Bird eggs and egg fertility

Birds can begin laying and incubating eggs from the age of six months and continue laying eggs for up to ten years.
The ability to lay eggs does not depend on a male bird being present within the birds aviary or heated bird box. The male bird is only required to fertilize the egg for some species of birds.

Infertile bird eggs

Infertile bird eggs can be a nuisance to the bird owner.The greatest risk of excessive egg laying by a bird can be to its health and general appearance.

Birds in the wild and birds that are housed in a large aviary and feed a diet similar to what is eaten by wild birds can lay and incubate up to twenty eggs per year.

Seed fed birds that are kept in a small aviary or cage may develop health problems and a poor feather display.Birds kept in a small cage will not lay as many eggs as birds that have freedom of flight.

Bird heater

Bird perch heaters that have a modern slim line body.
The heater for a birds house will operate in areas that are wet or difficult to heat and in most confined spaces that contain birds nest with eggs.
The heater for birds, bird boxes and bird house (birdhouse) will withstand harsh treatment and attacks from destructive birds.

The heater for birds can mounted within the birds enclosure or at the entrance of a bird box.
They are ideal as a heated perch in an aviary.
Areas of high humidity or wet areas will not affect the bird box heaters performance or decrease safety standards.

Perch heater for birds

  Operating cost of the perch heater is very low, costing no more than a few cents per day. The heaters are powered by a transformer or battery (not included) and will operate reliably for long periods of time.

The low operating cost of the heater allows for multiple heaters for an aviary to be purchased. The birds perch heater may be positioned outside of a the birds house, birdbox or aviary to produce warmth for birds perching on the heater rails..
All the bird perch heaters have ceramic heating coils encased within an metal jacket that will deliver an even and reliable heat source for bird box heating.
The design of the heater prevents burning of the birds feet.

  The heat setting for the bird heater is fixed to a comfortable temperature for birds.

The perch heater for birds

has been designed to allow heating of a restricted amount of the birds surrounding perch area in a safe manner.

The heater for birds can be fitted to an bird box or to the front of a birds house.
Multiple heaters can be used to create a variable heating climate for your bird. The perch heater for birds and aviaries will safely maintain a safe temperature and at a very low operating cost.

Egg shapes Egg shapes may become distorted due to a lack of calcium. Distortion in bird eggs can occur in either fertile or infertile eggs.
For the bird to produce a properly shaped egg it must produce a large amount of calcium carbonate for the egg shell.
Depletion of the calcium carbonate that a bird stores in its legs can leave the bird weak and vulnerable to disease and illness.
The birds feather and down covering will suffer and leave the bird with a ruffled appearance.

For warming birds or when a bird is brooding a heater will ensure a comfortable aviary.
Heating for the birds aviary and bird box can be obtained by using a small heater from this web site. Their range of portable and safe heaters is comprehensive.

If the bird is housed in a large aviary and the pet owner wants to discourage egg laying clipping the birds wing to prevent the bird from finding suitable nesting area will prevent egg laying.
A diet that contain very little fat will also discourage egg laying. If the bird has produced a clutch of eggs that are infertile, do not remove the bird eggs from the nest.
Allow the bird to attempt to incubate the infertile egg. This method will prevent the laying of fresh eggs.

Altering the birds habitat can be a disturbance for the bird and may prevent egg laying and incubation.
If heat is being supplied to the nesting area relocate the heating source. The unfamiliar habitat will create a level of stress for your bird and discourage egg laying.

Items that stimulate the bird should be removed from the birds enclosure. This will reduce the desire to start egg laying. Stroking or petting the bird should be resisted.
Hormones can be used to help in restricting egg laying by the bird.

Remove any nesting boxes or nests that the bird may have built for egg laying.
If there are any secluded spots within the aviary remove them to prevent the bird from building a nest.

To stimulate egg laying reverse the previous suggestions for preventing egg laying by the bird.
The first egg produced by the bird should be removed from the nest. Removing the first egg will stimulate the bird into laying numerous eggs.
Keep disturbance to the bird or nest to the minimum.

Bird eggs

Bird eggs that require checking for fertility can be candled for embryo development.
If there is a sufficient quantity of eggs available, a single egg can be opened for an inspection of the yokes germinal spots.

When selecting bird eggs for artificial incubation select bird eggs that are clean and have a good color and shape.
The weight of the bird egg can also be used as an indication to the eggs suitability for incubation. A bird egg shell that is not perfect should be discarded if the bird species is not rare or valuable.

Bird egg colors

The shapes and coloring of birds eggs can differ between species. Inspection of the style of nest built by the bird and the terrain are good indicators to the type of bird egg.
The color or shape of the egg can be an guide to the species of bird.

Feathers around the nest may help in the identification of the species of bird eggs.
The position that the bird eggs have been deposited are also a good indicator to the birds species.

Egg shapes

Egg shapes can vary from a round ball to egg shapes with an oval appearances.
Eggs that are coloured white tend to belong to bird species that lay eggs in dark or enclosed positions.

Coloring the egg for camouflage protection is not required as the eggs are hidden from the view of predators.

Bird egg colours

Birds that make a nest in exposed areas lay eggs that are coloured for camouflage.
The colouring of the eggs is not uniform for birds of the same species as environmental factors have a bearing on the egg colours.

Birds in desert regions tend to lay eggs colored a sandy shade while the same species of bird that inhabit areas close to mountainous regions may display grainy shades.

A variety of bird egg colors is abundant in the bird population.
Small birds produce the same variety and shape of eggs that larger birds produce.

The ( colouring ) coloring of birds eggs

Colors in bird eggs are produced by the breaking down of the birds blood pigments. Blood pigments will produce eggs with a light brown up to black shades of coloring in eggs.
Bile pigments will produce colours with shades of blue and green in the bird eggs.

The thickness of the bird egg shell depends on the species and habitat. The weight of an egg shell can be up to 30 percent of the total egg weight.
Patterns in the colour of bird eggs is controlled by the passage of the egg through the birds body.
Birds have the ability to slow the passage of the egg to produce full egg colours.
Other bird species can rotate the egg to produce swirls and spots of colours.

Bird egg shells

Bird egg shells are produced by extracting calcium carbonate from the birds feed. The calcium carbonate can be stored in the birds legs until required for the production of bird egg shells.

Although a birds egg shell appears to be solid it actually has thousands of tiny pores or ventilation holes throughout the shell. The pores are required to expel gases from the egg and return air to allow the embryo to breath.
The yolk of a birds egg can weigh up to 50 percent of the total bird egg weight.

Incubating small bird eggs

Incubating bird eggs may need to be rotated periodically to provide even heat distribution throughout the egg.

The embryo will normally orientate itself to the correct position during incubation if left unrestricted.
The embryo of the bird egg sits to the top of the egg during incubation and it can be in danger of being damaged when egg rotation occurs.
The birds egg yoke is restrained from damaging the embryo by two tendrils or springs called challaza which hold the yoke in the correct position.

Veterinarians and bird breeders now believe that small and large birds in the wild or captivity rotate the eggs to allow for the developing chick to reach the nutrients that are stored within the egg.
Rotating the egg will also relocate the embryo out of any waste matter that have accumulated from the consumed nutrients.

Incubating bird eggs

Transporting fertile bird eggs and transporting incubating bird eggs requires two different heat settings.
Fertile incubating eggs that need transportation should have an temperature that is the same or close to the storage temperature of the fertile egg.

Fertile bird eggs that have begun to incubate and require transportation should have the temperature of the transporting incubator at the same temperature as the incubator used at the start the egg incubation.
If the bird eggs were retrieved from the birds nest then the temperature should be identical to the incubating birds nest temperature.

Bird eggs and colors. Eggs and fertility. Bird incubators Incubating eggs