She laid an egg!

[Pajarita]

What to do? Should I take it out or leave it there? Should I give her a nest? How do I prevent this from happening? Does this mean there will be a baby? These and many other questions always pop up in birdsites so I figured that, given that we are right now in the middle of the breeding season, it's a good subject to write a few clarifications on.

Laying eggs is the primary function of any hen. That and nothing else is what they are there for so it's a perfectly normal and even healthy thing for them to do. But, because captivity does not allow for nature to do her thing as she was supposed to, we need to take certain measures:

1. Birds should be kept to a solar schedule in order to keep their endocrine system attuned to the seasons - this prevents off-season and chronic laying and eggbinding.

2. A good quality avian liquid calcium should be kept at hand to replace the calcium used in the eggshell -this prevents eggbinding and hypocalcemia.

3. All birds should be allowed flight but, most especially, hens -this prevents eggbinding and the possible kidney damage caused by it even when the bird finally passes the egg.

4. A broody hen should be given an adequate nest for the species -this prevents undue stress at an already difficult time for the hen.

5. Eggs should not be removed until they have been abandoned by the hen for a number of days.

6. A single (no male) setting hen's food should be placed near the nest (just to make things a bit easier on her as she doesn't have a husband to feed her).


Now, a few clarifications.

1. Laying eggs is not dangerous as long as the bird in in good physical shape.

2. As long as there is no male present, the eggs will not be fertile.

3. If there is a male present, it's recommended you keep a supply of fake eggs (http://dummyeggs.com/) to replace each egg as soon as it's laid (a fertilized egg does not have a baby in it, just the potential of one, it needs incubating for the baby to start forming).

4. Keeping only hens is not going to prevent them from laying.

Let me know if there is any doubts, questions or if I forgot to cover anything.

[Harpmaker]

I looked on line for liquid calcium and found it with vitamin D3, or with magnesium, or with both. Do parrots need either of those?

[Wolf]

I know that for proper absorption of calcium the bird also needs vitamin D-3 and phosphorus in the right balance http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww57eiv.htm

[Harpmaker]

I knew they needed D3, but don't they get that from preening? From the oil on their feathers that has D3 when it's been exposed to sunlight? People can get too much D3 from supplements, but not from sunlight. Are birds similar in this case?

Corsair hasn't laid any eggs (yet), and always has cuttlebone available, but I want to do the best I can for her.

[liz]

Not all females will lay eggs. The new foods and lighting has made a big difference with most of my cockatiels. Lola laid 3 eggs because she did not conform to the light schedule. In the winter she would start calling me between 6 and 6:30 am. None of the others tried to nest or lay eggs. Lola was putting hers in a food dish.

We have decided that Rambo is female but has never laid an egg even though he/she gets hormonal.

[Wolf]

I have been looking and have yet to find any reference to needing to give any magnesium so I don't think that I would give them any supplement that has it without approval from an avian vet.

[Denised]

My bird went to live with my son and she started laying eggs in May and lays at least 2 or 3 a week and she is very hormonal around him and won't let anyone near him. It is making life very difficult. Is their a way to stop this? I'm afraid all the eggs being laid will cause her to become weak and possibly die.

[Pajarita]

She has become a chronic layer and, if something is not done, she will become eggbound and, if not treated super quick, she will die -and a terrible death at that! Your son needs to follow the instructions given on the original posting. Please go up and look at them.

[liz]

Amy, my first Tiel came from my sister who treated her as living room decoration. She got tired of cleaning her and gave her to me for Christmas. In January she laid 12 eggs. I have a sensitivity to animals but no knowledge of pet birds. Not only did she lay the eggs but seemed to be in labor every time and would call for someone to talk to her while she was in labor. At that time I was scared for my new baby but since I knew nothing the first thing I thought of was that she wanted a nest and was ruining her body trying to get a good egg. I got her a Bubba. She was distracted by him and really loved him. I don't know why she stopped laying eggs but she really loved Bubba. When he sang she would dance. Every time he would sing.
She never laid another egg. She was with me for 2 years. I don't know how old she was but one day while Bubba was singing and she was dancing she fell off her perch and was dead at the bottom of the cage.
Sorry, the story wandered off subject.
Right now there is a second clutch of eggs being sat on by Tweet and one of the Pearls. This is different than the last nest that everyone took turns sitting on. They didn't give it up until Retweet died on the nest. I know the first 2 eggs were not fertile. I don't know about the next 2.
By leaving the nest with the real eggs, either they will get a hatch or the eggs will rot. No other eggs have been laid. The only thing I can think of is these are young birds who don't know what they are doing and just running on instinct.
I have shortened their day to 8 am and 4 pm. I don't think it is working. Shadow and Sweetie and Tommy and Tammy always nested in January. Tommy and Tammy even gave us Christmas Eve babies. Those are short days but they did it on short days.

[Wolf]

I don't remember why I came across it as I can't remember whether I was reading up on breeding parrots, looking for an answer to egg laying, photoperiodism or what but I read recently that leaving your bird under bright lighting for 72 hours will cause their system to " reboot" and stop them from laying eggs. Because I don't recall what I was looking for I can't say whether this is true or not, but I will try to find it again. In the meantime perhaps Pajarita can provide a more knowledgeable opinion on this while I search for it. Regardless I will share it when I do find it again.