How often do birds lay eggs and when do they start incubating?

Typical clutch size for lovebirds is 4 to 6 eggs. The hen will lay one egg every 48 hours until the full clutch is laid. The incubation period is 21 to 24 days. If you don't have a male lovebird, the eggs will be infertile. Remove them after 3-4 weeks or when the hen abandons the nest. Feed a fortified diet with extra calcium which can be depleted from egg laying.

Baby birds are not usually born with feathers so that would be unlikely that you would see feathers within the egg, however viable eggs tend to start off clearish and then become more opaque as they age. You can also hold them up to a candle or light source (carefully as they are fragile) to see if there is anything inside. If they are not sitting on the eggs at all, the eggs may not be viable, the parents may be too young or inexperienced. You can attempt to incubate the eggs yourself if they are viable, however if they are not, simply removing them and ensuring your birds have adequate diets and a calcium supplement can help encourage them to lay more eggs.

Leave them in the nest or nest box for a couple weeks, then remove one egg each week until they are gone. Removing them too soon or all at once may trigger more egg laying. You can also lower room temperature by a few degrees and limit her exposure to light. Shorten her days by using a cage cover in the early evening.

Thanks for reaching out about Peaches. Most parrots lay eggs every 2 days to a certain clutch size (which can vary). So if laying an egg every other day for 4 eggs, that can be normal. If you removed the eggs after each one is posited, that can stimulate more egg laying. Laying this many eggs can be a problems if nutrition is poor as eggs require large amounts of calcium and other nutrients to form, and need to be replaced in the diet. Good luck.

In general, if the incubation does not begin within a week, the chances of the eggs hatching decreases significantly. It make be that the finches' parental instincts have not matured yet or possibly the eggs were not fertilized. You can dispose of the eggs and see if the finches have better luck on the next clutch. Best of luck!

You can gently pick up the eggs if you need to move them or check them for fertility (small bird eggs will start out clearish and turn more opaque as they mature if fertile), however if you are planning on raising babies it is best to leave the eggs alone so that their parents can sit on them and incubate them without extra stress or accidental breakage from handling.

That can be normal, yes. You can check the eggs when they are not sitting on them to see if they are viable - eggs that are fertile usually start off very translucent and then become more opaque (darker/more solid color) as the embryo develops inside. (12 days should be enough to see this change.) If the eggs don't seem viable, or the parents stop sitting on them, they can be removed. If they aren't hatched after 3-4 weeks, they are likely not viable and should be discarded. Make sure you offer an extra source of calcium for your female in the form of eggfood or a cuttlebone. This can help replenish the calcium that was used in making eggs and prevent egg-binding (an egg getting stuck) if she decides to lay more.