Ask Lafeber

Mora than ten times, laying eggs from her top perch into the cage floor

Hi there, and thank you so much for this great website.

I have a couple of budgies, which had two parakeet babies three months and and half ago. They have been great, specially in these times, i have enjoy seeing them growing up day by day, so it has been a great experience.

Then a month and half after, the parents start breeding again. But this time the female parakeet, has lay all of her eggs from the very top perch, trowing them in the bottom of the cage and of course they break. This has happen more than 12 times, in maybe three cicles of breeding, The last one been today.

I’ve been trying everything. Separating the young parakeets from the parents, changing the nests, even adding a brand new one. But don’t know what else to do! Please help! Since I would like them to have more parakeets, but don’t know how to help. Many Thanks! Christopher, from Brooklyn NY

Hi Christopher,

Right now the most important thing to do is to make them take a rest from breeding for a while. The hen has laid too many eggs, in a short period of time, and this is very risky to her health. I would remove the nest box and make some changes to try to discourage breeding for at least 6 months. This is necessary in captivity because we maintain an ideal indoor environment so birds will breed year round. In the wild, a pair will have one or maybe two clutches of chicks per year. Then the weather changes and it becomes unsuitable for nesting. A hen will literally lay eggs until she dies in captivity if we do not take measures to limit her breeding.

Go ahead and remove the nest box and anything they can use as nesting materials. Limit their daylight hours to about 8-10 hours – cover the cage early in the evening to limit their exposure to light. Make some changes in the cage such as rearranging the perches and toys. I would lover or remove the high perch she seems so fond of. Also stop offering any fresh foods for now – you can go back to offering these foods a couple of times a week after they stop showing signs of nesting. Move the cage to another place in the room and keep shifting it around about once a week. Your point is to disrupt their routine and make them feel like this isn’t a stable time to nest. Spend time around them even if just checking on them a lot. Basically do the opposite of what you would do to encourage breeding.

After about 6 months of not laying eggs, you can set them up for breeding again. You said you had a nest, but hopefully you meant a nest box. An open nest is not what they use and this could explain why she stopped using it. You need a closed wooden nest box that you affix to the outside of the cage, as high as possible. It should be the highest thing in the cage, so if her high perch was higher, keep it lowered or do not put it back. I think you will find they do a better job the nest time around once they have had a good rest. You will need to do this each time they nest and lay eggs, even if no chicks are produced. She can’t be allowed to keep nesting over and over again.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda