Hi Linda,
You didn’t mention the species, so I am going to guess this is a cockatiel? They are the most notorious for becoming chronic egg layers. I don’t know how long she has been laying eggs, or how often she lays eggs. But to put this in perspective, they are only intended to lay eggs once time a year. In the wild, breeding season is once a year, and then the seasons change and the pairs leave their nests behind. The rest of the year they do like most parrot species, and move around depending on where the food is. In captivity, since we provide a perfect environment with abundant food year round, it is the owner’s responsibility to do whatever is needed to stop the hen from laying year round. Most of the time, making some changes in their environment and with their food can discourage egg laying. But with some, they seems to get stuck in an egg laying cycle, and will literally lay eggs until they die unless a Vet intervenes. With these birds, hormone treatment along with the changes at home can generally stop the hen from laying more eggs. The implant is more effective & lasts longer, & if you do the shots, the bird needs to be taken back for more.
I’m not sure how she ended up being housed with her father, but that definitely contributed to her egg laying. It’s pretty much a given that a female cockatiel will lay eggs if she is kept with a male. But of course you can’t allow related birds to breed, so I am assuming you removed the eggs each time. For the benefit of other readers, offspring should always be removed from the parents as soon as they are weaned. In most cases, the parents will begin to pick on and attack the weaned offspring, which is nature’s way of preventing related birds from breeding. But things do not always work right in captivity and sometimes the parents tolerate the offspring, but later want to breed with them, which again should never be allowed.
Now that the father has died, and I am sorry he passed, you have a better chance of stopping her egg laying. However, you may need to get her a hormone implant to break the cycle. I’m going to give you a list of changes to make, that will hopefully work with her. As for the pacing you described, this is anxiety or stress – probably her still getting used to not having the other bird around. Possibly these are mock charges at you and then she loses her nerve and backs off. Given her history, I don’t recommend getting another bird – even a female is likely to get her started laying eggs again. It sounds like she may gradually take to you, and as long as you avoid hormone triggers, this will be good for her.
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.
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 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
