Aussie Finch Forum

The other bird is definitely not interrupting them even though he is red head but I know he wouldn't cause I watch them all of the time and before I got him the pair had already had 2 clutches before hand and were infertile. I think my male with the eggs is infertile cause he does look fairly old

If a hen lays eggs that proves she is fertile. However it does not prove she is copulating. However with that many eggs he is either not doing his job or firing blanks. I would start looking for another pair if it was me. See how it goes with 3 pair. I have 3 pair and a spare hen, and the less dominant of the 3 cocks has just put his hen down with their 1st clutch while the other 2 pair are on round 2.
LML

finchbreeder wrote:If a hen lays eggs that proves she is fertile

That is not actually true. All it proves is that she can lay eggs. Domestic layer hens lay infertile eggs all the time.
It tells you nothing about the ability of that egg to be fertilised, or to support a developing embryo.
I know what you mean finchbreeder- it proves that she can develop normal eggs- without which she would be totally incapable of breeding.
But blaming infertility on a cock purely based on the fact that the hen can lay eggs can be misleading.

Domestic layer hens produce infertile eggs all the time because they do not have mates. It is true that this does not prove the eggs will develop normally, but it means they can be fertalized. So technically they are fertile, weather viable in all respects or not. Fertility and viabilty are not the same thing. It would be so much easier if it were. Then the laying of eggs would prove the hen was everything you could wish for. Not probable OK
LML

these are the pictures of my gouldians, the male is the one with the white breast