Upcoming Egg?

[Synirr]

Joule, my female Pacific parrotlet, and her mate Petri have been trying to get their groove on for a good while now, even though I haven't supplied a nest box. Considering they hadn't got it right yet I wasn't too worried, but now it looks like Joule is carrying an egg!! I'm worried and excited at the same time! It'll be her first egg, so I'm hoping she doesn't have any trouble passing it, and it's gonna take me about a week to get their nestbox mailed to me from my parents' house, so she's probably going to end up laying it on the bottom of the cage... generally the first egg doesn't hatch anyway though, so hopefully it will work out, and if not I'll have to transfer it to the box myself.

I've been planning to breed these guys eventually but hadn't thought I was ready just yet... however, with the prospect of upcoming baby birdies, I think I'll start encouraging them even if it doesn't work out this time

See the bulge on her rump? That's a sign she's carrying an egg

Petri is always angry as hell, but even moreso now that they are in breeding mode. (To clarify, the fluffyness is him being pissed off, lol)
"Grr, get away from my woman!"

RARR!

 

[Mr.September15]

Awesome birdies

 

[timmystood]

Awesome!! Their very cool and cute! I really hope the babies work out and if it does then LOADS AND LOADS AND LOADS of pictures of ickle baby birdies.. hell you could win PoTM for a year with cute baby pics!

 

[treacles]

Awesome!! Their very cool and cute! I really hope the babies work out and if it does then LOADS AND LOADS AND LOADS of pictures of ickle baby birdies.. hell you could win PoTM for a year with cute baby pics!

aww good luck sooooo cute

 

[grahamsokel]

Good luck
hope you manage to get the nest box in before she starts laying

 

[Cheffi]

Beautiful birds, look forward to seeing some ickle chicklets

 

[Kiarra]

Awww, good luck! Glad he finally decided he likes her after all that trouble you had in the beginning. Keep us posted---my pair's still too young, so I'll have to live vicariously through you until they're old enough.

 

[Synirr]

Good news, she passed the egg without any trouble
Unfortunately it was broken when I found it this morning... Petri ate it, too (EDIT: Which is normal, pairs will eat broken eggs.) Not sure if it was already broken or if he broke it, but either way I am extremely happy that Joule is ok. I called my dad and he said he'll mail the nestbox tomorrow. We're expecting at least 3 more eggs, she is already swollen again with another.

Egg white spilling out

"Mom, did you see what Joule made?!"

 

[Cheffi]

Oooo hurry up with that nestbox, and keep the camera handy.

 

[Synirr]

jk. Btw, is that blood???

Lol, I KNEW someone was going to ask that! No, it's just dye from a piece of food that spread out onto the paper when it got wet.

A second egg has arrived, but it was cracked too. It obviously cracked when she laid it, so at least I know Petri isn't destroying them . I made a makeshift nestbox out of a cardboard box since their real nest box isn't going to be here for a while yet, but they haven't investigated yet.

 

[lljdma06]

How is Joule's calcium intake? Females need a lot of calcium supplementation when they are laying. A lack of calcium can cause cracked or thin-shelled eggs, or her own bones can become brittle. Of course, Joule can just be a clutz, which can happen to a first timer. My zebra finches are pretty ditzy too. It takes practice.

llj

 

[Synirr]

She has a huge cuttlebone she has been eating away at and a mineral block... I can't give her oyster shells, as they can be bad for this type of bird and get stuck in the crop.
I think part of the problem is that their nestbox isn't here, so she has been laying them on the hard bottom of the cage. As I said in the last post though, I made them a makeshift nestbox that they have been going in, so the next egg should be laid in there... we'll see

 

[mommyof2bettas]

Can't wait to see some beby pics!
Just asking, how long does it take for the eggs to hatch?
Our budgie, Kiki used to have a prtner but then we found him dead
Since then she's been a cranky little bird. She just skwaks most of the day. The week after her bird buddy died she just sat in a corner in her cage. Sometimes she'd get up and look around as if she thought the bird was back. It just made us so sad
Once a pigeon laid an egg in our balcony and it hatched and the baby pigeon grew up and flew one day. My mom disinfected the whole balcony and wouldn't make us go out there for a week!
Anyways, hope the little birdies turn out fine!

 

[Synirr]

Should we end up with any fertile eggs this time, incubation will be 18-19 days

 

[Synirr]

She's incubating an egg in the nestbox now, and obviously carrying another she'll probably drop tomorrow
I'll candle them in a couple of days and see if we've had any success, a fertile egg will show veins when held up to the light