Hi,
We are always glad to hear about happy birds enjoying our diets!
Unfortunately, at 11 years old, she is not at a good age to begin breeding – she should really be retiring. While lovebirds can live 15-20 years, the average is more like 8-10 years, so she is easily considered a senior by now. Forming and laying eggs takes a big toll on a bird, and then there is the stress of incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. It’s best that she not have a nest box or all of the things to shred because laying her first egg at her age could be dangerous for her. Instead it’s better to give her other types if toys, and steer her away from laying eggs by making some changes.
You need to do all of these things to discourage egg laying. Keep in mind that to lay eggs, she needs longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. Your goal is to reverse these conditions.
Limit her light to 8-10 hours by covering the cage early each evening
Do not give her anything to use as a nest – no bird huts or tents, no box, bowl, etc. If she decides to sit in a food bowl, remove it and replace with smaller cups.
Do not give her anything to shred such as paper or cardboard.
Rearrange the toys in the cage frequently. Give her some new toys.
Move the cage to a different place in the room. Move the cage about once a week, or whenever she shows signs of nesting – settling on the cage floor for example. This disrupts her idea of having a stable place to lay eggs and raise chicks.
If you feed a lot of fresh foods, stop offering any for a couple of weeks, and then only offer them in small amounts about 2 or 3 times a week. You can resume normal feeding later when the birds aren’t being hormonal.
If she is let out of the cage, do not let her get in any dark cozy places and don’t give her free roam.
If there is no metal floor grate, then do not use any bedding or paper in the cage tray – leave it bare and clean it daily.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
