Why do eggs dry out?

[Budgiebreeder11]

Some of my eggs have been dyed out. The baby will get stuck to one side of the egg and dry out. Is the mother rolling the eggs correctly? what can I do?

[Budgiebreeder11]

Does anyone have an answer?

[Zeena]

i don't really understand what you mean by dried out? can you elaborate a little more? :p
sorry maybe i'm just being thick!

[Budgiebreeder11]

The eggs are tilted and the baby sticks to one side. When I have opened the eggs up they are stuck to one side and are dryed up. Why do they die in the egg?

[Zeena]

were these fertile eggs? it sounds like the chicks were either unable to develop or are underdeveloped which caused them to die.
There are numerous reasons that cause this. One of them is lack of nutrtion. What are the parents eating?

[Budgiebreeder11]

These where fertile eggs. The parents are eating a pellet diet. http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/about/index.html

[Budgiebreeder11]

Does this usually happen?

[pal0m1n0]

I had the odd egg like that. From what I have read, an insufficient amount of humidity towards the end can cause the shell to harden and the chick cannot break out, or something like that. But some humidity is required.

[Guthwulf]

I would question the air conditions in your home (i assume you are breeding inside).

Air conditioning tends to dry out the air, great for hayfever or asthma sufferers, bad for budgie eggs! Budgie eggs are porous and can drown in high humidity by taking on more water, and they can dry out in low humidity.

Temperature is also a factor, low temps chill and kill eggs but this is usually countered by the hen sitting on them. Heat can cause the hen to stay off the eggs, and lead to drying out from the constant evaporative heat as well as the dry air.

It could either be a heat problem or a humidity problem. Thoughts? Comments?

[Kate C]

Usually it's a humidity problem. We have had the problem here in Australia because of the drought. Not enough moisture in the air and the membrane inside the egg between the baby and the shell dries out and the baby cannot rotate in the egg to chip it's way out. It takes them so long that if they do manage to open the egg they die from sheer exhaustion. Mostly they die in the egg. Last season were I am I had less problem with the humidity as we had rain. But many of the birds did not breed as the temperatures kept low and the season started very late. The Corella's I usually hand raise only had one clutch this year when they normally have 2. My Galah's usually have babies early October and this last year they did not breed at all. The year before I lost 7 Alexandrine eggs because of the extremely dry weather and the heat.

Bridget you should never try to help a baby out of the egg. The baby may not be ready to hatch and that will kill them. Another problem is the membrane still contains blood vessels that are attached to the chick and you will rupture them and the baby will bleed to death. It takes an expert to assist a baby to hatch from an egg if they cannot do it themselves. You also have to keep wetting the chick around the membrane area with warm water using a syringe and do it extremely slowly over a number of hours so that you do not rupture a blood vessel. If the baby has died in the egg because of low humidity you will not be able to save them anyway.

[Budgiebreeder11]

Thanks for all the info guys. I think I might have a low humidity level because I have a wood stove and In New Hampshire (USA) the winter gets very dry. Would it help if I put a humidifier in my room?

[pal0m1n0]

Probably. You could also just use a spray bottle set to a fine mist and spray it around the room. If it is really dry the mist evaporates/dries before it can even really wet the floor. I do that from time to time. It may not be as consistent but it also means I don't have a humidifier that I have to fill, clean and lose floor space to. :) I am a little lazy about some things. You can even hang things to dry in the room. You may want to get a hygrometer to keep track of the humidity level.

[Budgiebreeder11]

I put a humidifier in my room. I hope this helps. Thanks for your help.

[Aquaseafoam]

Maybe you could set up an aquarium :D
Just kidding, but I do have 5 aquariums in the room with my breeding budgies, it is noticeably more humid in their room than the rest of the house. Hope my eggs do okay :)

[enicol6]

I have also boiled water on the stove as it is in close proximity to the cages(dining room). I have been know to be seen wafting steam it there. I look a bit crazy but it does the trick :) Also, Lila bathes often when sitting on her eggs. She just does it in the water bowl. Perhaps if you leave a bath in the cage your female may try this out too :)

[lorri]

In the mean time you can put a bucket of water that normally helps the humidity. I had just asked my hubby this question and he came up with bucket thing.

[Budgiebreeder11]

I have a ywo fish tanks 30gal and a 10 gal plus a humidifier in the room. I hope things go smoother next time:) I'm going to buy a bottle I can mist them with as well.