any suggestions to prevent my 12 Year old Eclectus hen from laying eggs and then acting like “chickie mama” on the bottom of her cage for weeks…. I have tried covering her cage at night but she is terrified of the dark
Hi Katherine,
Limiting her light daily is only one of many things you can do to discourage or prevent egg laying. As Dr. Lamb explained in a recent webinar, egg laying takes a toll on your birds health. While you can replace the lost nutrients, you can’t predict or entirely prevent issues like egg binding. Some birds don’t do well if the cage is covered, but a very dark room with a nightlight can still reduce the light exposure. Never give her a nest, box, bird hut/tent or anything she can view as a nest. If she chooses a food dish, remove it and replace it with smaller dishes. If she picks a corner of the cage floor for her nesting area, hang some toys there to discourage this. Rearrange toys in the cage regularly. Move the cage to a different place in the room about once a week. When you handle her, limit any petting to her head and neck – never pet the body as this is a big hormone trigger. If she eats a lot of fresh foods, stop offering them for a short time, and then only offer small amounts every few days. Do not give her anything she can shred like paper or cardboard. If her cage doesn’t have a metal floor grate, then do not put any bedding in the tray and just clean it daily. When she is out of the cage, keep her away from dark cozy places. If she does lay eggs, you might try taking the eggs away. With some birds this works, with others they want to sit on the eggs, but this should never exceed the normal incubation period. If she still won’t stop, and she is laying more than once or twice per year, then it’s time to take her to an Avian Vet for hormone treatment. There is an injection or an implant, and the implant seems to work better with some birds. We have had several webinars on hormonal issues, so you may want to check those out. Here is a link to the playlist:
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
