I asked this question yesterday but wanted to ask it again cos the hen was different today.
My female budgie was sitting on 4 fertile eggs but I think she came off them during the earthquakes at some stage (I live in Christchurch, New Zealand) because they all died in the shell. Anyway I took the eggs away so that she could lay a second clutch. She is still going in and out of the nest box and is still bonded with the cock bird but I noticed yesterday morning that her cere has changed to a light smooth brown rather than the Really dark crusty colour it was 3 days ago when I took the eggs out? I am feeding her all kinds of greens and boiled egg and soaked oats and she has cuttle bone and a mineral block and good quality seed. Is she still going to breed??
Today her cere is rough again, it is still light in colour but already looks as if it is starting to darken up too and she is deffinatly interested in the nest box ... why did her cere suddenly go lighter when I removed the eggs? is this what happens between clutch's??
Hmm ... How old is she? My female budgie's cere was light pink when we got her, then it turned pink, and then brown for about 9 years, and just last year it has turned back to pink. I'm thinking it has something to do with the breeding. I never noticed my hens cere change from crusty to smooth after i removed her dead eggs (she has laid many clutches, about half of them infertile and the rest she squashed on the last day or 2 by accident=(), but maybe I just didn't pay enough attention. As long as she seems to be healthy I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.
