Ask Lafeber

Breeding

This is a learning process for me. I am really eager to learn. I have peach face love birds, 2 pairs, in separate cages. Both failed at their first clutch. Both are 2 years old. The one female was doing a great job, her eggs were very small. She hatched them but the parents didn’t know how to feed or at least I think that is what happened. She only hatched 2 eggs out of 4. The 2 babies survived about 2 days with empty crop. The other female, her eggs were much bigger. She almost hatched 3 out of 6 eggs. She doesn’t give them time to fully hatch. She does well until close to hatching. Every time a baby would do the first pip to the egg, the mother or male, possibly both, would assist by eating the egg shell around the pip hole by exposing the white membrane. Half of the egg, the shell would be gone and exposed white membrane. The membrane wasn’t dry, I truly think its just the parents assisting too quickly. Eventually the membrane is eaten too. The babies do not survive. They never eat the babies. Is this pretty common for first time inexperienced parents? I have taken their box away too. They’re on pellets, some seeds, parrot chop, and I supply calcium and vitamins into their food. How many months should I wait before breeding again?

Hi Lily,

First clutches almost always fail, so your experience is normal. Not feeding the chicks is a common reason as well as not incubating them properly, or mom helping too much with the hatching. So I wouldn’t be too worried about these pairs. If they make the same mistakes again, this is when you have to consider they might not be cut out as breeders. Both pairs are just at the right age to start breeding at 2 years old. You should rest them for 6 months between clutches each time, whether the eggs hatch or not. In the wild, they only breed once per year. Since we can provide good food and a safe environment year round, a second clutch is fine as long as the pair is rested for 6 months in between.

I would not include loose seeds in their diet. These tend to take away from the nutrition they need. A good alternative would be our foraging diets – our Nutri-Berries, Avi-Cakes and Pellet-Berries are nutritionally balanced the same as a pellet, but they are not ground up so they offer the whole seeds that birds like. This gives them the satisfaction of seeds without diluting their nutrition. Each time, when you replace the nest boxes, you should start feeding them an egg food. This can be a commercial egg food or just cook an egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the egg. Commercial egg food is just a dried version of this but some birds eat the dried egg better than the cooked eggs. Feed the egg food throughout the breeding process and until the nest box is removed again. Dark, leafy greens are also good to offer, although this may be in your chop mix.

It may be a concern with your hen that laid the small eggs. If she does this the next time, then you probably should not breed her again. She could have a genetic issue that prevents her from forming normal eggs, and this could result in sickly chicks. But it might have been that she was still a bit young, so it’s OK to give her another chance after they have rested. One other possible concern is if the  two pairs are too close or can see each other. It may be that the second pair was nervous and this is why they picked at the eggs. If they can see each other, try a visual barrier. Hopefully it was only the first timer’s problems and next time you will end up with some healthy chicks.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda