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| Fuchsia, 12/03/11. Four babies and an egg hidden under her. |
This morning I checked Fuchsia's nest box while she was out. Her last egg, the 5th, had a small hole in it and I could see the beak and cere (nostril) of the baby inside. He was moving.
Four hours later, I checked again. The egg looks the same and the baby wasn't moving. My hubby thinks he's only resting. Hope that's true. I realize hatching is a long, labor intensive undertaking, but no change after four hours?
I read a post once from someone who said she helps her cockatiels out of their egg shell. But, I've also read that you should never do that, and so far I never have.
I lifted the egg while Fuchsia was out of the nest and was so tempted to chip away a tiny piece of shell, but didn't. She's been such a wonderful mother. Wouldn't she help if it's needed?
So far, she has four healthy babies and one has pink eyes. I'm hoping this last baby will too.
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| Fuchsia returned to the nest to immediately cover her last egg and the smallest of her four youngsters. She's very tame and likes getting extra attention, even while she's caring for eggs or baby birds. She's my favorite at the moment. |
Any suggestions on how long to leave the egg alone before intervening? I hope I haven't already waited too long. I'm erring on the side of caution and leaving Fuchsia to decide if her last offspring needs assistance.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
I've only helped a baby out of an egg once, with a great deal of reluctance, but it had been a day since i first saw cracks in the egg w/o the baby hatching out, so I felt if I don't help, the baby is doomed anyways. I basically just opened the shell right around where the crack is anyways, that way, the breakage will be around the air pocket, not where blood vessels are likely to be.
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