My transgender bird laid an egg

[tedmik]

I've had Vinnie since 7 months, was told he was a male, so imagine my shock when he laid an egg at about 2 years old, then 2 more over the next year or so. It was suggested at the time that I put a ping pong ball for him to nest until he lost interest, back off the cuddling somewhat and make sure he didn't become calcium deficient. He didn't lay another egg until just a month ago. He's now 25! Now I know he's a girl, but I didn't change his name, I've treated him like a boy, and he acts like a boy. So shall we call him transgender? I'm doing what I did when he was a kid. Is there anything else I should be doing to hinder and curtail an egg laying problem? And out of curiosity, do female cockatoos ever go through menopause?

[Pajarita]

Hi, Ted and Vinnie! Your 'surprise is actually very common for toos owners because there was this -erroneous- belief that black eyes meant male and brown eyes meant female and breeders claimed to know the gender of the bird based on that but I had two females that had black eyes so... But I have news for you, your 'treating' him like a boy did not make him 'act' like a boy if he is laying eggs

Cockatoos are considered hormonal birds because they have two breeding seasons every year and they are now 'on season' (and I know because my male built a nest in a corner and already bit me twice for going to close to it -his 'mate' is a very unwilling African Grey female) but, normally, birds without a mate and a nest do not lay eggs - sometimes, even birds with mates and a nest still do not lay because females decide this based on the conditions. If the conditions are not good, they don't lay at all and, if they do, the eggs are not fertile. I'll give you an example. I have a male/female pair of yellow nape amazons, they love each other and, lately, they've been having sex once and twice a day, every day and they also have a nest but, because Zeus does not feed Precie in the beak (he wants the 'fun' without the 'work' ), she only produces infertile eggs - when and if she does. So, for your bird to have started so early to lay (they usually start after they turn 4 or 5 years old) on its own, without a mate or a nest, it needs to be overly-hormonal. Now, males get very aggressive when overly hormonal while females get very loving BUT an overly hormonal bird is a birds with a screwed up endocrine system and that, in turn, means a depressed immune system so I would strongly urge you to re-evaluate your husbandry so as to keep your bird healthy and happy (an overly hormonal bird is not a healthy bird). Aside from that, eventually, she will be in constant pain from overgrown gonads. So, these are the questions you need to ask yourself:
- is she kept at a solar schedule (avian photoperiodism) with full exposure to dawn and dusk?
- is she being free-fed protein food (pellets, seeds, nuts, etc)?
- is she being fed food made with soy or animal protein (meat, eggs, etc)?
- is she getting enough raw produce?
- is she getting touched anywhere but on her head and neck?
- is she being given access to 'nests'?

[tedmik]

Thanks for the info--I really appreciate it. When I got Vinnie from a Petsmart in Chicago (in 1996), I was told that he was a male, hatched in the store. As you pointed out in another post, Petsmart did not breed birds. I should have known, since Vinnie was the only Cockatoo in the store--I should have asked to meet the parents. I was also either intentionally lied to, or they made the assumption that he was a male. It was 1996, and I doubt he was DNA'd. His first egg a couple of years later settled that question, although I wondered at the time if birds could be hermaphrodites as are some animals in the Kingdom. And I know about the seasons. It was alarming when I first saw the putting and puffing, wondering if Vinnie was having a seizure. I also learned, though hardly a 100% guarantee, that a foot ring on the left leg means female. Speaking of that, his foot ring indicates a breeder PSM. I have searched breeders in California, Florida and Chicago area for a likely moniker--so far a dead end. After 25 years whoever it was is probably no longer in business. None of this is really important. Vinnie, male or female, is my best friend and I want to do the best for him. My concern remains, with laying an egg again after 25 years, is there anything more I should be doing? I know egg-laying can be problematic.
He has (I think) an excellent diet. His pellets are Kaytee Exact (large parrot chunks). He was brought up on that and refuses anything else. I've tried Zupreem (and others) and Harrison's, which is probably the best. That he threw out of his dish until I relented. (I don't know whether it was because of the taste or because they weren't various sized and colorful chunks.) He also gets a tropical blend of nuts and seeds and dried fruit (he won't eat fresh fruit). Above all he gets a daily mixture of vegetables and grains and peppers, which I make in quantity and freeze in small containers, and he's very happy with it. He has his millet sprays, treats like nutriberries, and his favorite--English walnuts. And almost every day either chicken, duck or turkey bones. So my question is, should I add a vitamin and mineral supplement?
He has a grow-lite at his cage and he gets fresh air and sunshine as much as possible as weather permits. He's fully flighted, has the run of the house, but admittedly he's lazy--he prefers to climb, jump or walk rather than fly. I'm keenly aware of Pellegrino Falcons, Eagles and other predators but he dearly loves being outside, romping in the grass and being a bird. I wish I could afford to build him a nice big aviary.

[Pajarita]

Ahhhh, yes, I hear you on the aviary! It is also one of my dreams...

I've never heard of males getting the legband in one leg and the females in the other and I doubt that this is right because the rings need to be put when they are only a few days old (before the toe bones lose their flexibility because they need to be pulled back all the way against the foot) and there is no way that a breeder would know the gender of a chick that has no feathers and cannot be DNA'd (it takes days to get the result and, by then, they couldn't put the bands on).

Please, please, please, PLEASE, do NOT feed him animal products! No meat, no eggs, no cheese, no nothing with animal protein... it is terribly unhealthy for them because they simply do not have the mechanisms to properly digest and utilize animal protein as they evolved to be herbivores. People think that because they eat grubs in the wild, it's OK to feed them beef, chicken, eggs, etc but it is not. Insect protein has no bad cholesterol and almost no fat while what we call 'meat', eggs, cheese, etc is LOADED with the bad stuff and, as their bodies cannot get rid of it naturally, it deposits in their liver as fatty nodules, in their kidneys (and joints) as uric acid crystals AND in their arteries causing cardio-vascular episodes (strokes, heart attacks, hypertrophic cardiomyopahthy, etc). I do not feed pellets because after doing research for many years on their natural diets (since 1994), I have concluded that they are not and never will be the best dietary option for them -and I am a bit of a maniac when it comes to my animals care- but, if I did, I would offer only Tops. My birds eat gloop I make myself with human grade ingredients (grains, pulses and frozen produce that is not allowed to thaw until the last minute) and raw produce for breakfast (absolutely nothing dry, parrots require a diet that is 85 to 95% moisture) and Linus Too eats a mixture of nuts for dinner (they also get supplements).

Egglaying itself is not problematic at all - there is nothing more natural for a female bird than to lay eggs, it's what they were made for! It only becomes problematic in captivity because people don't usually keep their birds right (no criticism, a fact of life). But a bird with a good diet and the right light schedule is at no risk when laying so don't worry. The only thing I would do is make sure she is getting enough calcium and you can take care of that with a couple of doses of any avian calcium supplement (and another couple of dosages every time she lays an egg).

[tedmik]

Thanks for the advice--I'm taking it to heart. I'm going to try the Tops--looks like a mixture of pellets and seeds. I like the ingredients in the pellets--probably much better than the Kaytee, but as I mentioned before, he has rejected any other pellets I've tried.
From time to time I've thought about bugs and grubs--not sure how that would work feeding live ones and not sure I'd be comfortable feeding him dead ones. Are there bird owners who actually feed bugs?
My main question on this post is regarding chicken legs. Vinnie gets no beef, no dairy products, eggs, except for an occasional chicken leg maybe once or twice a week. He really likes stripping the bone and getting the marrow. Is that marrow really harmful?
Just a tip for readers who's birds love mashed potatoes like my Vinnie. I would boil and mash a single potato, no butter or cream or salt, of course, add a glop to his veggies. I would end up throwing half of it out, however, after a few days. I found that I can make a larger batch, vacuum seal it in small bags, freeze it and it comes out just fine. Instead of mashing a potato each week, I can make a 2-3 month supply, and virtually no waste.

[Pajarita]

No, I do not know of any owner that feeds his birds live grubs - I certainly wouldn't! And yes, bone marrow is VERY VERY VERY bad for herbivores - it's nothing but fat! More accurately, 98.4 % of it is fat so you do the math on the cholesterol content (BAD!). What I do is switch their diet seasonally. I give them lower protein and fat during the cold weather months and higher during the warm weather months (same as it is in nature). To do this I use quinoa instead of millet in their gloop and mix sprouts into it (I use a soaking/sprouting mix of small seeds prepared by ABBA for canaries because, if I use the larger sprouts, they pick them off and throw them out), add hemp seeds to their dinner and Linus Too and Sophie Gray also get some 'softened' freeze-dried mealworms mixed into their gloop, too.

My birds also eat potatoes but not mashed. I nuke them or bake them with the skin, cut them into pieces and drizzle olive oil on them (they like them A LOT!).

I don't approve of any pellet (completely unnatural food and too many things wrong with them) but, if I had nothing else, I would feed Tops. Why don't you try making him some gloop? Linus Too LOVES his gloop with a passion and all the other toos I've had did too!