new to breeding my progress so far.

[Danny_nz]

Hi guys and gals,
I am new to this forum and new to breeding IRNs however I am not new to breeding birds ad in the past I have had varying degrees of success with finches, budgies and canaries. I have kept IRN's in the past but never attempted to breed them only kept as pets.
I have had my feathered children a little over a month They are a well bonded pair of blue IRN's approximately 4 years old and apparently good breeders 5 chicks last year by the previous owners accounts.
The week before I bought them the hen had already started to lay and had laid 2 eggs which the old owner kept.
Soon after settling them into my aviary they began to actively mate (great news).
Their first egg was found in the breeding box on the 10/10/2011 the second was not found till the 15/10/2011 however in this time the hen had in my opinion started to sit within a few days of the first egg being discovered so I think it was probably laid earlier than the 15th. Sadly on the 17th she laid the 3rd egg in the flight area of the aviary and this was removed as it fell from perch height to the ground and was broken.
the hen is reluctant to come out of the box now and ventures out only once or twice a day usually early morning or early evening the cock is very protective standing guard outside the box whenever anyone is near the aviary, that being said he is not aggressive if I enter the aviary.
This is great to see as I am confident that they are doing a good job it does however make it very hard to check on how many eggs are being laid, as soon as the hen see's me heading towards the aviary she dives strait into the box and will not come out. I don't want to harass or force her out so at this stage I am giving them their space and doing the occasional covert (sneak check if I can get to the aviary before she see's me).

So far so good. I will add updated posts and pics as I have new info however I welcome any advice, comments or even criticism

[Molossus2]

The erratic laying could stem from the relocation stress. Pity about the laying off the perch. This sometimes occur. Your monitoring will help. You need to conduct an inspection to confirm if eggs are fertile. This can be done in a week.

[Danny_nz]

thanks for the reply my concern is that the hen doesn't like me going anywhere near the nest box and on the rare occasion she is out of the box and see's me coming she dives strait back in and refuses to come out. As she has already been stressed by the move which was a 4-5 hour drive in a small travel cage I am worried that if I continue to invade her nest she may give up on the eggs ?
would it be a better idea to wait till the first eggs are due to hatch (according to dates and when she actively started sitting) and check then ? as previously mentioned they are actively mating and allegedly have a good track record for breeding.
this is my first attempt at breeding them and I just don't want to mess it up by something I have done.
however if I am wrong and you think it will be ok please by all means let me know
many thanks again

[rod038]

I would be inclined to leave her. If she stays in the box and you try to remove her to look at the eggs she may scatter them. Cage design is important too so you can be able to check without having to disturb the birds to much. Tap on the side of the box but have an exit for the hen if she wants to leave. All my hens leave the nest when I approach to check on them or feed them. They can fly to the front of the cage and all servicing is done at the back of the cage. Once Im finished they go strait back to their nests.

Once I tried to lift a hen off her eggs that didnt move whenh i wanted to check and she went crazy and the eggs went everywhere, so I dont do that anymore.

[Danny_nz]

yup my aviary is set up so that it has 2 complete separate areas it has an enclosed area where the feed and nesting box are (necessary due to weather here in NZ) and a flight which can be completely shut off from the enclosed area. I have tried tapping on the side of the box but this doesn't even get a response form my hen I don't think I should open the viewing door on the nest box because she may panic and damage the eggs. I think for now I will leave her to it unless I happen to catch her out in the flight I don't want to stress her out any further than is absolutely necessary. I think it is a good sign that she is so dedicated and protective of her eggs I also want to stress that she is in no way aggressive to me on the occasions I do manage to get into the aviary before she dives into the nest box I don't need to block the flight section off, she is not interested in coming anywhere near me thus far when I am in the aviary even if I am checking the nest box.

[Danny_nz]

Sorry no pics yet because nothing to take pics of ! but I must say I am beginning to forget what my hen looks like she rarely ventures out of the nest box and when she does venture out as soon as she see's anyone boom she shoots strait back in !
she appears to be very dedicated to her eggs. On that subject I have no idea how many she is sitting on since she laid the 2nd egg I have not been able to coax her out of the nest box to check hopefully a few anyway. From my calculations I am expecting hatching to start from the 9th of November so will wait and see till then. anxious times