Is it safe to touch my pet bird's eggs, and when should I avoid it?

You can try to move the eggs if the nest is beyond repair, however do note that the eggs are EXTREMELY fragile, and are likely to break or crack even with gentle handling. If the nest is still viable enough that she is able to properly lay on the eggs without her or the eggs/hatchling being harmed, then not disturbing it, or disturbing it as little as possible is best.

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.

If your birds are currently laying on a nest of eggs it would be best to try and find someone to care for them at home as the movement and jostling of being on a flight could be enough to crack or break the eggs, killing the babies inside. Flights are also very stressful for birds. If you must take them on the flight, checking with your airline to see what the regulations for transporting birds are is best. Keeping them in a small flight cage that can be covered and stocked with food and water is best to help reduce stress and ensure your birds have access to food and water at all times.

Thanks for reaching out about Chip. At this early stage it is not easy to determine fertility of eggs. One can candle them (holding a flashlight behind the egg) to visualize the embryo. If there are visible blood vessels or a black dot (developing embryo), then they are fertile. Incubator period for many smaller birds is generally 21-28 days, depending on the species. If you allow them to sit on the eggs, they will usually abandon the nest once they determine the eggs are not fertile. Good luck.

As long as the parents are caring for the babies, I would leave them to do their own thing. I wouldn't move or touch the nest while the babies are still young. Once they're a bit older and moving about, you can then clean the nest, or clean it in between clutches. Having baby bird food and a syringe on hand is always a good idea in case you need to step in, notice they aren't thriving or growing well, or the parents aren't caring for them.

If you don't have a male parakeet along with your female, then the eggs are not viable anyway and should be removed. If you're attempting to raise a clutch, I would make sure the egg stays in the nest in the hopes she moves it back over and sits back on it.