Eggs do not hatch

Hi David,

I have come across your web-site and decided to breed the shama.

I have been breeding Shama since last year but without success. Last year, the female had sat on the nest twice with two eggs and three eggs. On both occasions, it did not hatch. This year, I replaced the male shama and paired with the same female shama. Again, the female sat on the two eggs for three weeks and it did not hatch. Would you be able to advise the reason of not been able to hatch? What should I do to increase the chances of breeding successfully. I have provided the pair with live foods, eg. Cricket, frogs, pineapple beetles and meal worms.

I look forward to your reply. Thank you in advance.

Desmond __

Hi Desmond,

When eggs do not hatch, break the eggs to check the contents. If there is a dead embryo, the reason is likely that there were insufficient vitamins for the embryo to complete its growth. If you do not see an embryo but the egg smells, it means that the embryo died at a very young age. An infertile egg will not smell.

An egg could be infertile for a number of reasons. Perhaps the pair were not fully ready. Transfer one of the birds into a cage and place it next to its mate. The pair should be very excited. If they are not, it suggests that they are not fully ready for breeding. Remove the nestbox and feed them until they come into breeding condition. The food may not have been good enough. The variety of food that you feed seems OK. Try adding a good vitamin supplement to the diet. Of special importance for breeding are vitamins A, E and B.

The male shama, like most male birds, does not have a penis. During mating, the vents of the male and female meet each other and the male squirts his semen into the female. If there are too many feathers around the vents, they cannot lock and the semen does not enter the female. Try trimming the feathers around the vent of both the male and female birds.

David