# Can I move my breeding pair......



## Sapphire4373 (Feb 8, 2013)

Hi everyone, I have a question. Now I am not an UNexperienced breeder, I have had 77 babies over the years from my 2 breeding pair BUT I never ran into this situation. This is the first time in 5 years my birds have bred they are all 11 and 10 years old! I wanted to stop the breeding years ago and I was told if I put them in a community cage the hen will not lay as they aren't supposed to feel safe enough.
I got lucky with that theory for 5 years as I said, but my one hen I saw was a mere day away from laying an egg. I wasn't sure what to do so I put a cardboard box on the bottom of the cage, never thinking she would go for this being it was still at the time a community cage. Well to my surprise the next morning there was an egg in there, she currently has 4 and for sure will have 1 more tomorrow.
Now here is my question..... I know her 1st egg IS fertile, I candled it today. They chewed the front of the cardboard box down so low there is no way I could wait until all these chicks hatch to move them, a chick will very easily fall out of there and get lost. Can I put her usual nestbox in the cage? (none of my bird will go into a nest box that is outside they cage, they never have.)
I need to get the regular box into the cage and then move the eggs to the regular nestbox. How do I go about doing this?? 
Like I said I was not anticipating anymore breeding, especially at their ages!  But I am learning it is very possible for them to breed at this age...... obviously lol.
Sorry for the long winded post, but I need to do this soon I was thinking about Tuesday because she SHOULD be done laying by then. I have never gotten more than 5 eggs from her and this is her 6th time breeding in her life. She is a wonderful mother. I do pull them and hand feed them though.
I am just at a cross roads and don't know what to do, especially being I know for a fact now that there is life in there.


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

I think adding the normal nestbox, and moving the eggs to it will work out. But it also depends on how sensitive your birds are to change. Also, being in a community aviary, I would be concerned that the other birds may bother the nest. So that is something to keep watch for.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

She has previous experience with nestboxes so she'll probably accept the change right away. A real nestbox will seem like a much nicer place than an open box. It would be best to give her and her mate a separate cage so the other birds won't try to take possession of the nestbox. Another alternative is to put up enough nests for everyone, but you could end up with a LOT of babies that way.


----------



## Sapphire4373 (Feb 8, 2013)

Thank you for the replies, I forgot to mention I did seperate all my pairs. Everyone breeding or not is in seperate cages. I am relieved to see these replies because I have been walking in worry all day over this. I am going to try and wait until she is done laying, which like I said is hopefully soon. She has never given me more then 5, but I have he fostering an egg from my other pair, they are laying she literally just laid her 3rd egg, but they are both not what they were breeding before, they used to sit as asoon as the 1st egg was laid, just like my other little girl. But now all of a sudden she is laying eggs and not sitting on them. I will come down in the morning and they both might be in there, they will be in and out, in and out but not sit. Could their parenting skills have changed with 5 years of aging? Now I am wondering if I messed up pulling her egg for foster, I had dummy eggs, threw them out years ago. So now I guess she is going to lay another to replace what I took 

I am also going to post a question in the genetics/mutations section.
Thank you again


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's common for cockatiels to delay incubation until several eggs have been laid, so the babies will all hatch at approximately the same time. Birds can change their incubation habits. Buster and Shodu waited several days to start incubating their first clutch, but with all the subsequent clutches they started sitting immediately.


----------



## CarrieRamirez (Jan 1, 2013)

just move the nestbox with birds wherever you shift the place now


----------



## Sapphire4373 (Feb 8, 2013)

I will be attempting to move these eggs out of this cardboard box and nto a regular nestbox around noon EST today, so I will post back jut to let those who have answered if she took to the box or not. I am hoping because like I said there are fertile eggs in there.


----------



## Sapphire4373 (Feb 8, 2013)

The move appears to have been a success, it was a little scary there for me for about 2 hours, they kept hopping in and out of the box and neither were sitting. My hen appeared as though she was having some anxiety, she was all but bouncing off the walls, but we just closed the cage door and left the house for a few hours and everything is fine  Thank you everyone for the affirmation that this was ok to do.

Now for my other pair I questioned about earlier in the post, is it common for them to do the changing of the guards all day and then not sit on them all night until I come down the next day?? Like I said this pair has completely changed their breeding habits in the last 5 years I thought they were in retirement. Can the eggs develop without that constant heat? She only laid her first one on Valentine's Day, I know it is a bit early but I candled it and it looks like a clear egg, my other pair I could see veining starting on her 3rd day for her first egg.
I just don't know what to make of this, you never stop learning do you? At this point I am counting them out, but I she is still laying so I know not to do anything stupid and keep them for 35 days after they lose this daytime interest that they have.


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

The eggs wont develop if no one sits on them at night. They may not realize someone needs to be in the nest at night. The eggs may develop slightly but they will probably end up being DIS without the constant heat.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's possible that your retirement-age birds don't have high enough hormone levels any more to keep them on track with their parenting skills. They're hormonal enough to lay eggs but not hormonal enough to take proper care of them.


----------



## Sapphire4373 (Feb 8, 2013)

That's what I thought. Thank you for the replies


----------

