Dealing with Infertile clutches

[madas]

What is the best way to deal with an infertile clutch?
Especially if the aim is to get a second fertile clutch in the same season?

- Should the eggs be removed as soon as infertility is confirmed or allowed to be incubated to the full term?
- Should the box be closed for some time after eggs are removed?
- What can be done to increase chances of eggs being fertile in the 2nd clutch?

Hi saud,

1. a complete infertile clutch should be removed as soon as infertility is confirmed (10 days after the clutch is complete then using a flashlight for candling; 3-4 days then using brinsea OvaView). If only one or two eggs are fertile then you could place them in an incubator and drop the other infertile eggs from the nest and start a new one.
2. No box could be leave open.
3. hard to tell: Check the perches. Should be some in distinct diameters. Check health and fitness.

greetings.

[madas]

Thanks madas and molossus for your suggestions

I have two new pairs that were setup in May 2012. They started clutches on 11th and 14th Jan.
Both pairs laid clutches of 5 eggs. As of 27th Jan all eggs showing clear.

The perches are 2in in diameter and the birds are in v good health.
One of these pairs is the violet IndigoBlue x blue pair we discussed on the other thread.


It feels like such a waste that you wait for the season the whole year and get a bunch of infertile eggs when it finally arrives. I am confident they will lay again if I remove the eggs. It's just that my experience tells me that the second clutch is very likely to be infertile when the 1st was clear. I want to know what, if anything can be done to change that.

Hi Saud,

the perches diameter should fit and so the birds (the female) could hold on to in the right way.
"As of 27th Jan all eggs showing clear." After 13 days this is a sign of infertile clutch. But you should candle the eggs to be 100% clear. Young female are known for not sitting really firm on the clutch and incubate the nest. So often it takes 3 or 4 days more.
"It's just that my experience tells me that the second clutch is very likely to be infertile when the 1st was clear." No. Last season i had the same problem with nearly all breeding pairs. They started their first clutch early in the year and all were infertile. I removed all the infertile eggs and after two - three weeks all pairs started a second clutch with most eggs fertile. So don't give up. 11th and 14th Jan is really an early starting of the breeding season for the northern hemisphere. Here in Europe the breeding season normally starts end February mid March. So enough time for a second fertile clutch.

greetings.