# Second clutch



## Mimi0212 (Feb 6, 2012)

So, it's official, my tiels have decided that they want a second clutch :blink: They have, so far, two eggs in the nest, as surprised and kind of upset as I was at the beginning, I'm now quite excited LOL! 

The chicks from the first clutch are all 1 month old but they still want to sleep in the nest box at night. I've noticed that during the day mom and dad sit on the eggs, but as soon as the chicks go into the box at bed time, neither of the parents stays inside. At first I thought it was OK since the chicks were all actually crammed with the eggs, I assumed they kept them warm during the night. 

I noticed this morning that all three chicks were out of the box when I woke up and so were mom and dad, I checked on the eggs and when I touched them they were really cold. I guess that the chances of those two eggs making it are not very high anymore, I would assume that the warming and cooling isn't a good thing. What should I do? Would taking the chicks out during the night be a good option? She should be laying more eggs, I can tell she's ready for another one, and I really wouldn't want the entire new clutch to be lost.

Mom and dad keep plucking the chicks, I find a lot of baby feathers in the nest, around the cage and on the bottom of the cage. The chicks could be sitting in the food bowl eating and out of the blue one of the parents just goes up to it and plucks a few feathers. Same story if they're just sleeping on a perch.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I don't know, I've never had this issue. My hens sit on the eggs whether the older babies are in there or not. If the babies don't need to be in the box at night I don't see why you can't take them out.


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## Mimi0212 (Feb 6, 2012)

roxy culver said:


> I don't know, I've never had this issue. My hens sit on the eggs whether the older babies are in there or not. If the babies don't need to be in the box at night I don't see why you can't take them out.



Thanks! I guess I'll take them out tonight, they're all fully feathered, so they should be fine. I wish my hen would have been like yours, she's been tougher on the older chicks than the male, she doesn't even want to feed them anymore  and she's worse when it comes to the pluckng issue *sigh*


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## Mimi0212 (Feb 6, 2012)

One more question, what are the chances of them teying for a third clutch? I know it's to soon to ask, but I want to be prepared sooner this time, don't want to get caught by surprise.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Third clutches are easier to prevent then 2nd clutches, so it shouldn't be too hard to dissuade them, once the babies fledge this next time you can just remove the box. Mom isn't going to feed the babies anymore, its dad's job to do that now as she's laying new eggs so that's not unusual.


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## Mimi0212 (Feb 6, 2012)

roxy culver said:


> Third clutches are easier to prevent then 2nd clutches, so it shouldn't be too hard to dissuade them, once the babies fledge this next time you can just remove the box. Mom isn't going to feed the babies anymore, its dad's job to do that now as she's laying new eggs so that's not unusual.


Thanks for the answers, helped a lot  Hopefully things go smooth tonight with the babies out of the cage.


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## Mimi0212 (Feb 6, 2012)

So she laid 4 eggs, all fertile, even after that "chilled egg" day I was freaking out about  Two of the eggs already have pip marks and are chirping. I don't know why they got the marks at the same time, they were laid two days apart, but I'm guessing because of all the confusion I had at first with the eggs chilling and what not  Anyway, the first pip mark was on Saturday, lots of chirping going on in both eggs, but so far no signs of hatching yet. Should I be concerned? I while back I was reading a thread that mentioned that while they are chirping they are absorbing something? I've tried finding the thread but have had no luck so far.


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## RexiesMuM (Sep 7, 2011)

Candle the 2 chirping and eggs and see if all the blood is gone , If its gone look down at the bottom of the egg and if you look close and have a good light you should be able to see if the yolk is still there if you can't see it give it another 24 hours to hatch . 72 hours from chirping and no hatching is where i start to intervene and it works well and i haven't had a problem with the yolk not being absorbed


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