[crbrumbelow]

I have have had to throw 4 eggs out due to being laid on the floor. A couple were cracked and the pairs had stopped sitting. I have another pair that laid an egg on the floor again. I have plenty of nest boxes but these three pair just seem to want to be on the floor. I found some plastic no tip dog food bowls and a good price. Can I scoop the nest of the pair that just laid the one egg so far and put it in one of the bowls as an "emergency" nesting bowl and place the bowl in the exact spot the egg was laid or should I just let them take their chances?

Kind of makes me sick because two of the eggs I had to throw out were from a pair that I really want some youngsters from.

Thanks in advance.
Russ

 

[Brummie]

I would definatly give it a try...what have you got to loose?

 

[moonshadow13]

I had that problem this year as well, plenty of extra nest boxes but this pair just prefer the floor no matter what I did. I have heard that if the parents were born on the floor they are more likely to nest on the floor.
Do you have any milk crates laying around? What we did was cut a door on one side then just set it over the nest. Kept everything a little safer and they were better able to defend the spot.

 

[whitesnmore]

Moonshadow, What a great idea. I wish I had thought of this earlier as it would have saved a couple of young I really wanted. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RodSD]

I have two floor nesting pairs right now. I tried putting the eggs on the bowl, but they usually abandon it! So I gave up and decided to take the eggs out and put a nest bowl where they usually lay their eggs. Ten days later they lay eggs on that bowl so I now have 3 weeks old babies.

You can try transferring the eggs on the bowl. I tried that 3 times already and it didn't work so your experience might be different. It is worth a try.

 

[Big T]

After they lose the eggs, I lock them in a nest box with a nest bowl inside. I feed and water them daily for about a week. Then I open the door but still feed them for another week. That pair took to the box, but if was only a one shot deal for me.

Good Luck,
Tony

 

[crbrumbelow]

The pair that I really want youngsters out of seems to have taken to one of the milk crates already. None of them know what to think about the bowls on the floor. Maybe the bowls will run them all up to the crates.

 

[RodSD]

Put some bowl on the crate. My birds get so excited when I put one. I use different kinds. One of them is big dog bowl. The other is tortilla warmer bowl(LOL!).