# Should I move my hen to a separate cage after she laid eggs in the aviary?



## Hines001 (Oct 11, 2011)

Today I noticed that one of my tiels was missing and after a bit of a hunt around i found her behind my big seed pots with some eggs however when she moved there was also a 2 babies there which was a surprise as every time i went up to the aviary she was out flying around, so i had no idea about the eggs!!

I was wondering what i should do, as I have no other pairs down at the moment as i pulled my pairs babies for hand rearing last week as they hit 3 weeks old and the only other birds I have with babies is a pair of budgies.

I do have a spare cage with a nesting box but was not sure if I should move them.

I do hand rear tiels usually but never from the first few days so am worried I will do more harm than good.

Luckily I finished the extension of the aviary a few days ago so she is in that part of the aviary on her own with her partner.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Craig


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

I think I would make a "nest" where she has laid the eggs. Move her from the eggs, put about 3 inches of wood shavings down, make a "bowl" in the center, put the eggs back, and then let her back on the nest. As long as no other birds are bothering the pair then letting her nest on the floor shouldn't be a big deal. 

After this, you should remove anything that makes dark spaces in the aviary to keep them from nesting when you don't have any boxes up for them.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

you dont want to move her, as she may stress from the move and abandon the eggs


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## Hines001 (Oct 11, 2011)

Thanks so much for the advice. I had built the new part of the aviary for the birds so they would have nowhere to lay eggs but she beat me to it. I have made a bit of a nest and moved the babies and eggs into it and she seems to be sitting with them fine now so i guess I'll have to just keep an eye on her and keep my fingers crossed.


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## Sweetcheek (May 21, 2012)

A very determined hen! Good luck with the babies, hopefully she raises them without incident.


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