# fertile eggs???? what do I do?



## thiago (Oct 3, 2008)

Hi guys foe the first time my tiels has laid eggs that are fertile, I checked today with a flash light. Now is there anything for me to do to make sure the eggs hatch? As far the humidity goes should I even worry about it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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## allen (Aug 25, 2007)

first of all congrats some give the breeding box a light mist some don,t avoid opening the box to much just incase you need to hand feed you need to take a look at this sticky titled *How to be prepared for hand raising babies * i normally check the box 2x a day to see if all is ok morning and night


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

52% humidity is what they need. It depends on the level in your house. If you are running the heat or the air conditioning it dries the air. Yes that can be a problem. Chicks have trouble hatching with the humidity too low. If you plan on hand feeding you can wait 'till they are three weeks old. Waiting longer than that makes it difficult for the babies to take to the spoon. There is a very good book. "Hand-Feeding and Raising Baby Birds" by Matthew M. Vriends, Phd. He highly recommends the use of a bent spoon as the safest method. You lower the risk of getting food into the babies lungs. It takes longer but because of the intensive involvement a special bond develops. Also it has become evident that spoon fed birds wean easier.


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## allen (Aug 25, 2007)

ok i just ordered that book and it is $14.00 canadian before shipping and taxes


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

It's a very good book! I don't know if there is a new one. Mine is 12 years old.


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## allen (Aug 25, 2007)

i think it is it was not being printed till the last few years bye barons books


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I'm puzzled by the whole humidity issue. I live in Arizona, which has a bone-dry climate. They say the parent birds provide humidity by taking a bath and then going in the nest with wet feathers. Mommy Shodu took baths all right, then waited until she was completely dry to go in the nest. I was worried about how the chicks were going to hatch, but when the time came they kicked their way out of the egg like ninjas. They could go from a completely intact egg to a completely hatched, dried-off chick in two hours. All with humidity somewhere in the area of 10-15%, unless one of the parents was somehow sneaking moisture in without my knowledge. 

I did try misting the nest box a little with the first clutch, but it dried out so fast that I don't think it did any good. I didn't do anything with the second clutch and they hatched just fine.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

The nest box will generally have a higher humidity level than the outside air. I have a humidity meter inside the box just to be on the safe side. I have had clutches that didn't hatch out in the hight of summer when I was running the air conditioner. I got the meters after that. The level of humidity in the box last time stayed between 55% and 65% and I had all 5 hatch from the same parents.


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## allen (Aug 25, 2007)

i have a temp and humidity meter in the box and it is 52% humidityin the box but todays temp is 48 so a small box like a breeding box will hold more humidity


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

So apart from misting, what can you do to increase humidity? I live in a bone-dry climate myself with incredibly low humidity.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

I humidifier! Today I gave my teen agers a bath so I ran the heater in their room for a while. That's also where I have a pair with 5 eggs so luckily the heater also has a humidifier so you can run both at the same time.


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

I had a little trouble with low humidity last time i bred Cookie and Bailee. This time i've had the heating in my room off since i first gave them the nest box, and a shallow dish of water on the bottom of the cage. Both Bailee and Cookie wet their tummies in it but don't seem to sit on their eggs until they're dry.


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

I might have to use a humidifier, I think. It's far too dry in SA to leave it to chance.


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