Next Breeding Period

Question
My keets had their first clutch.  Only one was fertilized.  I was away one night, and the baby was dead...no marks that i could see.  It was sometime between day 4 & 5.  Is this unusual?  Such a heartbreaker!

Also, how soon will the pair start a new clutch?

Thanks for your great help!

Answer
Hello William! Im sorry to hear about the baby ;_; But it is actully normal for the female to kill her new chicks. New mothers do this because they dont know how to take care of their babies so they dont feed them and they die. All breeding pairs are different, some will raise their first ever clutch and others wont raise any chicks until the 3rd or 4th clutch. Take all the duds out of the nest as well as the dead chick if you havnt already done so. They pair will lay a new clutch in a couple days or a week. Once breeding pairs get started they dont want to stop! so she will lay a new clutch soon and hopfully will raise at least a couple chicks. If she kills them again, dont be discouraged. Let them breed again. If they keep killing the babies then block off the box because it will wear the female out from laying to much. I wish you and your birds luck and i hope she raises some wonderful babies for you in her next clutch!