Abandoned eggs on day 13

[steve23]

Hi all,

This morning around 6am I feed and watered the Goulds everything was A ok. This evening when I got home, different story.

The goulds had abandoned the nest, I don't really know how long the eggs had been sitting there, all I know is both parents
were roosting outside of the nest for the night.

I have the nesting box inside sitting on top of my Apple-TV, it's warm but not hot. I also have put a glass of water in there
so they won't dry out.

How long can 13 day old eggs last for without parent bird sitting on them?

I've never have incubated eggs before but have experienced hand-rearing a Zeb following Kristine Spencer, online guide

Any help would be would be much appreciated

[Misso]

hi mate, r the eggs fertile?

[steve23]

hi mate, r the eggs fertile?

Hi Misso, I candled one of six eggs and it looked fertile I could see a body, not sure if it's alive though.

Edit that:

Just candled 3 more eggs, alive and blood pumping

[finchbreeder]

Do you have any other finches with eggs at a similar stage? That you could foster too?
LML

[steve23]

Unfortunately not, or they would be already fostered out

I'm quite willing to give the eggs away to someone in the Sydney area that already has foster parents on the go.
I want whats best for their survival. Hand-rearing is not the easiest of things to do and will avoid it if all possible

However... I have successfully hand reared before with a Grass Parrot and a Zebra Finch, so if it comes to that I
will be ready and willing

[E Orix]

When you look at the egg is it an even chalky white or any slightly darker smudges on it.
It is strange for the birds to leave them at 13 days but it seems that if they were fertile they would most likely be dead in the shell,possibly prior to yesterday.
Birds will incubate eggs that contain dead embryo,and eventually give up.
Its so frustrating.

[steve23]

Hi E Orix,

Yes there is slightly darker smudges on one of the eggs, the rest I looked at had blood vessels and also saw slight movement inside the egg.

I'm not 100% sure if they are alive, i've set them up as good as I can and turn them once every 2hours. If they bo not hatch within a week
then I guess their dead

Is it ok to candle at this later stage of development, I read once at a certain stage you should not candle your eggs, not sure if this is BS or not

[steve23]

Just an update,

3 of the 6 did hatch, unfortunately 2 died on day 3. One this morning which I thought was the strongest, its crop was still full from
last nights 12midnights feed, and the second one was this afternoon it just would not beg to eat, it died in front of me it just about
ripped my heart out, it frigen hurt:(

The 1 left is very strong, every time I feed him he looks stronger and eats quite a lot, so fingers cross

I'm using Avione hand rearing formula 1 part mix, 8 part electrolytes on day 1. now mix with water. Using Virkon S Disinfectant on
feeding utensils after every feed. Brood is a breeding box lined with paper towelling and a glass of water. Sitting on a Apple-tv
for warmth, Thermometer reads 32c. I know it's not a heat pad however it works

Feeding times on average are every 1 and a half hours depending on crop and eagerness. I don't feed for 6 hours from 12pm to 6am
to empty crop to prevent bacteria and yeast build up.

I've never hand reared from a hatchling so any advice, or maybe some changes with the above would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

[spanna]

How old are they now? The runny mixture should only be fed for a day or 2, then thicken it up rather quickly. Feeding every hour and a half sounds about right, how much does it eat in each sitting? Should be about 0.3-0.5mL for a 5 day from memory in my experience, but as long as it has a tiny bit of food in its crop between day feeds, then empties overnight, should be good. Be careful not to overfeed and stretch the crop. Gouldians will just about beg until their head falls off, so can be misleading when they are actually full.
It's a tough job, and one were failures are hard-felt, but you've done well to get this far, from an egg especially. My youngest bird reared was a 2 day old gould, but even at that age a syringe fits easily in their little beak.

[steve23]

Hey spanna,

3 days old the little guy/gal is doing very well just had his biggest feed and wiggling around faster than a meal worm
so going by looks alone he/she doing good

Have not really been measuring how much per feed but I would say 0.3-0.5mL

One thing I've been thinking about is how did the strongest one die this morning with a full crop and if it was a infection and
if so should I play it safe and maybe use a very small amount of antibiotic powder in the mix, I have some vetafarm on hand
....However I will not use it without advice first