Ask Lafeber

can a female budgie takes care of her fertile eggs without a male

well, it’s been 5 days since my budgie laid 3 eggs. Today when I woke up I saw the male budgie was missing because the cage door was open and I remembered that the door was closed last night. Then I searched the whole room but couldn’t find it. Also, the window was a bit open.
And now my female budgie is taking care of the eggs but seems to be sad and isn’t eating anything.
So can I feed the female budgie hand-feeding formula? Also, the female budgie is doing her job by heating the eggs, is there any chance of hatching the eggs?

Hi,

I’m sorry the male flew away. The best thing for the female is to remove the nest box and discard the eggs. They would not even have any visible development yet, if they are even fertile. Otherwise she is likely to die from exhaustion and not caring for herself. It’s too much work for her and she might even let the chicks die if any hatched. I know it’s difficult to make this decision, but you need to do what is best for the female, and her trying to do this alone when the male would usually help is too much to ask of her. You could lose her and the eggs where at least by removing everything, you still have her.

Take care,

Brenda