Ask Lafeber

Keeps laying eggs.

This time ,3rd time since February, she now has 8!! She is NOT fertile, I have only her. It breaks my heart to see how she cares for them and I know they’ll never hatch. I would like to let her hatch a clutch, however I’m not buying another bird especially when I got her they told me ,after I got home and realized I hadn’t asked, that they didn’t know and it would cost me another 300 dollars to have blood taken and sent off to be tested. I had her for two years calling her Buddy,after my late father until she started laying eggs this February. I changed her name to Rita, after my late mother. They pasted 2020 3 months apart. …….ANYWAY…… TRYING to learn about her I read NOT to love on her. I’ve been working to get her to do so since I got her. She FINALLY has been snuggling with me. It said it puts her into an egg laying State.

Hi,

You didn’t mention what species of bird you have. You do need to make some changes to discourage egg laying, because it will eventually kill her if she continues at this rate. You can take the eggs out – while some theories say it might help them stop, it may instead trigger hormones and cause her to continue laying eggs. You should not get her a mate if you want her to be a pet – breeding birds are not pets, and you can’t just put a male and female together to have one clutch. They have to bond as mates – this can take months, or years or may not happen at all. If they do form a mate bond, this is a lifelong bond so it would be cruel to split up a breeding pair. And you are correct that you should not cuddle with her – this is something only a mate would be allowed to do, and you are not a mate. Try making all of these changes, and if this does not stop her, you will need to consult with an Avian Vet about hormone treatment for her.

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.

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 let them roam around, this mimics searching for a nesting site.

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.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda