Ask Lafeber

Fisher love bird breeding

Why does my lovebirds not hatch their eggs, they only sits on the eggs until chicks is half formed in egg.. as if they loose interest in eggs

Hi Tony,

This is very common if the birds are too young to be breeding. They can be capable of breeding as young as 8 months old, but you should not set them up as a pair until they are at least 2 years old. Young birds are generally more interested in mating than settling down to care for eggs, so they get bored and abandon the eggs. If the birds are under two years old, you should take the nest box away and wait until they are 2.

If a pair has been over bred, they will do this. A pair should only be allowed two clutches per year. The nest box should be removed and the pair rested for 6 months after each clutch, whether the eggs hatch or not. If you have not been resting them in between each failed clutch, you need to remove the nest box and rest them for at least 6 months before you let them try again.

Breeding birds need privacy. The cage should be in a quiet place with little human contact. If there are people and other pets around all the time, the pair will feel like the nest isn’t safe so they will abandon it. The same goes if you check on them and look inside the box too much.

Some birds just do not make good breeders. If you rest them, make sure they are in a private place and they still fail after the rest, you need to take the box away and not try to breed this pair again. A pair that fails time after time isn’t going to improve and laying eggs just takes a toll on the hen’s health with nothing to show for it.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda