So i have 2 budgies 1 male and the other is female she just laid an egg at the bottom of the cage although i got her a nest box so i put the egg in the nesting box but now she doesn’t want to sit on it what should i do now ?
Hi Zeina,
Sometimes it can take a pair time to get used to the nest box. However, eggs or chicks do not do very well on the cage floor, so you are right in moving the eggs. While she may not use the box this time, hopefully it will encourage her to explore the box, if only to find her eggs. Also, because the eggs are laid every other day, some hens wait to start sitting on them until a few eggs or all eggs are laid. It takes a lot of patience to breed birds, so all you can do is provide everything they need and hope they figure out what to do. The first clutch almost always fails, because they are still learning. As far as what they need – provide a nutritionally balanced diet such as pellets or our foraging diets – a loose seed mix does not provide the nutrition they need. In addition they need leafy greens and chopped veggies. While breeding, laying eggs and feeding chicks they need an egg food – cooked eggs with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with them or a commercial egg food. The cage should be in a quiet area and they need plenty of privacy. The nest box should be attached to the outside of the cage, as high as possible. If they do lay eggs, you need to remove the nest box when the chicks leave it or when the eggs are past due and make the pair rest for 6 months. You should only allow 2 clutches per year with the pair rested in between. Hopefully they will soon accept the nest box and produce some chicks for you!
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
