Hi Lafeber team,
What be the correct incubation’s temperature and humidity for Lovebird’s eggs to hatch into a healthy baby? I’m using an incubator, due to parent lovebirds refuse to sitting on eggs. And what is the cause for the embryo to died , when come to near to hatching time?
Hi Joy,
I don’t recommend trying to artificially incubate lovebird eggs. Not only does the temperature and humidity have to be perfect, but you also have to turn the eggs regularly, around the clock. Most of the time the eggs still do not hatch. If they do hatch often there are health issues with the chicks – internal issues or deformities of some type. Even if the chicks seem to be healthy, they are very hard to hand feed from day one. Even the most experienced hand feeders will end up losing most lovebirds fed from day 1. They often seem fine for a few days, and then they just die. You end up spending a lot of money, and going through a lot of work, only to have heartbreak.
You need to first determine if there is no hope for the parents. Are they old enough? Lovebirds should be at least 2 years old before you breed them. If they are younger, they are often more interested in mating again than settling down to care for eggs and chicks. The cage should be in a quiet, private place and only see you when you feed them. If there are people walking by all the time, they get nervous and won’t sit on the eggs. The nest box should be attached to the outside of the cage, as high as possible. The pair should be on a balanced diet – not a seed mix – as well as fruit, veggies, greens and an egg food. You should not bother them when they have eggs, unless it is a very tolerant pair. But in general you need to keep your distance and let the parents do their job. First clutches almost always fail. Second clutches often fail, but if they still do not settle down and care for the eggs by the third clutch, then the pair should not be bred again. Your pair needs to be rested for 6 months in between each clutch, whether they sit on the eggs or not. If you have not been resting them, and they have had more than one clutch, they have been over bred. A 6-8 month rest without a nest box is in order, and they just might do well after that. You can’t allow a pair to keep laying one clutch after the other. Wild lovebirds only breed once a year. In captivity, they do not get the environmental changed that signal the end of breeding season, so we have to make sure they stop breeding until they have had a long rest.
If your pair is over 2 years old, and had more than 3 failed clutches – and you rested them in between each clutch – then they probably should not be used as breeders anymore. Some pairs simply do not make good breeders. If you still try to incubate the eggs, the rules still apply as if the pair was sitting on the eggs – they must be rested for 6 months in between each clutch of eggs. The hen loses a lot of protein and calcium to form the eggs, and it is a huge effort to lay each egg. In the wild she would have around 9 months to recover before the next nesting season.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
