Ask Lafeber

Question:

July 12, 2022

Nesting Material


My budgie has laid five eggs in the nesting box over the last 10 days. I did not put any nesting material in the box. There is a concave circle in the bottom of the nesting box, but the eggs are not in the circle, but off to the side on a flat surface in the nesting box.. Is it too late to put in some nesting material in the nesting box? Thanks for your advice of what to do.


Answer:

Hi,

I would not add any nesting material. The only safe material is natural Aspen shavings, but even if you add that, they will most likely kick it all out. And it is best not to make any changes once a pair starts nesting. Most of the time it will cause them to abandon the eggs or even chicks. It sounds like this is their first clutch, and if so, keep in mind that fist clutches almost always fail. She may not be sitting on the eggs, and may actually be sitting next to them. This happens with an inexperienced hen. It is important that your birds are at least 2 years old. If they are younger than this, they are much more likely to make mistakes or develop bad breeding habits. Younger budgies are capable of breeding, but they really aren’t ready yet – they still have some physical and mental development to go through.

Let them try with this clutch since the eggs still might hatch. Whether they are good or not, you need to remove the nest box once they egg are past due or once any chicks are weaned. The pair should be rested for 6 month before letting them breed again – or if they are under two, wait until they are two years old to try again. It takes a toll on the hen’s health each time she lays eggs – it uses up a lot of her calcium and protein, plus the physical strain of laying each egg. In the wild, they only breed once a year, so it really isn’t natural for her to lay eggs more than once a year. Since we do provide an ideal environment and a good diet, with rest you can allow 2 clutches per year with the rest in between. The nest box should never be left on the cage year round.

Nutrition is also very important. A breeding pair should be fed a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets or our foraging diets – a seed mix will not provide the nutrition they need. You should also offer dark leafy greens, veggies and some fruit. When a pair is set up for breeding, they also need an egg food – a commercial dry egg food or cooked eggs with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the egg. This is fed from the time you hang the nest box until all chicks are weaned.

Again, don’t be too disappointed if this clutch doesn’t work out. The parents need to learn and sometimes it takes a couple of clutches before they get it right.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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