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We've got a female lovebird who is absolutely despearate to have babies. She comes from a line of extremely successful mommas, but has yet to have an egg hatch. She will lay 4 or 5 eggs at a time....sit on them for full term....and then start laying again after a brief period of ignoring them. I've taken her nest away, because I'm afraid she'll get calcium depleted and become egg bound....but she's so frantic to have babies that she'll eventually start laying on the floor of the cage. VERY unusual in my experience.

I'm pretty sure the problem is our male. He takes good care of her, and they are very affectionately bonded. But he's got to be closing on 12 years old now. I'm pretty sure he must be firing blanks.

I've thought about getting some eggs from someone who has a known fertile pair....but doesn't want more babies at the moment.....or even putting a newly hatched chick or two in with her. I don't know if either one of those ideas will work....and am wondering if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing.....allowing a female to raise another birds chick(s).

Any thoughts? I live in the Atlanta, GA area.[/i]

I have the same situation. I have an older female who is desperate to have babies but has never laid a fertile egg. I have thought about doing the same thing as you because I have other birds who lay fertile eggs and I could easily swap out an infertile egg for a fertile one, but the problem that I see (and the reason I have not done it) is that I worry that she may not take care of them. I think because she has sat on so many infertile eggs, she now loses interest a lot sooner and the eggs go cold fairly soon (after about 1-2 weeks).

Have you been able to candle them to see if they are fertile and they are just not hatching, or have they actually been infertile the whole time?

I haven't candled them.....but my wife broke a few open after she stopped sitting.....and they were all just yellow yolks. No development whatsoever. My wife was wondering if she'd be up for a brief affair.....but i couldn't do that to Olivier (the male). It would break his heart.

I'm still thinking that maybe if I could go to the local bird show and pick up a newborn featherless baby....I might be able to put it in with her. There are so many examples out there of even different species babies being raised by a good mother.

I'm sure somebody must have tried it........

Well, it is hard to say if she would care for a baby who was already a week or so old. I would assume that she would need to be sitting on eggs for at least the 21 day incubation period and then put ina baby, but that is still iffy. If anything, I would trade her eggs out for fertile eggs. I would also try candling her eggs a week after the last one is laid to see if it is fertile. If it is fertile, you may have a bacterial problem which is why they do not hatch. I would make sure to candle them next time.

The oldest male I ever had produce fertile eggs was 12 yrs old but he was an Abyssinian Lovebird. Abyssinians will remain fertile longer so I think you are correct when you say your male is past fertility.

You can foster fertile eggs to your hen, as long as they are within the hatch range of the eggs in her own nest. In other words, the hen in the nest must be laying at the same time as the hen in the nest where you intend to put the fertile egg/eggs. To do it, you add a fertile egg and remove a blank one. You always want to keep the number of eggs in the foster nest the same. Ditto with the nest that the egg came from. Take the infertile egg and give it to the hen who gave up a fertile egg. I've fostered babies but the babies in the nest must be the same age and I never foster to a hen that has 4 of her own chicks. Fostering to a hen that has no eggs and no babies is the equivalent of killing the chick.

1. I'd try to find a few fertile eggs from a clutch that was laid a few days up to a week earlier. If you have peachfaces, they are not fussy about babies hatching a bit earlier.
2. The problem of infertility might be on the part of BOTH birds. Constant laying reduces the amount of necessary nutrients that the hen can provide for her eggs. She does need a break from that cycle...which babies will do, as they will keep her from storing the nutrients that she is now using to form eggs.
3. Is she getting too much light, like an endless summer's worth?
4. Sometimes, having 2 pairs in the same area (not necessarily the same cage) can be more successful than just having one pair.