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18 days and still no babies!

15 years ago

We are on our second brood and mama is still sitting on her 5 blues eggs. Her first brood was exactly 14 days when the last egg was laid. We are now 18 days since her last egg was laid 05/02. The weather was also cooler and now we are in the mid 90's and still no life yet.

Has anybody experienced this before?

Comments (7)

crcst
15 years ago
I would give it a bit more time.I have had them not start to incubate immediately.I have only had one nest where they never hatched.You have nothing to lose by waiting a couple more days.Let us know.....Jane
janie_may
15 years ago
I would definitely give them 21 full days before deciding they were infertile. I did see that happen one time, through in an in-box nest cam that belongs to my friend. Three eggs laid and the female started incubating, or at least we assumed she was since she was staying in the box. We had a 3 day cold snap soon after the eggs were laid. On the 21st day I WATCHED one egg hatch! I could not believe it. The female removed one of the remaining two and my friend removed the other about 3 days later (it was infertile). That one little baby blue had a big nest all to herself and she fledged safely, right on time.

18 days is unusual but Jane mentioned the incubation thing, when it actually starts, and that can make the difference. Good luck and keep us posted.
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newblue_2007
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for your thoughts on this subject. Friday will be 21 days since the last egg was laid. Im hoping that I see a fuzzy head really soon.
My heart sinks when I think about removing the eggs and nest. Having to do this with my pair watching is very hard for me to take right now.
My female is still sitting on her eggs.
Im still wondering if more people in this forum have gone through longer than usual days for hatching. Please let me know so my mind can rest....Thanks Vanessa
newblue_2007
Original Author
15 years ago
21 days now. Gosh what to do......mama is still sitting on the eggs. The weather is really humid and hot right now. I just thought with this hot weather recently something would of happened.
Cabin_Gal
15 years ago
Hi there. Have a similar situation going on, though not blues. have a pair of nuthatches that have been trying to hatch theirs since April. I just keep praying that they'll be successful. the same thing happened last year, and I'm afraid it's the same pair this year. finally in July they abandoned the nest and there were 19 eggs in there. I figured they tried several clutches so that's why so many eggs. I don't know their habits well enough to open up the box, like you can with blues. The male keeps guard, he brings food to the female and she occassionally comes out but the male is right there watching the box. Anyhow, I really hope yours hatch. please keep us posted, i know exactly how you feel!
newblue_2007
Original Author
15 years ago
24 days had passed and we knew something was not right.
This is our first loss for a clutch. All 5 eggs did not develop. We still have the first brood hanging around in our yard. It is nice knowing that we got 3 healthy blues from #1 brood.
janie_may
15 years ago
Thanks for the follow-up although I'm sorry it was not good news. It happens, we all know that, but it's always hard to accept. I would imagine that the bluebirds get over it faster than we do. Good luck on your next clutch!

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