What do I do when I want to give Parakeet eggs to a new parakeet to watch and raise?

4 Responses to “What do I do when I want to give Parakeet eggs to a new parakeet to watch and raise?”

1. Kimmie on March 12th, 2010 5:36 pm
   the ONLY way this might succeed is if your parakeet is in nesting mode at the same time. You can’t just give a nestbox with eggs in it to a hen as they will likely ignore it or worse, attack and break the eggs.
   Before giving a nestbox, you’ll need to provide egg food, calcium and shreddable materials. Once you see her go regularly into the box and building her nest, let your friend know. As soon as your own budgie lays an egg, swap it for one of your friends birds eggs, continuing swapping until your hen is finished laying “her” clutch. If she’s never hatched babies before, you’ll really need to be ready to handfeed the newborns as she may very well have no interest or no clue what to do.
   Your friend should give her birds a well deserved rest and remove all nesting items from the bird’s cage. It’s harmful for a hen to continue laying so many times.
   Best Wishes
2. miley cyrus on March 12th, 2010 5:48 pm
   just dont touch it and watch oyt my birds eat there eags **
   O
3. nicoleharres on March 12th, 2010 6:43 pm
   Kimmie is right, your friend should remove any and everything that could be interpreted as nesting material (even food bowls if necessary). A female should never lay that many eggs so closely together (usually only one to two broods a year at the most!). Chances are the female is going to have problems with calcium deficiencies as well as other severe medical problems if she is allowed to continue. And, since she’s already had two clutches so closely together and might already be experiencing some problems your friend should at the very minimum start adding protein and calcium foods to her parakeet’s diet (good sources would be cooked chicken, beans, hard boiled eggs with the shell left on to eat among other things).

   Now with that said and to answer your question, it would be nearly impossible to get another parakeet (or another bird for that matter) to hatch eggs that don’t belong to her. And, even if you could get her to incubate the eggs, just moving the eggs could cause damage making the eggs bad eggs anyway. If your friend continues to move forward and needs to have the eggs incubated, she should contact a local breeder or bird store and see if she can either buy or use an incubator. An experienced breeder could help her relocate the eggs so that they would not be damaged. Most breeders are willing to incubate eggs in return for one of the babies once hatched.

   If the eggs are incubated and hatched, the new babies will require hand feeding more than likely. It is doubtful that another bird would take in the chicks as her own, or, for that matter, once the eggs have been taken from the mother, that she would take them back and care for them. If the hatchlings need to be hand fed, please talk to a breeder or a veternarian to make sure this is done properly. Food not mixed or prepared at the proper temperatures can cause numerous problems including severe bacterial infections and damaged crops.

   Honestly, the best thing would be for this female to not be allowed to lay any more eggs at all for at least six months. Any eggs that are layed should be immediately removed so as to negate her from nesting and continuing this cycle. Being separated from the male might also be a good idea. If egg laying does continue, the best thing would be for the eggs to remain with her. The first clutch of a bird is often not successful – I’ve had parents eat their first babies (it’s truly terrible), so moving them is probably not the best idea if this bird has already proven a successful breeder.

   Hope I’ve sufficiently answered your question. And please, share this with your friend before something terrible happens to her little girl.
4. wifenwife3340 on March 12th, 2010 7:32 pm
   might eat the eggs might take care of them just depends

Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!

You must be logged in to post a comment.