upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

Hi, guys. I posted a few months ago looking for breeding suggestions as I had my greys for nearly a year with no success. Not long after that post, I peeked in their nest box and there sat a beautiful little egg. I looked in again five days later to check it's fertility and there was only shards of shell left, they had utterly destroyed it. I since learned that their are many reason for egg eating (or destroying), and that sometimes, it just happens. Anyway, I've tried to monitor the box everday for an egg before they eat it. But this is causing them such stress... and maybe that was why they killed the egg in the first place, as I had stressed them out by finding it. They're very shy and it's a fluke if I can catch them out of their box. I tried an night camera in the box but it was hard to tell if there was an egg under them. Next I figured I'd try a peeping hole by their feet. Any other suggestions? It's still worth trying with this pair, right? I really feel defeated... I breed many other parrot species and none of them are as tough as these high-strung greys.

Chibi-tori over on tiel chat had a small camera attached to his tiel's nest box. They do eventually get up and you can then see the eggs. If you got one that you could record the stream, then you could review what you don't watch live. I would give it anouther try. Have you added cooked eggs with the shell to their diet? This might help curb the craving for egg.

Recording the video stream is a good idea. I just didn't have time to sit and watch them for an hour live.
They do get a dry egg supplement, do you think there's a difference if you feed cooked eggs?
I read last night that some high-strung birds (like wild caught 'toos) will destroy their egg if the nest is inspected. And since momma grey was in the box when I found the egg it was probably just too much.

If you are able to get small chicken eggs, which have harder shells, this might get them into the habit of setting. I did this for a couple of years with my cockatoos, and they got the idea. Note that I said "a couple of years."

I don't post to often, but when I do I try to be of help and this is an easy one. First why do you have to look in the nestbox? Most breeder birds are easy to tell when they are on eggs. They have terrible smelling poops and they don't come out except to eat and sometimes it is only the male that comes out and the female when she needs to poop. I have raised at least over 70 species of birds and I keep in my current aviary around 14 species.With this amount of birds I can tell you that the curious seem to have the worst luck. As I have posted before I use to do the same and look into the nestbox and sometimes you can get away with it and other times by the next day the eggs or babies had been eaten and there was no sign of anything ever being in the nestbox. If you think that there is an egg or a few eggs then just wait out the normal incubation time and then listen for a chick peeping and then have a date that you plan on pulling the baby or babies. Remember that eggs are laid every other day and usually in the early morning between I have seen 5 and 8. Why give your birds the taste of eggs and eggshell and just add a calcium supplement to their wet diet as it will not stay on the dry pellets and since birds shell their seed it won't work there either.Everyone has an opinion and mine has worked well for me and I don't get into the nestboxes until I need to. Sometimes intervention will keep you from ever having good eggs and sometimes it works. Why even worry about fertile eggs if they are sitting on them just be happy and wait out the gestation period and then if there is no peeps coming from the nestbox then they weren't fertile. I give my eggs usually an extra three or four days before I throw them away and candle them at that time to see if they were fertile. Also remember that the birds don't have to sit on the eggs for up to a week and then once they start sitting on them and adding heat is when the incubation process starts. Most people don't know that and will throw away good eggs as they think that the birds have stopped sitting on them. Ask a good canary breeder about taking eggs out and putting them on a shelf and when he has all the eggs that he wants he then puts them back under the female and a few weeks later they all hatch out. There you go and good luck.

You can see my aviary at http://WWW.Platinumaviary.com and we are in the process of adding more flights.

Denis

I posted before about the camera's on nest boxes...
I have put camera's on my nest boxes. I also have camera's on the out side of the cage.
I drill a hole at the end away from the lid and it looks down where they spend their time.
I have noticed that my female buries her eggs until she is ready to sit on them. When she brings them out you can tell she has eggs because she will keep moving them under her...
My male has not learned to copulate as yet. How long it will take I do not know. He seems to be a slow learner.
I am a beginner like my bird...Trying to learn.

I have a pair of congos who last gave me an egg two years ago this month, they are very frustrating. Denis58 said: "They have terrible smelling poops and they don't come out except to eat and sometimes it is only the male that comes out and the female when she needs to poop" My one pair stay in the nestbox all the time and only come out to eat and poop, but now I'm going to take the nestbox down, move them into a bigger cage and leave them alone until spring. Hopefully the shake up will work.

I haven't bred Greys, but IMHO a year really isn't that long. It's taken me a couple of seasons to get things just right for some of my species.......others will breed whether you want them to or not. Breeding is not only a science...it's an art. All birds are individuals and have their own preferences as far as nesting box etc go. Even subtle nuances like the direction the cage faces ( especially outdoor aviaries) can make all the difference. Good luck! I am sure in time they will get things right.