Unhatched eggs -- remove them?

[dancelady]

My lovebirds have been sitting on eggs, and three have hatched and are looking great at appx. 1-2 weeks old. But the other two have not hatched. It has been a long enough time that I'm sure they won't hatch. But, do I remove them from the nest, or leave them there for another week or so. Some say to leave them if they are not broken in order to add more warmth and security to the nest, others say to remove them in case they get bacteria. What should I do?

Dancelady

[Lori~D]

Oh yes, 1-2 weeks old babies? Get them out before they break them and it stinks and gets messy! I pull my babies for handfeeding at 10 days. At 6 days I pull them for banding and thats when I remove the old eggs DEPENDING on how they were laid. For instance, My one p'let had laid for eggs every other day and they were all fertile so thats 8 days, several days later she decided to lay 3 more a day apart each (he// there could be more) and one of them is fertile so it means those babies wont even be hatching by the time to pull the first babies (mom says thank god,lol).

[ROYJOY]

another school of thought, is to leave them for a little while, yes for warmth, and also to lean on. young babies are so top heavy with that big head. as they feather out, they wont need the warmth, or the leaning. you can wash the poop of and repace them, but they arent going to create any more bacteria, than all that poopy nesting material.

[dancelady]

Ha, Ha that's funny -- "poopy nesting material." Yes, you're right about that -- and this is the second clutch. Except that I really don't see much poop in there -- I think the Mom actually cleans it up as it happens. She also cleans up the eggshells too. The eggs have been there 32 days at the minimum and 36 days for the 4th egg. I did take a look in the sun today, and I don't see anything in there (no indication of a fetus). So I pulled them and saved them to use for the next time she tries to lay eggs. I don't want her to lay anymore for quite a while. Julie is out of the nest a lot lately eating and getting some exercise, so I am sure she isn't going to hatch them! The babies look great and have some tiny beginnings of feathers. They are all Lutinos again -- meaning that the parents are full lutinos. Huntress and Royjoy thank you for your help -- I was worried about removing them too early if they were going to hatch.

Dancelady