Hatching Birds In Aviaries

Hatching birds in aviaries is not a difficult process and normally happens naturally and according to plan, especially if your breeding stock is all in good health.

Let’s take a look at how budgies go about it.

If you are breeding birds or hatching birds in aviaries, it is sometimes quite a surprise to hear chicks in the nests when you didn’t even know that there were eggs there in the first place. That happened to me a lot when I used to breed my budgies in an outdoor aviary.

When the chicks do hatch you will hear the calling for food, usually as dusk approaches, and you may also see discarded eggshells on the floor of the cages.

Do not disturb the birds unless you suspect that something is seriously wrong, as you may cause the nest and the chicks to be abandoned, especially if you work with nervous birds such as doves and pigeons, or finches.

Adjust the bird’s food to include more dietary protein at this stage, so that you can meet the growth requirements of the chicks.

This can be bought from most pet food outlets as well as online. Here are a few good deals that can be ordered online.

Most of these foods that you purchase can be offered straight from the packet without you having to mix with water first. Remember that scrupulous hygiene is vital at this stage as the young chicks must not be offered food that has gone sour.

One of the best ways of monitoring the progress of chicks in the nest is to note the amount of food being eaten. It may be possible to take a quick glance at parrot chicks in the nest, provided that you do not disturb the sitting bird. If it leaves the nest when you open the aviary this will provide the ideal opportunity to check.

Putting fresh food in place will distract the adult birds. Following this routine over a number of weeks will ensure that the birds don’t become stressed by your presence, especially once the eggs have hatched.

Here is a video that explains how to do candling with your eggs. Eggs are candled to determine the condition of the air cell, yolk, and white, or meat spots, and it enables observation of germ development.

It is done in a darkened room where the egg is held in front of bright light. The light penetrates the egg and makes it possible to observe the inside of the egg. Do not disturb sitting birds in order to do this and take care not to break the eggs. This technique is most commonly done with eggs that are being artificially incubated.

Sometimes, your embryo will stop developing very early on in the process. If you candle within the first couple of weeks and notice a thick red line, the chick will probably not make it to hatching. This is known as a bloodline, and it’s a sign that your chick has died.

Never candle after the 17th day.

Hatching Birds In Aviaries With An Incubator

If for some reason your eggs have been abandoned, or you prefer to take matters into your own hands, an incubator may come in handy.

An incubator helps in hatching the bird egg by providing the correct temperatures, evenly heating the surroundings, and keeping it slightly humid. The absence of this uniform heat will have an impact on the ability of the egg to hatch and may contribute to the failure of the bird to survive inside the egg. If you do not have an incubator in your home, you can actually emulate an incubator’s effects and still give the egg a chance to hatch.

What You Will Need:

• Microwave Oven
• Ceramic Bowl
• Hand Towel
• Heat Lamp
• Water

Put water into the bowl and microwave it on medium heat for a few minutes. After that, you can remove the water to have the ceramic bowl at an ideal temperature for the bird eggs.

Make the hand towel slightly wet with warm water. The next thing to do is to wrap the egg in the towel while moving the egg into the ceramic bowl. Put it carefully to avoid the egg from being shaken.

Now place the ceramic bowl between six to twelve inches beneath the heat lamp, depending on its size and height. Then, you will need to turn the lamp on, which means only one side of the egg will be warm. However, the heat coming from the towel and the bowl should also help equalize the heat, while the lamp will help keep the heat distributed equally to the egg.

You will need to flip the egg every 6 to 8 hours. Gently and slowly rotate the egg and expose the egg’s other side to expose it to the lamp. Maintaining it can be challenging, but it must be done for the heat to be evenly distributed to the eggs. To keep the humidity in check all the time, you can also put water on the towel from time to time.

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