# How Many Times Do You Check Your Nest Box?



## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

I just wanted to ask others, my pairs are conditioned to being checked at 7am , 1pm and 7pm, But a another breeder told me that checking more than once a day could stress pairs out, and even cause them to abandon eggs, my concern with only checking once a day is that leaves 23 1/2 hours that something you could of prevented to happen,(feather plucking fatality, abandoned chick do to inexperinced parents, surragate parents not feeding the chick, a chick getting pushed away from siblings) alot of these situations could be quickly rectifeid if checking more than 1 time a day i just think that once a day is one time to less.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I agree...I check several times a day. I didn't have a schedule last year as I checked before work, after work, and any time after that (showing hubby what I saw, etc) so I check it several times and my birds are very used to it. I also have mine conditioned to let me pick the eggs up too, well the girls anyways. The boys bite harder, they get kicked out of the box for any handling time.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

lol i know that, my mom and dad now are blocked at one end by cardboard, i used to let mom watch but then she pounced and grabbed my finger, like she was a pitbull.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Yikes, attack bird!!! I'd block them out too lol.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

yep and i have the bruise and scab to prove it


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## Debbie05 (Feb 9, 2010)

I check several times a day also. Mostly I just peek in and have a quick look. I started using a oven mit to block them out though. They bite to hard. lol


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

yes they do, i believe it has something to do with the hormones because these birds dont usually attack me, i have to wear gloves to change the food dish in one pairs breeding cage cause the male will actually charge my hand.


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## Debbie05 (Feb 9, 2010)

Sounds like my Mr. Green and he was handfed and loves people when not breeding. lol


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

We usually have to push dad out so we can check on chicks and eggs and such...both of my moms are pretty good about just swaying and not biting. Although I got enough scratches and scabs on my hands a few more wouldn't even be noticed lol.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I check the nestbox several times a day from the time the pair is setup. This helps to condition the pair to me looking in the box. As each egg is laid I check the box to first make sure that the eggs look normal, not malformed. If not normal this is the first alert to a potential problem such as soft-shelled eggs, egg-binding, possible prolaspe, etc. it is also an alert to increase calcium sources and provide good lighting. 

As the eggs that are fertile and devlope I candle them several times a day when the air cell has tilted to monitor the size of the air cell and also to watch (times of the year when humidity is low) a possible chick trapped in the shell and possibly in need of assistance.

Once the chicks hatch I montitor several times a day to make sure the chicks are not separated, and all in a huddle. I have learned that if the bedding is uneven, when a chick backs up to poop, it may not be able to get back to the clutch for warmth. If this happens there is risk of the chick chilling and/or dying, or it is prone to secondary yeast or bacterial infections from chilling. I'd like to note that if you even find a chick chilled, off to the side, and appears it is dead...do not throw it away. Always warm it up for 15 minutes to see if it will revive. many times these dead appearing chicks may be alive. I have one hen called twice-Dead because I found her off to the side and dead twice, and revived her with warmth.

The other reason for checking the nestboxes several times a day is to make sure all the chicks are being fed. Note: the newest chick may not be fed solids for the first 12 hours, but after that you should see a small buldge in the crop. Or if the new chick appears red and/or dehydrated I will supplement feed it a couple times the first day a very thin fluidy formula to rehydrate the chick. As the clutch grows I keep an eye on the youngest chicks because they are more prone to stunting if the parents are feeding too much solids and not enough liguids.

So from the time a pair is setup until you pull the babies it is in the best interest of the pair and chicks to do several checks a day.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*both of my moms are pretty good about just swaying and not biting.*
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One thing I learned over the years is that for my breeding pairs I totally prefer parent raised or wild birds as the parents hands down over handfed parents. It has also be the handfed birds that have also been the pluckers or many times more flighty in the cage and nestbox.

Handfed parents are not adraid of you, and will get nippy and territorial. 

Parent raised are afraid of you, and will be more docile and compliant in the nest. They can gently be nudged to the side, while eggs/chicks are looked at without biting or lunging.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

thats my opinion to srtiels, i believe a problem spotted early is a problem that has a chance to be resolved, it also allows me to keep better records, on hatches, when they lay eggs, or if i need to put notes in parents joural that they are pluckers, not good surragates and other such stuff. She also told be i should not have interfured with the chick i had assisted, but that chick is now 3 days old and doing awesome, if i hadnt of intervened when i saw the membrane was dry, even a strong chick would get to tired to hatch. I value her expertise because she's one of the only experinced breeders i can call if a problem arises, but i just find some of her information could cause more problems then needed.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*She also told be i should not have interfured with the chick i had assisted, but that chick is now 3 days old and doing awesome, if i hadnt of intervened when i saw the membrane was dry, even a strong chick would get to tired to hatch.*
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Sadly that is old school thinking, and I cringe to think of how many needless deaths result from this type of thinking. The breeder never learns, AND most times there is a cause for whatever ptroblems that go on in the nest. and if the that breeder is unwilling to interced they will never know what is wrong and how to correct it.

Right now I have several lovebird eggs in the incubator. A breeder friens is selling out her Fishers lovebirds, and the buyer does not want the eggs in the nest or babies. So I am incubaring the eggs, which several were close to hatching. my humidity is not right so the piping ones were dehydrating and getting trapped. So far I have assist hatched 2, and have another one in progree, and one more I suspect will need to be assisted.

I open the top of the eggs, and if the membrane is dried I put some water on it from the syringe, and break the membran over the face for it to breathe. I have learned to leave them this way for 6-8 hours if some veins are present to allow for them to also draw in the entire yolk.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

thats what i did with my baby, i could see its head throught the hole and see that the membrane was drying, i could see it breathing and hear it peeping so i placed 1 drop of water on the membrane and removed some of it to the chick would beable to move easier and then placed back in the nestbox, i had to still help it get out of the egg because it had only pipped in one spot but its now 3 days old and has 4 siblings all are doing well.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Hershey is parent-raised and has to be the best bird mama I got....she takes babies no matter whose they are and does a really good job of raising them. The only handtame mama I have is Cinnamon and I'm hoping that this season will be better than last. She actually WANTS my attention, even in the nest box. She'll come looking to see if I'm watching her, the bird is a weirdo! I'm glad you were able to get your baby out, that was quick thinking!


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

when ever i inspect nest box i check for pip marks and write the time I noticed the pip mark and then calculate 48 hours, I will check ar regular intervals through out the day but until i reach that 48 hour mark i dont touch the eggs this way i know im not intervenin to early at the 48 hour mark i check if no chick i give 1 more hour and if still no chick then i go in to see what is actually going on (step one: candle egg, step two: put egg to ear, do i hear any peeping, step three: make small crack in air cell location, and check for bleeding if no bleeding i proceed a little more, step four: check membrane for dehydration, moisten if needed and then slowly in stages of putting egg in warming unit and then removing more shell, if a dead chick is in shell, i can usually tell if it was do to lack of humidity because i have marked down what i saw when i first saw membrane, sometimes i find a chick in shell that has died but at least i know it was weak or i was to late based on the state of the membrane (if i dont hear peeping at stage two , i usually open egg right away.)


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