# eggs survival



## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

Dears , anyone could help me to know for how long the eggs can be left without the hen being sit on them , is it normal that my female is leaving them for about 15 min 30 min ? Note that the male is not sitting on them , he just inspect them while the female is eating and than he follows her out , Noting that they are 4 eggs and the first was paid on 30/12/2014 and the incubation started from first day


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

The length of time is less important than how warm they are kept. 99.5 F or 37.5C is incubation temp and the eggs can deviate what is often quoted for 30 minutes at a time before they are chilled. If its 100 F outside don't be surprised if the parents don't sit much. The lower the temperature outside the longer the parents should sit, the higher the temp the parents will sit less and the eggs will be okay longer.


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

Thanks for your reply Darkel , room temperature at my place is 73 in the morning and can get to 63 degree at night , i m not preoccupied for the night but in the morning sometimes she left them for about 30 minutes but the nestbox in in very thick wood so there is a good isolation. What do you think? I didn t candle eggs although the first one is since 11 days, should i necessary candle them and if not fertile to threw them? Note that during the half and hour she left the nest, the male enter the nest but for few minute and he don t sit on eggs i feel like him moving them or inspecting them , is this normal? Since i think my male is negligent, the female is about 3 years male about 2 year could it be lack of experience?


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

I red also on internet that there are two types of Cockatiel pair: bonded pair and bonding pair , it seems mine is bonding pair so i expect difficult for them to have chicks


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

I would always candle the eggs before doing anything with them. But just based on what you tell me it sounds like the eggs are not viable. Candle to confirm this, if this is just inexperience the male in subsequent clutches may learn to sit properly.

If this is a bonding problem the male may refuse to sit. In most bondage pairs I hear about the male ignores the nest box altogether and does not get along with his mate. Watch their behavior, if the two get along and seem to like each other, there may be hope yet. If not, separate the two and give each a new mate.


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## Chipper&Trillie (Sep 1, 2013)

joec said:


> room temperature at my place is 73 in the morning and can get to 63 degree at night , i m not preoccupied for the night but in the morning sometimes she left them for about 30 minutes but the nestbox is in very thick wood so there is a good isolation.


what kind of a place and heat in it do you have that there is such a significant difference in temperatures?


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

Update: thanks for your replies : now morning here the female is outside and the male doing his duties inside sitting since 1 hour  , i decided that i'll keep the eggs and not interfere much even if not viable and that also help for the male to learn to sit more for next clutches (the first egg was laid since 11 days) , i think also that probably the temperature of the eggs was acceptable yesterday so he didn't feel need to sit while female was eating . as for the aggression i don t see agression between them , he was picking at her before mating but as soon as they started to build nest they are much more calm but sometimes while eating together from same bowl he pushes her and want to eat him first., that only the aggression between them, i see them kissing and pleening each others so i think with time they might become bonded (is it possible that with time the pair become more bonded ?)


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

Hi chipper , Nestbox is made from MGH Pressed wood about 1.3 inches thick from all sides and i put pine shavings about 2 inches, they laid the eggs at the end very far from the opening but from time to time i see eggs are moving


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

do you think temperature is more retained inside so they can leave the nest about 30 min?


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

Update : my male started to sit on EGGs for about 6 hours in the morning , seems as time approach he is getting more sense of responsibility, I hope that it is not too late and the EGGs still viable, we are in day 14 and I ll keep you posted in case they hatch


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

If your really curious to know whether they are still viable or not you can always candle them. All you do is shine a pen light on the side where the air cell is. You will see veins if it's fertile.


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

yes very curious actually, but it will be apparent at night only ? And is it necessary to handle the EGGs to candle them? I m afraid to spoil them in case viable, can I use any flashlight?


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## Chipper&Trillie (Sep 1, 2013)

joec said:


> yes very curious actually, but it will be apparent at night only ? And is it necessary to handle the EGGs to candle them? I m afraid to spoil them in case viable, can I use any flashlight?


just be very careful. Wash your hands and wipe with clean paper towel or clean washed regular one. It DOES help to be in a dark room, not necessarily at night. I go to the bathroom and put dark cloth over the window. 
It's better to use a penlight (if you don't have a special light). The first time I candled I saw NOTHING.What helped me - I finally shone the penlight towards myself, underneath the egg (I didn't know about the air cell end). When I shone away from me, I saw nothing. Also, the penlight should be very close to the egg, basically touching it. make sure light is not too hot. 

Of course, keep eggs in the clean place without chances for them to roll and break. 

This is the instruction from dummy who just learned to candle.


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

joec said:


> yes very curious actually, but it will be apparent at night only ? And is it necessary to handle the EGGs to candle them? I m afraid to spoil them in case viable, can I use any flashlight?


No, you don't need the room to be pitch black in order to see the eggs. As long as there won't be sunlight it will be fine. You will only need to hold the eggs to candle them. You can use a flash light. The first time I candled an egg was a chicken egg. I used a light bulb and I saw everything clearly. A flashlight is much better that a light bulb. It is a myth that the parents will give up on the eggs if a human touches it. I have candles my eggs almost everyday in front of the parents and they were fine. The hardest part is finding a time when both parents are out of the nest. I currently use my iPhone's flash to view the eggs and let me tell you, it's really good.


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

This is a photo of me candling my egg. This egg was a couple of days old so you won't see as much as you will see with your egg. (That's my sisters hands in the picture)


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

thanks haimovfids, I did today and 3 out of 4 are viable , recently the male is more serious and sitting more than the hen during the day (first egg laid since 15 days, will keep you posted when hatching)


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

That's awesome. What did you see in the nonviable egg? It's normal for the male to sit on the egg at daytime and hen at night. The reason is that the hen was stressed from laying so by the male sitting on the eggs at day, it gives the hen time to look for resources in the wild before night. Some birds make their own schedule.


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

The non viable one I see almost transparent


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

Oh. Your right then. 3 chicks is still plenty.


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

Yayyyyy my first Cockatiel egg hatched today I saw the egg hatch in the nest but I can t se the chick yet , I can hear his sound  , does the mother sit on it?


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

2 hatched so far and still 2 EGGs , the female sitting constantly on chicks + EGGs and the male is feeding everybody


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## Chipper&Trillie (Sep 1, 2013)

yes she keeps them warm. Also, they don't need much nutrition a few hours after being born.
do you feed the parents any soft food?


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

dears, unfortunately one of my chicks died, the other one is ok and is now 5 days old and a new chick hatched today and he is ok so far. there is still one fertile egg expected to hatch soon


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## Chipper&Trillie (Sep 1, 2013)

I also lost one newborn. He was born a few days later, and the older chick was already a week old. I think he got squished under all of them, but I am not sure what caused him to die. I never even found his remains, parents worked on him very well. 
Hope your other chicks will be all right. I have 5 in this clutch.


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

Sorry for your lost and best wishes for you too for remaining chick, as for the chick that died I didn t find remains at begining but then I searched well he was buried by parents inside the bedding so was difficult to find. Maybe they isolate him to not infect other chicks


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

What are soft food? I feed them potato + EGGs mashed and rice and endive, broccoli, corn, spinach , kale , millet ,kiwi, ananas, and I put additional mineral, is that ok do you think?


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## Chipper&Trillie (Sep 1, 2013)

wow, thats great! bread?


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

hi chipper sorry i have been a little away from forum , i don t put bread for them however i feed them unsalted organic corn flakes and mashed nuts , is bread necessary?


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

Note that I have now 2 chicks aged 14 and 11 days , should i start handle them from now to be tamed or i can wait more? although i had 5 eggs at the beggining but only 2 chicks remained , one egg was unfertile, one eggs got broken and a chick died as soon as it was born. but this is their first clutch so i assume 2 chicks are ok


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## Chipper&Trillie (Sep 1, 2013)

Bread is not necessary if they eat a lot of soft food (babies can't digest dry seeds), pellets, veggies, etc. Soft food is important when chicks are very young but as they get older, dry seeds become OK. Sprouted seeds are always good. Bread is just easy to serve soft food that even stubborn parents accept. 
I normally get chicks out of the box to weight, look at their well-being and to clean the box (from time to time) . NOt for long but it gives them idea what humans are. I probably didn't mess up with picking them up until 2 weeks of age but I was checking on them opening the lid of the box (my experience = 2 clutches LOL)


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## joec (Dec 15, 2013)

thx chipper , you have nice babies , how old they are ? , by the way may i feed them walnut, hazlenut and almond unsalty all


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## Chipper&Trillie (Sep 1, 2013)

thanks, my babies are 3 weeks old, + a few days for the oldest. 
Not sure about nuts.


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## Leaflyn (Mar 11, 2015)

joec said:


> Note that I have now 2 chicks aged 14 and 11 days , should i start handle them from now to be tamed or i can wait more? although i had 5 eggs at the beggining but only 2 chicks remained , one egg was unfertile, one eggs got broken and a chick died as soon as it was born. but this is their first clutch so i assume 2 chicks are ok


HOw are your babies doing, joec??


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