Infertile eggs

Question
I have a pair of budgie birds that have mated, and the hen is sitting on her eggs, but they should have hatched by now. Her first egg was laid around Sept. 1st or 2nd and she has five eggs. I don't think that they are fertile because none of them has hatched yet. Should I leave them in the nesting box for her to take care of them or should I remove them. If I do remove them will she lay more now. They are still mating on occasion. Is this harmful to her sitting on these eggs so long.

Answer
Hi, Joanie.  Thanks for posting!

Yes, these eggs should have hatched by now if they were going to hatch.  If the last egg was laid on/about 10 Sep, it should have hatched about 28 Sep.  If the female hasn't abandoned them on her own, you can either wait for her to do so or remove them yourself.  It might be best to wait another few days just to be sure none will hatch (I've made the mistake before of removing too early only to find when I open the egg a viable baby was inside).  Chances are she will lay again.  If you don't want her to lay again, remove the nesting box as soon as you remove the eggs or whenever she abandons this clutch.  It isn't harmful for her to sit on infertile eggs...after all, reproduction of our species is why we are all here!  However, she would likely rather not be sitting on eggs that aren't going to hatch.  The whole purpose of her incubating them is so they will hatch.  She might be relieved to not have this "duty" any longer!  But a couple more days won't hurt just to be sure.

Chrys