01/17/2024
We have two more eggs! ☺️ And we decided to switch to an incubator this time around. After Baby B from the last 2023 clutch failed to hatch, it was a heartbreak that made me analyze the patterns (nest camera recordings, "egg-topsies" etc.) and see what could be the reasons to why absolutely healthy baby birds just either stop in their development at some point or as in Baby B's case - fail to break their eggshell open.
The results came down to two main issues:
1. Parent birds' inability to incubate all eggs with their small body and/or them not turning the eggs enough or turning them right before the hatch when they shouldn't be moved anymore
2. Humidity of the environment too low
When it comes to point 1 - in most cases Tiki and Kiki simply couldn't completely cover all of their 5 eggs and there was always 1 or 2 eggs that were left out because there was no more room under the parent bird's belly. Cockatiel eggs need an average of 29°C to successfully hatch and it can't happen if the egg isn't being warmed.
And as for the point 2 - cockatiel eggs need a humidity between 60-70% for the highest success rate and that percentage is very hard to maintain in the nest box when you live in Alberta, Canada where the humidity in our home in the middle of the winter sits at 20%. Last year when we set up a humidifier in the room, we ended up with "attic rain" and a big, yellow spot on our ceiling 🙄
When the humidity is too low, the eggs evaporate too much, making it very likely for the chick to stick to their eggshell which is probably the most common reason for failed hatches.
So, all of this combined, we decided to switch to an incubator to give all of our babies an equal chance at life with a stable 29°C temperature, 65% humidity and regular turning every couple of hours until we stop the turning about 3 days prior to hatching so that the baby has time to get into a strong and safe hatching position ☺️
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