn't know there was such thing a whiteface lutino pearl? It must be that the pearl is not visible right?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Any mutation can be combined with any other mutation, so it's theoretically possible for you to have a baby that's whiteface lutino pearl pied fallow. But the lutino is going to cover up most of that.

The pearls are often visible on a "normal" lutino pearl - it's different shades of yellow, but if there's enough contrast in the tones you can see it. But you aren't likely to see the pearls on a whiteface lutino pearl because it's white on white without enough contrast for us to see it.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

tielfan said:


> Any mutation can be combined with any other mutation, so it's theoretically possible for you to have a baby that's whiteface lutino pearl pied fallow. But the lutino is going to cover up most of that.
> 
> The pearls are often visible on a "normal" lutino pearl - it's different shades of yellow, but if there's enough contrast in the tones you can see it. But you aren't likely to see the pearls on a whiteface lutino pearl because it's white on white without enough contrast for us to see it.


Well there, thank you. I learn something new every day.


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## sweetnsour924 (Oct 20, 2010)

Update 08/15/2012....
I opened the box up this morning to take a tiny peek to check on the baby and the second baby was just hatching, it had its shell on its head until dad helped it get it off. I'm so happy I really thought they were going to be DIS.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

O I'm so glad they hatched!!!

As to the WF lutino pearl question...srtiels had recommended using warm coffee on the back to make the pearls stand out so you could tell whether the bird was pearl or not. Just an idea.


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## Fortunate (Oct 31, 2011)

Congrads on your new babies - miricale babies for sure!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> As to the WF lutino pearl question...srtiels had recommended using warm coffee on the back to make the pearls stand out so you could tell whether the bird was pearl or not. Just an idea.


There are some cases where shining a blacklight on the bird can help you see faint markings, but I don't know whether this is one of them.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I know that works on tail feathers to see barring I'm not sure on body feathers but its worth a shot!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Looking for pearls with a blacklight seems like the same concept as looking for bars on tail feathers - you're looking for faint white on white markings either way. So maybe it would work.


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