mom picking faethers!? hatch date Jan 20

[conures02]

She is sitting on 5 eggs, that are due to hatch on or before the 20th. We had a look at them yesterday (to candle them). We noticed that the mom has more feathers that she has plucked out . She wouldn't let us put anything into the box for bedding . So I am assuming that she is picking them out to try to keep the eggs warmer?? Just curious if anyone has experienced that samething?

[Pado]

I don't have any experience with this but watch closely that she doesn't carry the plucking over and pluck the chicks.

Let us know how it goes -

[YWallpaper]

I have heard that some mothers will pluck their chest feathers to keep the eggs warmer; it is warmer to lay on the eggs with direct skin contact than through feathers. Hopefully she will stop after the eggs hatch.

[Pado]

Its not commonplace for birds to pluck themselves while nesting. However some do, its not know if they do this due to stress of for some other reason. Finches have been know to do it if not supplied with ample nesting materials.

Birds have a broodpatch, an area of thick, bare, vascularized skin on their abdomen - they fluff their feathers and situate themselves so the eggs come into contact with the broodpatch.

[conures02]

i have tried to put nesting material in there and she throws it out

[Pado]

Sounds like thats normal :)


A cage of dimensions 12" high x 12"deep x20" long serves as a good size breeding cage. Hang a parakeet nest box (6"wide x 8"high x 8"deep) in the front of the cage. Place a 2-inch layer of pine wood shavings inside the nest box. Once a ready-to-breed pair is accustomed to the nest box (usually one to two days), the male will enter it first and soon join by the female. They will throw out a portion of the wood shavings while they build a depression usually towards the back of the nest box. The birds will mate more frequently, usually half dozen times a day. After about two weeks, the female will be seen spending more time inside the nest box. A few days before laying, the abdominal region of the female will start to swell until it becomes a grotesque small balloon. Because the female spends a lot of time in the nest box, when she emerges to stretch her wings, she deposits a big glob of her waste normally at a corner of the cage or sometime even outside the cage. Placing newspapers around the cage at this time will prevent soiling your furniture or carpet if you are breeding your birds in the house. Incubation takes about 21 days. Six to seven eggs form a normal clutch. The chicks grow fast and the older ones will climb out of the nest box even before they are fully feathered, usually about three weeks after hatching. The entire brood will wean in about six weeks, by which time the hen will be ready to go back to nest again. Because parrotlets breed so prolifically, many breeders tend to continuously breed their birds the entire year. Such frequent breeding should be discouraged. I have observed pairs, after producing three broods, start forming such bad habits as plucking the chick’s feathers or killing the newly hatched chicks in subsequent broods. I suggest allowing a breeding pair to raise three broods as the maximum in a year.
Keep an eye on the father bird when the babies start emerging from the nest box. I have seen male parents attacked the babies immediate on seeing them outside the nest box, often with fatal results. On such occasions, an intervening hand is needed. Remove the male parent to a separate cage and let the mother bird finish the parental duties.

http://www.geocities.com/parrotletpark/pacificparrotlets.htm