hi, my female is currently laying eggs. every time she layed an egg the male plays with the eggs and breaks them then throws them out of the nest box. i seperated them from each other and since then she’s layed 2 eggs again. will it be a problem once the eggs has hached and the baby budgies dad isn’t in the same cage? I’m scared that if i put them together while they are babies he wik hurt or kill them like he did to the eggs.
Hi Marcel,
Unfortunately, she can’t do this all by herself. The male helps her while she is incubating the eggs and feeding chicks. You need to put him back with her right away. If he still destroys the eggs, then take down the nest box and do not try to breed the pair again. Parakeets should be about 2 years old before trying to breed them. If started at a younger age, they tend to develop bad habits that ruin them as breeders when they are old enough. And some birds just never make good breeders regardless of what age they are started. Usually once a bird starts breaking, eating or destroying eggs, they do not stop. You can get another male for her but she may or may not bond with a new male. Probably you just need to give up on this pair as breeders. This means no nest box for them. It’s not good for her to keep laying eggs, so you would also need to make some changes to try to discourage egg laying,
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.
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.
When she is let out of the cage, do not let her get in any dark cozy places and don’t give her free roam.
When you handle her, limit any petting to only her head and neck – do not pet her on the body. Only a bonded mate is allowed to groom the body. We can’t be a mate, so touching the body is off limits.
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
