Ask Lafeber

budgie laid egg

I have three budgies in one cage one with a blue nostril and two with whitish/brown nostrils. one of my brid’s have laid an egg and I am unsure of who laid the egg. She laid one Monday and has not laid another one yet. I have not seen anyone incubating the egg as of yet. this will be the first time they have laid an egg they are all between 1 1/2 to 3 yrs. of age and the two with the whitish/brown beaks keep fighting. Is there any way I can tell who laid the egg? I am trying to sperate her and put her in her own cage with the egg and nest but, I don’t see any of them sitting on the egg. What should I do? please help!

Hi Christina,

You have 2 females and a male – the one with blue around the nostrils is the male. Even if you knew which female it is, she can’t care for eggs on her own, and she would need a nest box. I doubt the egg is fertile, because you would have noticed the male mating with her. However, you do need to remove one of the females before one kills the other. Female parakeets are extremely aggressive, especially when they are hormonal. They can kill another parakeet in seconds. And the last thing she wants is another female around her. If you have noticed that one of them sits with the male a lot, then separate the other bird. Unfortunately it is never a good idea to have an odd number of birds in a cage, because of this type thing. And with any species, you can only have one pair per cage if they are breeding. I know this was not intentional, but the hormones are there and that hen will kill the other one at some point unless you remove one hen immediately.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda