female stopped nesting????

bear · New Member Joined: Nov 07, 2012 Posts: 2

My female has stoped siting on her 7eggs after 12 days and has not gone back in the box............. is this normal? We have just had some hot wether here could that be why?

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Has she laid and raised chicks before?
How many eggs?
How hot?
Is this a caged or avary pair?
If avariy what sort of roof? threes shadings, how high are the nesting boxes?

bear · New Member Joined: Nov 07, 2012 Posts: 2

It is her first time she has laid eggs with me. I got her and her mate from a pet store 5 months ago and she droped 2 eggs the day i got them, I then got some bird boxes after 6 or 8 weeks later, (they were not in the best condition they needed some TLC and time to get better) I then put them at about 4 foot high in the aviary the roof is tin and it did noot get over 32* and is now back down to 17* - 22* they had a bath and heaps of freash water and shade.

She is still sleeping in the box at night and the male is looking in the box over the day.

One of the eggs has a crack should i get ride of it?

There are 7 eggs.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Where these a 'pair' .....
If so breeders very rarly to never pass on a breeding pair, unless they ... or at least the female is past it....trials here indicate at approx 120 healy adults produced off a hen at around 80% eggs to healthy adult ratio, fertilty drops dramatically, at 140..lucky to get a fertlile egg.
If a new female is introduced to the male, nps.

32C is not a problem... start getting up over mid 40s and becomes a problem... mainly for hatched chicks.

Tin roof... not a good idea... we use ply sheets...the only avariy we have with a long run tin roof is the holding flight...and that is in the orchards well shaded by large plum, perssium and olive trees.

The period of 6 to 8 weeks, what diet? a constiant, varied and balanced diet is critical to fertilty, and not having issues with egg binding, thin and cracked eggs... get rid of the cracked egg.
The female starts sitting, incubating, when close to when all the eggs of the batch are laid after 7 to 10 days...once this starts it is rare u will see her till the chicks are a few days old.

If their 1st batch it is not a good idea to disturb them, not often but can put her off sitting...
you have 2 nesting boxes?

If they are siblings, espec if from the same batch, it is not uncommon for them not to mate, but still lay infertile eggs....have u seen or heard them mating?