Aussie Finch Forum

Hi folks,

I've come to the conclusion that my 3 pairs of Gouldians are playing funny buggers and have not settled down into proper breeding mode yet. I have 6 nest boxes and 5 of them have eggs in them. I box has 8 eggs, another has 5, another has 3 and 2 others have 2. I believe they are all clear. Should I just throw all the eggs out and refill the boxes with fresh material or should I leave them be as a couple of the hens are sitting tight. Should I wait until roughly 3 weeks before throwing them out? Will it do any harm throwing them out early? It's only been a couple of weeks since they started laying. Is this normal?

I would be concerned if that many nests were showing duds..

In any case, If you have a clutch of eggs where the hen has been sitting tight and after 7 days you see NOTHING, I think at that point I myself would toss them and let them try again.
I don't make them sit the entire time if it's all for naught anyways.

I know its hard to beleive but my girl had 70 eggs in one nest , she had built a nest on top of another , the result was a very rung out bird who is still struggling to feather up .
I think you have to be vigilant with them and take eggs out if they are not looking like hatching , removing nests too if the hen is spending too much time on dud eggs , it takes it out of them laying and sitting on eggs especially if they go into moult at the same time.

All eggs thrown out (all 20 of them) and nest material topped up. Lets hope the little buggers do things properly the next time around...

i know how you feel i threw out 5 eggs 2 weeks ago now she has laid 2 more eggs see how she goes with them she started to sit on them yesterday they have been taking turns on the nest