Unfertilized Lovebird eggs/Pairing up Lovebirds

Question
ok, I have 4 lovebirds. two pairs of 2. about a month ago, Kiwi laid eggs. I was so excited and I assumed that meant that her cagemate Corona was a male. Well turns out that when I check on the eggs a few days ago, we have more! Now Corona is laying too. so I have 2 females sharing a nest. I assume the eggs will not hatch and I guess I need to know how long to leave the eggs before I take them away. I feel very bad as they are both very protective over them and it will break my heart to take them away. also, should I continue to supply the nest? is it bad for them to be laying eggs that will not hatch? My other lovebird pair are not laying eggs and I am pretty sure that they are males. is there anyway to try and pair them up? They all come out of there cages everyday together but they tend to fight if they get to close. they don't seem like they have any interest in pairing up so I really am stuck. I would love to be able to breed them but I just don't have any luck in pairing them up!   Any suggestions you may have would be great!

Answer
Hi, Tracie,

I recommend you DNA sex your lovebirds so you know what sexes you have and then pair them up accordingly in their own separate breeding cages.  You actually may have 1 female laying 2 separate clutches, so sexing your birds is really important so you know/understand what is going on with your birds.  DNA sexing costs $20 per bird and you can do this yourself at home, send the test to the Lab with the fee (testing kits are free), and you'll have the info back in about a week.  Visit Zoogen or Avian Biotech Labs on the www for more information.  When birds lay infertile eggs, you should leave them right where they have been laid until the bird(s) abandom the eggs in their own time.  Then you can remove and destroy the infertile eggs.  The only other way to pair them up is to put them all together in 1 big cage and let them pick their own mates.  Sometimes this works, sometimes not, but you only have 2 choices at this point.  You really need to know the sex of your birds before proceeding successfully.

Chrys