Ask Lafeber

Alexander Parrot

My parrot is female and she doesn’t have male and then also she had laid eggs and now she is not sitting on her egg

Hi,

Since you don’t have a male, the eggs will not be fertile so it doesn’t matter if she won’t sit on them. It’s really best if she isn’t interested in them, because hopefully she won’t lay eggs again right away. It’s not good for her to lay eggs often. In the wild they lay eggs once a year. But in captivity, some hens get stuck in an egg laying cycle to the point that you need to take her to an Avian Vet for a hormone shot or implant. You can make some changes to try to discourage egg laying. Limit her light to 8-10 hours by covering her cage early each evening. Rearrange toys in her cage and move her cage to another place in the room – a busy spot is best, and sometimes you have to keep rotating locations every week or so. If you handle her, limit any contact to head scratches – when you pet her body, this can trigger hormones and result in more eggs. If she eats a lot of fresh foods, stop offering them for a while, and then only offer them a couple of times a week, in small amounts. Do not give her a nest, box, bird tent, hut or anything that can resemble a nest. When she is out don’t let her get in dark or cozy places. Also do not give her anything she can shred such as paper or cardboard. If she continues to lay eggs in spite of these changes, then you should take her to an Avian Vet to see about a hormone shot or implant. I’ll also give you the link to our webinars that cover hormonal issues.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda