my budgie sat for a week on her eggs then started tossing them out and breaking some. She is in a large flight cage with her male. I have a rectangular nest box high up . I put a woven nest inside it. Should I let her breed on the bare wood? Do I need to clead egg yolk off nest floor?
Hi Phyllis,
It is important that they are the only birds in the cage. When breeding birds, you need to have one pair per cage. Otherwise they get territorial and easily disturbed and will not take care of the eggs. The male needs to be over a year old and it’s better if the female is closer to 2 years old.
I would definitely remove the woven nest – this is probably really frustrating her. You can try putting a couple of inches of natural Aspen shavings – NOT pine or cedar, must be natural, Aspen with nothing added – in the box, but most likely she will toss them all out. Most captive bred budgies do not use nesting materials. For now you can clean the box out thoroughly and don’t give it back to them for a few weeks. She needs to rest from laying the eggs she just destroyed. When you return it, let her do what she wants – if she throws out all of the shavings that is OK. If she still destroys or tosses the eggs, then I would remove the nest box and not let this pair breed again. Some birds do not make good breeders. But hopefully after a rest and without the nest inside the box, she will do better next time.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
