# I candled my eggs please advise



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

hi  so i candled my eggs today i have six of them that are left and i noticed that one egg is DIS because i could see yellow color which i assumed is the yolk but apart from that in one egg i could see red veins as in strile's notes of candling and in the rest of the eggs i could see the air space on the left side and something small in the center i'm not sure what color it was but it was not black. Now what do the air spaces indicate?
please advise thank you so much in advance


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

yellow is not DIS, yellow is infertile


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

Okay dally thank you  now what are the others with a visible air space ?


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

some air space is good, a lot isnt good, can you try to candle the eggs and take photos of what you see so we can help you? if half the egg is air space, then there is not enough humidity in the egg. you can mist the outside of the box to help this. if there is NO air space, thats TOO much humidity... but pictures will really help


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

Dally the air spaces were not big it was at one end of the egg and *in the center i could see a very small smudged thing what was that was it the embryo?* i do not know how to define the shape of it. Also i candled the eggs after the sun was completely down and right there in the nest box i picked them up one by one and candled them now my doubt so am not sure about the color of the smudgy thing in between it was not clack for sure it was dark red i guess m not exactly sure with the color of it.


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

The baby will look like a smudgy thing when first developing but my question is, how old are these eggs? If they're past the 21 day mark, they will most likely not hatch and should be removed. Did you mark the eggs as she laid them?


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

No i did not mark them  as they do not like me disturbing them from their nest boxes they are always inside and m also not sure when she laid them because the first time on the 15th of july i found only two eggs and on the 21st i saw five eggs of which two has hatched on the 6th of august and when i opened once to see the bubs i found there where six eggs so i'm not sure when she laid them  sorry!  :blush:


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

So since the 21st there have been five eggs? Next time they breed you need to push them out of the way that way you know what's going on in the box. My birds are so used to me peeking in that they don't mind anymore (and those that do get pushed out with a spatula.) So the egg that is infertile is the newest egg. The other five have been there since the 21st at least which means they are almost a month old and aren't gonna hatch. I would remove all but the egg that looked yellow.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

Thank you so much for replying Yes even i was thinking about removing them roxy, but i just though i would wait till mid of next week that is 22nd i have a feeling at-least one would hatch i saw movements in one egg and red veins in another i have read that the tiels are smart in positioning their eggs. 
Yes from now on i will peep into their boxes more often but m planing to bring down their boxes.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

I also have another doubt if i remove the eggs will she start laying again ? i cannot remove the box immediately because i need to find a help in fixing the holes that have been made for the nest boxes. also the babies are in their so will she start laying again if remove them ? i don't find the parents mating nowadays as they are really busy running to feed their chicks


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

There is nothing wrong with leaving the eggs in there as long as they don't break. You can mark each one of them so if she begins laying then you'll know the new eggs from the old eggs. Once the last baby has fledged (left the nest box) you can block the nest box hole (if she hasn't begun laying again) with some cardboard or wood until someone can fix the cage to keep them from going in and becoming nesty again.


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

They will probably double clutch so be prepared for that, that's normal. She shouldn't lay if you don't remove ALL the eggs, tiels don't know how to count. If you saw signs of life in a couple of the eggs, then leave them, I just expected them to be farther along. If they're going to hatch, it should happen within the next week.


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Maybe she didn't begin sitting on them until late? So they might still be in the incubation period. That's interesting.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

bjknight93 said:


> Maybe she didn't begin sitting on them until late? So they might still be in the incubation period. That's interesting.


actually they do a great job siting on the eggs and that is what makes me feel like waiting until next week actually they take turns to sit on the eggs and any one of them is always on the eggs and the other would be feeding.  i have read that is their normal routine and in i have been so crazy that i have even checked them in the mid nights like 2pm and both of them would be inside at that time.


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

What I was saying is that some birds will lay eggs and begin sitting on them immediately. Other birds will lay 2 or 3 eggs before sitting on the nest. Eggs are good for up to 10 days after being laid without any incubation.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

bjknight93 said:


> There is nothing wrong with leaving the eggs in there as long as they don't break. You can mark each one of them so if she begins laying then you'll know the new eggs from the old eggs.


i have seen pics of how people have marked their eggs, they have written numbers on them as and when they were laid. what sort of a maker should i use ? will it affect the egg as marker inks are not safe for humans? 

I dont think that the egg s will break , their bedding is made of chopped stray/hay and its a good few inches from the bottom of the box and they have arranged the eggs to one corner of the nest box actually they have made that place alittle hollow to hold the ggs and they all fit in fine with grip


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

roxy culver said:


> They will probably double clutch so be prepared for that, that's normal


If they have another clutch before the babies fledged will it affect sunshine's health, this is scary ? will she be fine ?


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

Thank you so much roxy and bjknight for all the replies, your help and concern means a lot to me thank you


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Here in the US we use sharpie markers which are nontoxic and perfectly OK to use on eggs. Two clutches a year is the recommended amount for a hen to lay and so she should be perfectly fine. The thing that tires them out more than anything is feeding all the babies. 

Regarding your other pair (I know we were talking about them in another thread) since the hen isn't interested I would block off the hole to the box and give them more time to bond.


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

You can use a sharpie (permanent marker)..it won't hurt them.

It is best to have the eggs and babies in the middle if the nest box. The reason is that the babies, when they need to poop, will back out of the huddle and poop. Then they'll come back to the huddle to keep warm. When babies are in a corner, if one of the babies have their back to the wall they won't have anywhere to go to poop and will be sitting on their own feces.

Your other pair doesn't sound like it is bonded to me. The male sits in the box and the female shows no interest in it. It is a good idea to remove the male from the nest and block the entrance hole with cardboard or wood. It's not healthy for the boy to not get exercise when he's waiting on nothing.


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

sangs_becky said:


> If they have another clutch before the babies fledged will it affect sunshine's health, this is scary ? will she be fine ?


Birds double-clutch all the time. If she is a healthy bird, it should not hurt her. The third clutch is easier to prevent..so you might have to do this only a second time around.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

thank you bjknight  what sort of a marker should i use on the eggs ? please advise


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Any permanent non-toxic marker. This is what we use here:
http://s4.hubimg.com/u/1855431_f520.jpg


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

thanks a ton for all the advises and help


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

You're welcome! Keep the questions coming if you have any more.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The yellow egg might be fertile. It takes about 5 days of incubation for an egg to develop enough for us to see veins and other signs of life inside the egg, and if this egg was laid recently it might not have reached that stage yet. 

It's normal for the eggs to have an air space at the bigger end of the egg. This is the end of the egg where the baby normally hatches out, and the baby will breathe in this space while it's cracking the egg shell.



> in the center i could see a very small smudged thing what was that was it the embryo?


Probably. When an egg starts to develop, at first all you will see are red veins. But as the embryo gets larger, you will see a dark area in the egg that gradually gets bigger and bigger until it fills everything but the air cell.


----------



## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

This link has alot of helpful pix's: http://s525.photobucket.com/albums/cc331/Mousebirds-and-more/Other%20birds/Eggs%20and%20Reproductive%20system/


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

bjknight93 said:


> You're welcome! Keep the questions coming if you have any more.


Thank you so much  this means alot to us (me and my flock) since we do not have avian vets here and my vet is discouraging about birds it is to you people that i seek for help and advise and it feels good when people like you all care to reply and i can also sense the concern that you have for the birds and that is awesome! Many thanks to you all


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

srtiels said:


> This link has alot of helpful pix's: http://s525.photobucket.com/albums/cc331/Mousebirds-and-more/Other%20birds/Eggs%20and%20Reproductive%20system/


thank you for this striles  i was searching for this on your website thank you so much


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

tielfan said:


> The yellow egg might be fertile. It takes about 5 days of incubation for an egg to develop enough for us to see veins and other signs of life inside the egg, and if this egg was laid recently it might not have reached that stage yet.
> 
> It's normal for the eggs to have an air space at the bigger end of the egg. This is the end of the egg where the baby normally hatches out, and the baby will breathe in this space while it's cracking the egg shell.
> 
> ...


hi tiel fan i have a doubt now, does the air sack indicate that there is a baby inside the egg ?
Today i opened the nest box during the noon time it was really sunny and bright and when the sun light flashed on the eggs i could see the vacuum clearly and the color of the eggs was light red
tiel fan thank you so much for the response


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Light red/pink with veins means an embryo is developing. An egg, fertile or not, will always have an air sac.


----------



## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Also...once the eggs are incubated many times you can just glance in at them and get an idea on how they are doing.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

bjknight93 said:


> Your other pair doesn't sound like it is bonded to me. The male sits in the box and the female shows no interest in it. It is a good idea to remove the male from the nest and block the entrance hole with cardboard or wood. It's not healthy for the boy to not get exercise when he's waiting on nothing.


hi bjknight yes your right i have seen the other pair mating in the beginning but now they seem to show no interest in breeding, yes its because they are not a bonded pair i agree but i know bondage pair will not mind having eggs right ? that's just a doubt m not keen on the other pair breeding at all, because m not trying to be a breeder.
i knew rio and sunshine are a bonded pair and i gave them a chance to breed so i can have tame birds when i see people here on forum with their tiels sitting on them i badly feel to have similar bond with my birds 
Also i noticed something recently after rio and sunshine had eggs , once i have seen rio mating with riya he was not happily doing it with her, he was like little rude and angry while asking for it but the time when i saw riya agreed by sticking her tail out and the second time when he approached him this was also when sunshine was inside the box on the eggs this time riya did not allow. I have read that it is normal for a male to be aggressive and seek other partners in the aviary to mate while he is breeding now my questions regarding this is 

1) what will happen if riya wants to lay eggs after mating with rio? 

2) what if sunshine comes out of the nest box and caught rio mating with riya, how will sunshine react ? because when rio is on duty with their eggs teeti would approach sunshine but sunshine has never allowed teeti to mate with her but why is rio being mean like this ? rio and sunshine were always in love why is rio cheating on her ?

i'm extremely sorry for such a long thread m actually afraid if any problems would arise and i would like to take precautionary steps before hand rather than to end up with problems and go crazy! please excuse me for this long post and for these questions.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

srtiels said:


> Also...once the eggs are incubated many times you can just glance in at them and get an idea on how they are doing.


Thank you so much striles , this is a very valuable information  
now i have a question regarding this pic i just want to clear doubt when the budgie eggs were a few days away from hatching they looked pinkish i mean slight pink , why was that ? i have also read srtiles about budgie eggs which said as you have tols that they will look clean white but why were my budgie eggs looking pink ?


----------



## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Have you candled the budgie eggs to see if they have veins and movement. 

I am working on a candling article and here are some links that show what to look for when candling.
----------
Heartbeat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrGbn4fP8Ws http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOLePwqNShE

Movement, and heartbeating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrGbn4fP8Ws&feature=share

Cockatiel Chirping in the egg, close to hatching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUg84Zs0_6w&feature=related

Movement late into incubation: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M57drw98mdw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D8qCr19snvA (duck egg for an example)

Chick in hatch position: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k9_8jt2Amc&feature=related

Great Assist hatch video: http://www.voren.com/videos/the-rapid-hatching-of-a-green-winged-macaw/


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

*vow  thank you so much for the videos it would be very helpfu*l, i had five budgie eggs out of them four hatched and i could see a pink color on the four eggs before they hatched, no i did not candle the eggs as they were inside a pot which was hung up in the cage i did not wont to disturb the hen, she was on the eggs most of the times i got chances when she went to eat. I could peep in from the top of the cage to see the eggs

I have read that eggs would be pure white if they are fertile but when these eggs turned pink before hatching i was thinking the color of the babies showed the eggs to be pink before hatching, does this make any sense at all ? m so sorry for this


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

roxy culver said:


> Here in the US we use sharpie markers which are nontoxic and perfectly OK to use on eggs. Two clutches a year is the recommended amount for a hen to lay and so she should be perfectly fine. The thing that tires them out more than anything is feeding all the babies.
> 
> Regarding your other pair (I know we were talking about them in another thread) since the hen isn't interested I would block off the hole to the box and give them more time to bond.


hi roxy thank you so much for the response  the other boy teeti always checks out the box in which sunsine and rio are breding he peeps into it and sometimes they have small fights they don't bite each other but who ever is out (breeding pair) shoos teeti out of their way into the nest box
now if i block the box in which he is sitting will he not go and cause trouble with the breeding pair ? will he become aggressive and attack the breeding pair ? m asking this because rio is not a fighter cock but teeti is little dominant by nature


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I think they can handle keeping him at bay just fine. Tiels don't mate for life, so Rio hooking up with your other hen is normal. Mine have changed partners several times. Sunshine wont be bothered, Fuzzy is bonded to Bubbles, but still mates with Hershey and Bubbles doesn't care, she still loves him. 



> i agree but i know bondage pair will not mind having eggs right ?


This is bad, you don't want a bondage pair to have eggs. They may abandon the eggs, be bad sitters, or if they do hatch out the babies they may be poor parents and you would be stuck raising babies. So no this is not a good pair to breed at all and I would do what you can to prevent it.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

roxy culver said:


> This is bad, you don't want a bondage pair to have eggs. They may abandon the eggs, be bad sitters, or if they do hatch out the babies they may be poor parents and you would be stuck raising babies. So no this is not a good pair to breed at all and I would do what you can to prevent it.


please do not worry,i would not force my birds to breed i will never do that, some local people here in India who breed for money have told me to take this pair out and put them in a separate cage and give them a nest box to breed but i have never done that nor even attempted that. 
I totally understand all the problems which i have to face if they breed and also the pain they will have to undergo by being aggressive, i just had the confidence that they would not have a clutch riya is not for all that she loves to eat and sleep. Tomorrow morning as a first thing I would block the entrance.
I will keep up my words i do not turn to you people just for advise i merely follow every piece of advise given to me because i know its out of 
concern and i really don't wont to end up having trouble with my birds. They mean the world to me cannot bear anything bad happening to them.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> 1) what will happen if riya wants to lay eggs after mating with rio?
> 
> 2) what if sunshine comes out of the nest box and caught rio mating with riya, how will sunshine react ? because when rio is on duty with their eggs teeti would approach sunshine but sunshine has never allowed teeti to mate with her but why is rio being mean like this ? rio and sunshine were always in love why is rio cheating on her ?


1. She isn't likely to lay eggs after mating just once. It takes time and repeated mating for her hormone levels to build up to the level where she would start laying eggs. She's showing little interest in breeding right now so her hormone levels wouldn't be that high. If she starts mating with him repeatedly you might have a problem.

2. There might be jealousy and a fight. Birds do cheat on their mate sometimes, it's natures way of giving a hen fertile eggs if her mate is infertile. An infertile male can do a good job of incubating eggs and raising babies that the hen conceived with a fertile male.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

tielfan said:


> 1. She isn't likely to lay eggs after mating just once. It takes time and repeated mating for her hormone levels to build up to the level where she would start laying eggs. She's showing little interest in breeding right now so her hormone levels wouldn't be that high. If she starts mating with him repeatedly you might have a problem.


thanks much for the response tiel fan  now this mating which I have talked about happened in the evening when rio was done with his duty on the eggs for the day . Ever since I saw this from the next time onwards I started distracting rio when he approached riya ,also In the evenings I would go and wait until rio finished his food and I will immediately turn of the lights and put them to sleep but early mornings I wouldn be around my mom will offer them food.
What else can I do to stop them bonding other than taking her out of the cage.


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You don't want to increase their nights too much, otherwise it will make them abandon the babies and eggs. If they bond they bond, there's nothing wrong with it.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Since all your birds are sharing the same cage and the breeding pair isn't engaging in acts of violence against the other pair to keep them away from the nest, you might not have any problems with jealousy/rivalry even if Sunshine does see Rio "doing it" with Riya. There have been cases where one male mated with several females and they were all raising clutches at the same time.


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

tielfan said:


> Since all your birds are sharing the same cage and the breeding pair isn't engaging in acts of violence against the other pair to keep them away from the nest, you might not have any problems with jealousy/rivalry even if Sunshine does see Rio "doing it" with Riya. There have been cases where one male mated with several females and they were all raising clutches at the same time.


hi tielfan since no of them are being aggressive its fine to leave them as they are and what rio is doing is normal okay i now understand . Thank you so much for the response


----------



## sangs_becky (Jun 25, 2012)

Thank you so much roxy


----------

