Emmy

Thanks for answering, It has been a problem trying to work out what's been happening even more so since it happened to my friend's birds too. The birds have lots of cuttlefish, egg food etc etc. so its not a lack of anything in their diet. Since posting this I have been told its the zebra finches that are doing this. Seems it happens a lot and has been seen happening. They actually eat the eggs in the nest therefore no broken shells are found and when the other finches see this happening they join in too. My zebbies better watch out because if I catch them at it they'll get their 'wings clipped' Emmy

This is a recurring problem I have had this year and it happened last year as well. Last year in the outside flight I had a pair of diamond doves lay two eggs in their nest. They were incubating the egg and all seemed to be ok until the eggs suddenly disappeared. The same thing happened to the next set of eggs- no sign of egg falling out from nest n trace of egg shells. The only time they have managed to raise a chick was when I removed the egg from their nest and hatched it out in the incubator. I hand reared it for a few days, during this time I had removed 'mum and dad' from the aviary and put them into a cage provided a nest pan and transferred the chick to their cage where they took over the feeding. Just recently this has happened again with the diamond doves the hen was sitting on 2 eggs in the inside flight I'm sure the eggs weren't far off from being hatched but when I checked the nest and again the eggs had disappeared and no trace of egg shells etc. I had been blaming the cockatiels for stealing the eggs but now I'm not sure if that was correct. My friend also has a pair of Diamond doves in her aviary sitting on 2 eggs (there are finches and canaries in her aviary same as I have) but she had NO cockatiels and she contacted me tonight to let me know the two eggs in the diamond doves nest in her aviary have disappeared -no trace of egg shells etc. Both of us have no mice/rats in our aviaries. Anyone have any clues why this is happening? Could it be the canaries or the zebra finches that are responsible for this?. Or could it be the diamond doves themselves? Be grateful for any ideas anyone may have why this is happening. Emmy

Hi Mark welcome to the forum. Sorry to say that I'm not near Somerset as you can guess from my aviator. but I'm sure there must be some members near you. What type of birds do you have Mark? Emmy

Thanks Clare and Sarah, Clare Re the photo being blurred Titch just wouldn't do as I asked when I said 'Hold it there !' Too busy with the daily exercises!! but joking apart seeing the width of the wings made me realise they are growing up fast. Sarah my grandchildren say baby cockatiels at that age look like mini dinosaurs (lol) My description : it's like the story about the ugly duckling that grows up to be a beautiful swan. Emmy

Hi Clare My wee dog has to be locked up when its feeding time for the birds just in case he thinks I'm fixing lunch for him They do have walkabouts now so I have to take them out one at a time now to feed them and they are trying out their wings too. This is Titch: After they have been fed I give them a wee wipe down with a soft damp sponge and they love that. Just one more feed tonight about 9.30pm and then a little 'top up!' for them before I go to bed and that's them until about 7am next morning. Emmy

Thought I'd post an update on my three 'babies' What a difference a few days make, this is Titch, Babe and Tosh photograph was taken this morning. Tosh the oldest one is now starting to peck at the millet spray. Babe is catching up on the other two. Emmy (Thanks for the help with the photo Andy)

Wishing you a Very Happy Birthday hope you have a nice day. Emmy

Just thought I'd give an update on the cockatiel situation. The chicks are doing great and the two larger ones are now flexing their wings and like to wander about. Never had to feed them during the night!! This is (l toR ) Titch, Babe and Tosh (lol) 2nd photo taken today . March 20th 5days later March 25th Everything was working out fine but there is always a BUT!! and this concerns the parents of the chicks. I had a cockatiel nest box in the inside flight- I had put it in there a while ago thinking Cheeky and his mate Munchy would perhaps use it -but they didn't - This was going to be removed last night then I was going to clean the cockatiel nest box that was outside. and taped it up so it couldn't be used again. I got the surprise of my life when I opened the door of the inside flight to remove the nest box --Bambino (the chick's dad) went into attack mode big style he had never done that before! I had to use a perch to keep him away while I removed the box then I discovered the reason why! there was an egg inside the nest box and me being me I couldn't throw it out so the nest box is now back in the inside flight and I'm keeping my fingers crossed Toots (the mother) doesn't lay any more. The other nest box in the outside flight has now been cleaned out but while I went to find the tape to cover the entrance hole by the time I got back the box already had two new residents -Cheeky and Munchy the pair who hadn't looked near the other nest box that had been in the inside flight! All I can think is- it must be the Scottish weather to blame

Not quite Clare there's a few spaces left before I could say that and I need to wait 'till I get the cats, rabbits, guinea pigs etc etc Now wait until you hear this bit of news!! My son phoned me tonight and we chatted for a while then he informed me that he had seen an advert about a pair of African Grey Parrots looking for a home!! When I asked how much were they being sold for he said they were 'free'!! Now that I didn't believe! (This was beginning to look like the 10 chickens episode from a year ago!!- hard to believe but that's a year I have had the 5 hens now) When I asked where he had seen the advert and where about were they being sold? His answer was, "I'm NOT telling you!!!" Grrr! Surly he wasn't thinking I would have taken them!! Emmy

Wishing you a Very Happy Birtdhay Andy hope you have had a nice day. Emmy

(lol) know what you are saying I had two before both were hens though and YES! they can bite!! Noise doesn't bother me (lol) if it gets too loud I just take my hearing aids out I had two of them for many years and they were just fascinating to watch them strip the willow and decorate their back with it -paper too! The ones I had before were Fischers peach faced love birds. I was told these two will probably be ready for breeding soon so next thing is to get a nest box ready! and NO! I wont be hand rearing any of their chicks I'll give that pair a right talking too before they get a nest box!! Emmy

My 'parrot' family!! I had the medium sized ones -Barrabands and then I got 4 tiny ones the Madagastar love bird parrots then recently got the large one Bobby the Blue faced Amazon Now that left out the 'small' sized ones Just couldn't have that !! Now, this morning I have fixed that missing link. when my family discovers this I'll be shouting Meet Pinky and Perky my peach faced lovebirds (red head is the hen ) Emmy

Had to laugh at that I did too think a chick had died - the chick was lying on its side head and legs stretched out and I got a fright when I went to remove it from the brooder when it suddenly jumped up!

Yes they are Clare but if they have been hatched in the incubator you have to encourage them to eat the seed and especially to drink( I usually tap the seed dish with my finger and the same with the water which is in a shallow dish with glass beads in it to stop them from drowning. if its the adult bird that has incubated them the chicks copy the parents re the feeding (they get chick crumbs) The good thing is if the parent bird hatches them out you don't have to worry about putting them in a brooder its so comical to see them disappearing under the parents. She is still sitting on the eggs.

I've said that time and time again but it never works - my 'hotel' is full too but I always seem to find a spare room (lol) I've got mine in beside the canaries and zebra finches and 4 cockatiels in the aviary but last year the D Doves eggs kept going missing even one of the chicks they hatched disappeared and it seems it could have been the cockatiels that were doing the damage.

They are lovely birds Clare I have a pair of D doves sitting in a seed bowl incubating one egg. (lol) Where birds are concerned I think we are all guilty of being able to get an excuse for getting more (lol) Emmy

Clare you know what?? I like you but I just hope my 'mum' doesn't read what you are encouraging me to do.. Bobby

Don't know what I've done but my mum is sitting down after being on the computer and sounds like she's laughing but she's crying too?? Oh!! human beings are so complicated I'm glad I'm a parrot. Thank you or saying Sorry but I haven't been given my treat yet. Maybe its because I escaped from my cage tonight and flew into the living room when Rabelou was out having his tea. Well it wasn't my fault -- Mum had locked the front door of my cage but she had left the side door open and she never said I had to stay in my cage!!

I reckon Suzy would get killed if I did that not worth taking the chance think she has been through enough just hope if the cpq eggs hatch she wont notice the difference and after all she wont have the bother of feeding them, the chicks feed themselves all she will have to do is keep them warm. Emmy

Sarah let me tell you THAT is the most difficult thing to do - selling them- but before I let any go I have to be 100% sure they will be going to a good home. So far I have been lucky in that respect and I occasionally get emails and photos from their new owners of how they are doing. This is one photo I had sent to me and believe me the cockatiel is the BOSS in this situation. (the dog had been used to cockatiels before and before I let the young cockatiel go I let it play with a large toy dog I had )

Well it seems like a miracle to me but part of the miracle won't happen. (lol) I've kept Texan White Quails for a good few years now but they NEVER incubated their eggs that had to be done using the incubator. Last year I sent for some new Texan White fertile eggs to get some 'new blood line' in. All went well and a few hatched out. I put three of them in a large 'hutch' and they got on fine together until one morning I found little 'Suzy' sitting in a corner with her head covered in blood. I removed her from the other two and cleaned her head and kept her by herself until her head healed. I then introduced another quail to keep her company and I got a shock the next morning there was poor Suzy sitting there with her head bleeding again. So from then on ( a few months now) she has been in a hutch by herself . Her head is OK now and she has been laying eggs usually one a day and I have been removing the egg from the hutch every day but I hadn't collected any for three days and I noticed she had moved the eggs into a corner in the sleeping section of the hutch so I thought I'd just leave them and see if she added any more eggs to the clutch. -- (This was taken before I added the cpq eggs) YES she did lay some more and what was even more surprising she was incubating them Well one thing for sure there will definitely never be the patter of tiny feet from any of those eggs she has laid BUT what I have done is removed a few of her eggs and popped a few fertile eggs from my CPQ into her nest. So far she is still sitting on the eggs. One question I keep asking myself is WHY couldn't she have done this when her egg were fertile?? I have no idea if this was a wise thing to do but I'll keep you updated re the outcome. Emmy

Actually its working out better than I thought with the cockatiel chicks. I'm feeding them approx. every 3 hours starting about 6am and last top up feed around 10.30pm - 11pm. I have been putting two hand warmers wrapped in a soft cloth on the bottom of the cage they are in and cover that with a paper towel and then some 'sawdust' (It's not really sawdust but I've forgotten the name of it) So I don't need any other type of heating during the night actually they are keeping each other warm. There is no need for heating during the day either. This is so different from the last ones. I see a big difference in them already (Still to give them names yet) the wee one in the middle has now got its eyes open and that makes such a difference. The finch eggs in the incubator haven't hatched out yet if and when they do that will be a very different story. The pair I had hoped would foster the finch chicks haven't laid any more eggs and are not going in the nest box. Emmy

Monkey!!!???? Did 'Mum' say that to you? Is she losing the plot? I'm NOT a MONKEY I'm a beautiful PARROT!! Guess I'll just have to try out the strength of my beak to prove I am a PARROT !! I think in future I'll 'Squawk' instead of 'Talk' until I hear 'Sorry!. A very upset Bobby

My pair of cockatiels have done it again! They are not going into the nest box tonight and the three chicks have been on their own most of today. Two of the chicks have food in their crop but although the smallest one has some food in its crop its a lot smaller and weaker looking - so once again its onto hand rearing the 3 of them. I'm taking no chances on letting them die now. It's going to a busy time shortly I've also got 7 fertile finch eggs in the incubator and if the pair I had in mind to foster them isn't ready when the finch eggs hatch I'll have to hand rear them too Emmy

Thanks Andy and Andrew, 'mum' has been spending a lot of money on things for me recently and I got some nice new treats today - maybe I should be applying for my own credit card - BUT 'mum' would still have to pay the bills Bobby