Ask Lafeber

Laying Eggs in Bottom of cage

Hi there! I have a 22 year old pair of Nanday Conures. They have been together since 6 mos old. I am the 2nd owner and have had them for 5 years. Danielle has laid eggs only once prior about 2 year ago. None hatched and after about 30 days she abandoned the nest. I have a round wild bird feeder in their cage as the male Jack has arthritis and for years they use it to sleep in together at night. Last time she laid her 4 eggs in there which was fine!! This time she laid them in the bottom of their cage so I put a rectangle box in the bottom and put the egg in it. She has laid 4 more but sometimes lays them in the one lower dish that I put in for them if they don’t feel like climbing. I’ve been putting the eggs in the box until she shredded it completely!! So I put something she couldn’t tear apart and put her 5 eggs in there! She’s been in it and moved the eggs around but not sitting on anything yet!!!
I don’t know if I should move them to the higher “nest “ that has been in there for years now or do I just leave well enough alone and hope that she decides to finally sit on them and hopefully not lay anymore!!! She’s eating well~~seed, Harrison pellets and nutriberries and I’m adding calcium to the food. Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!!! Thank you so much for your time!

Hi Jo Ann,

At 22, your Nandays are seniors and should not be breeding. Laying eggs is hard on the female, so you need to be making some changes to try to stop the egg laying. Since Jack has arthritis, it is highly unlikely that they have been able to mate successfully. Giving her things to nest in will actually encourage egg laying.

I would recommend removing all eggs and nesting spots, even the feeder. You can put some smaller dishes in the cage for food, that she can’t sit in. You need to make some changes in their environment to discourage more egg laying. Worst case, you may need to take her to an Avian Vet for a hormone implant if she keeps laying eggs.

You need to do all of these things to discourage egg laying. This information applies to the pair. 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.

When 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