I have a 2 year old female cockatiel we bought from a breeder. She is tame and spends most of her daytime out of her cage. She also flies very well and will be clipped next week. She had her last clutch 3 weeks ago. I take them away after about 4-5 days. ( tho mate). Now she is constantly chirping. Nothing I give her helps. I really need advice.
Hi,
It’s not good for her to lay eggs more than once or twice a year. For a single female, ideally she shouldn’t lay eggs at all. It takes a lot our of her to form and lay eggs, and without intervention, she can literally lay eggs until it kills her. While flight and exercise are important, allowing her to be out all the time is a big part of the problem. If she can roam, this is mimicking searching for a mate and nest site, so this triggers her hormones and results in eggs. Clipping her is not the best idea, because it limits her ability to exercise. It would be best to establish a schedule where she can be out and fly a coupe of times a day, but not be allowed to roam and explore. There are other changes that can discourage the egg laying and settle her hormones down. If these changes do not work, then you may have to take her to an avian vet for a hormone implant or shots.
Keep in mind that to lay eggs, she needs longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. The goal is to reverse these conditions. In the wild, they get signals from nature to end breeding season, but in captivity, if ideal conditions continue to be provided, a hen will literally lay eggs until it kills her. In the wild they only breed once a year, and typically only raise one clutch per year.
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.
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.
When you handle her, limit any petting to only the head and neck – do not pet a bird 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.
If the hen doesn’t stop laying, and continues to lay clutch after clutch, then a hormone implant or shots should be considered. The implant is proving to be very effective with most chronic egg layers.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
