According to aviary owner, Amanda Stoner from Canada, "the first egg is laid within 10 days after mating. The lovebirds eggs are laid in the nest every other day. The hen usually starts to brood (sit on the eggs) after the second egg is laid. Most of the time, the eggs are laid at night. Brooding takes 22 to 25 days."Sounds like pretty exciting stuff. Now, we have to think about handfeeding and brooding. The people from Parrot Parrot have some very interesting text, particularly, about avoiding splayed legs in chicks. Read below:
You know it when you see it: a poor chick's legs are spread straight out from the body and the chick is unable to get a grip and sit up with its legs properly underneath its body. Splay legs can be very traumatic for the novice breeder. The best way to deal with this is to prevent it. Even the best nest-builders should be given a basic substrate for the nest box. I recommend Care Fresh. It is nontoxic and easy to get. Put about 2-3 inches into the nest box. Then give the hen nest-building materials. She will build her nest on top of the substrate. This prevents the chicks from ending up on the bottom of a nestbox on a slippery wooden floor where they can't get a proper grip. It also cushions them if they have an overzealous mother who sits very tightly on them. If you've already got chicks in the nest and realize they are hitting the wooden floor, remove chicks, remove the nest built by the mother (try to keep it basically intact), add 2-3 inches of Care Fresh, replace mother's nest on top of the substrate, replace chicks. Problem solved. If you've got some babies with splay legs, the best way to treat it is to double band the legs, use dental floss to tie the legs together in the proper position under the body, place the baby in a cushioned cup to help hold it in the proper position. Obviously this entails pulling the baby from the nest and handfeeding it separately from other chicks, as the string between the legs can strangle other chicks in the nest. If you are having difficulty, take the baby to the vet. You do not want to let this go, as these birds are often severely crippled and will need special caging and extra help all their lives. (Source: Parrot Parrot)I've been researching since day 1 so that we could prepare ourselves to handfeed the chicks when they hatch. I've never done it before, but my husband has had some experience in it. He has handfed 3 chicks, and they turned out pretty well, so I'm pretty optimistic.
What's curious, though, is that despite having laid an egg, she's still gathering nesting materials. Perhaps this is normal behavior, but then our birds are pretty weird. For instance, they sleep like people. I was alarmed by this at first, and I thought that something was wrong with them. As it turns out, it's just something that they do: they lie prone on top of the nestbox with their eyes shut. Some days, I panic and think they're dead, but they just chirp and hop around looking pissed that I woke them up.
Ah well...
