Ask Lafeber

My lorikeets laid an egg what do I do?

Hi. I have two rainbow lorikeets male and female he’s around 6-7 she’s 3-4 in age.
They’ve been showing signs or mating activity and the other week she laid an egg but then the next day or two there. Were egg shells strewn everywhere so I assumed they destroyed it knowing it wasn’t fertile ?
Now there’s another one and she’s sitting on it a lot and she’s eating a lot I’m making sure to scrape some calcium into her wet mix and hand feed her veggies etc she spend alot more time in the box. The male is very protective of her now even more so now
So really my question is IF it’s infertile how long should I wait to take it out ?
If it’s fertile and it hatches . Do I hand feed the hatchling wet mix/other vitamins in a syringe ?
Or do the parents feed the hatchling ?
Should I put a heatlamp next to the box ?
This is my first egg so I’m quite unsure
Any other information would be appreciated

But I have hand reared birds before

Thanks for your help

Hi,

The best thing to do is give the pair plenty of privacy. She may lay 2-4 eggs. You should not remove them or even bother them, since this is the first clutch they have taken care of. The more you interfere, the more likely they will mess up again. They don’t know the egg is fertile or not. They destroyed the last one because they didn’t know what to do with it. Or one of them may have accidentally broken it so they played with it. You should not try to interact with them other than to put food in the cage. Don’t handfeed either bird – jealousy will kick in and this can lead to vicious fighting. The male is already being more protective, and he can end up killing her because he doesn’t want her to interact with you now. You have become a rival and need to keep your distance. Even talking to them can incite a fight. This is just their instinct – breeding birds can’t be pets anymore. And Lorys/Lorikeets have some of the most vicious fights of any parrot species. Bottom line, breeding birds need privacy. You should be feeding them an egg food – a commercial dry egg food, or you can cook an egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the egg. Offer this daily. Also feed leafy greens, veggies, fruits and of course their regular lory diet. You need to replenish food as needed, especially if they end up with chicks to feed. If they feel there isn’t enough food, they may stop feeding the chicks. If any chicks hatch, let them parents feed them. Do not try to hand feed unless the parents reject them. As the chicks get older, you can try to handle one at a time, for a few minutes a couple times a day. But if the parents object too much, you will have to stop. They can get very aggressive, and end up hurting or killing the chicks while trying to “protect” them from you. They do not need a heat lamp – this can cause the box to overheat and kill all of them. It is very hot inside a nest box. In fact for birds that are kept outdoors, you can’t let them breed when the temperature is over 80F or the birds can overheat and die in the box. Right now, your job is to keep plenty of food in the cage, and give them their privacy.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda