March 14, 2022
Egg
Hi my cockatail laid4 egg in firs cluth but 2 of them hatched and parent nibble them to dye, what should i do to save remaining 2 egg and how to know if they will hatch or not.
Question:
Answer:
Hi Ayeza,
I’m sorry to hear about this. If this is their first clutch, then something like this is normal. First clutches almost always fail because the parents don’t know what to do. It’s best to leave any other chicks with them if more hatch, because the chicks would probably die anyway if you try to raise them from day 1. If you don’t give the parent the chance to learn from their mistakes then they will never be good as breeders.
It’s important that you give them everything they need to be successful. If the pair is under 2 years old, then they should not be set up for breeding yet. Young birds are not ready to care for chicks, and eating eggs or accidentally killing the chicks is common. If these birds are not yet 2, I would remove the nest box and not let them breed again until they are over 2 years. Breeding birds need to be fed a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets or our foraging diets – a seed mix does not provide much if any nutrition. They also need leafy greens, chopped veggies and some fruit. And while breeding and raising chicks, they need an egg food – this can be a commercial dry egg food or you can cook an egg with the shell washed, dried and cooked with the egg. The parents need all of these food, in extra quantities, especially when the chicks hatch. You may have to replenish food a few times a day when they have chicks to feed. If the parents don’t think they have enough food, they will not feed the chicks.
Once this pair is done with this clutch, you need to remove the nest box and rest the pair for 6 months – or longer if the birds are not 2 years old yet. You must do this after every clutch to give the hen time to recover from laying eggs each time.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
