Fed up today.................

[MummyL]

Lost another hen today-my grey hen pippin-who raised 3 clutches this year-she decided to breed in the aviary and this lot of eggs managed to kill her-thats both my adult hens dead-I only have 3 left old enough to breed next year-the yellow faced hen who has chicks at the moment and an albino and green spangle-who have shown no interest in breeding so far-maybe I'm gonna have to split my breeding pairs into seperate flights after 2 clutches or I could end up with no adults at all.Anybody got any ideas what else I can do.
Lisa x :(

[Scott]

Damn thats bad luck Lisa :( , is it common to lose hens from breeding?

I guess it does take a lot out of them, just wonder what the real cause would be or if there is anything you can do to keep the hens health up and better their chances.

[MummyL]

I read somewhere that breeding hens have a shorter life span than hens who dont-I didn't think it meant breed them a year and they'll die after that-both really good mums as well-glad us humans are not like that-I'd have been dead 5 years now..............
Lisa x

[D.C.KEAN]

Sorry about your loss Lisa, sometimes more than two clutches era too much for the hens. A lot of energy is lost due to the parents constant attentions for their young [ both cocks and hens ]. In my oppinion Budgies are one of the most attentive parents in the bird world, and they pay the price for this through their own health.

[darren]

Lost another hen today-my grey hen pippin-who raised 3 clutches this year-she decided to breed in the aviary and this lot of eggs managed to kill her-thats both my adult hens dead-I only have 3 left old enough to breed next year-the yellow faced hen who has chicks at the moment and an albino and green spangle-who have shown no interest in breeding so far-maybe I'm gonna have to split my breeding pairs into seperate flights after 2 clutches or I could end up with no adults at all.Anybody got any ideas what else I can do.
Lisa x :(

just check the hens if she looks sick take her out and put her in a cage in the house take the eggs out and put then in a tuperware container and get a desk lamp light pointing at them put a thermometer next to them so you can see the temprature 99f or 37c put the hen next to the radiator but not too close and moniter the temp of her cage about 80f should do hope i could help darren

[TammieB.]

Lisa, Sorry about Pippin. Sounds like she gave you lots of babies to love though. :)

[Budgieman]

Laying eggs takes a lot of nutrients out of a hen. You need to supplement their diet with lots of calcium and protein. Also, is 3-4 clutches in a year a lot?? Is it possible that you may wearing out your birds with too much breeding??

[Ryan]

2 Clutches a year should be the max.

[Anita]

Sorry about your poor hen bird :(

[fransz]

So very sorry to read about you losing your hens. Hope everything is ok from now on.

[Gar]

she might have been egg bound

[MummyL]

She wasn't egg bound as one minute she was fine the next dead-no laying on the floor or any signs that she was ill.As for limiting the clutches-I tried she had 2 lots-but started laying the 3rd lot before her chicks were out of the box.And the last lot she had in the aviary-not in a nest box-I think she must have liked babies too much.I have her babies to look after now so that's some consolation.
Lisa x