Love Bird Breeding Problem

Question
"Hello.
 This is my first time that I have ever bred Love Birds. I got the pair from a
friend who tells me that the pair has bred over 4 times and that he has been
very successful with them.
 The female layed 5 eggs in all. After 20 days the first egg hatched, but when
I noticed this, I also noticed that one of the unhatched eggs was missing.
Today, when I came to check on the chick, I saw that the chick was dead and
there was another egg missing. I have no idea what happened to the chick. I only
check on their progress once a day so it is not that I am disturbing them or
anything. What I do notice is that the male and female both rush quickly in and
out of the nestbox. Is it possible that the chick was crushed? I find this hard
to beleive because they seem like very caring and passionate parents. Please
help me. I only have 2 eggs left and I want the parents to raise these babies
successfully.
Thanks


Answer
Hi, Jon.  Thanks for posting!

Yes, it's possible the baby was killed accidently by the parents as they rush in/out of the nesting box or the baby could have died from developmental problems or could have been ill.  There can be many reasons why babies die right after hatching.  In fact, the first 7 days are very critical for hatchlings.  Babies are born without any immunities to anything and they can actually acquire illness while still in the egg.  Sometimes the parents eat their dead babies or the baby could be buried in the nesting material or they may have thrown the baby out of the nesting box.  

As far as unhatched eggs missing, if these eggs weren't going to hatch (and the parents know if their eggs are fertile/going to hatch or not long before we know), the parents may have eaten the egg shells or broken up the shells into very small pieces which could be mixed in with the nesting material or is outside the nesting box.

It's normal for parent birds to rush in/out of their nesting box when someone comes into the room, near the cage, when they hear something, when they suspect something going on around their cage, etc., etc.  The rush in/out so they can investigate what is bothering them before whatever this is can get to their eggs/babies.  They are just being protective of their offspring.  Your adult birds might be very caring and passionate parents...they didn't do this on purpose if this is what happened!  Birds, like other wildlife, have high mortality rates...this is why they lay so many eggs.

What you are experiencing is Mother Nature at work.  There isn't anything you can do about the last 2 eggs, except pull them and manually incubate them yourself (which opens up a whole new can of worms).  Eliminate any stressors or disturbances in/around your lovies until the last 2 eggs have hatched and babies are growing well.

Chrys