Ask Lafeber

Question:

July 26, 2022

Lovebirds egg laying


Hi my lovebird is shy of a year and she laid her first egg last night. The egg is at the bottom of the cage and not in the nesting box she’s been working on. What do I do?


Answer:

Hi Lia,

Unfortunately at under a year old, a lovebird should not be with a mate yet and should not have a nest box. The best thing to do is take the box down, discard these eggs and put the mate in a separate cage. She is too young to be breeding and laying eggs. She may be capable of it, but she is not fully developed physically or mentally. She is basically a pre-teen or teenager at best. A young bird like her is at a higher rate of becoming egg bound and dying. As for caring for eggs, she and her mate are most likely more interested in mating than caring for eggs. Not laying the egg in the right place is a sign of immaturity. Young pairs tend to develop bad breeding habits that ruin them for ever being good breeders. I would keep them in separate cages until both birds are closer to two years old, and then let them try again. While the first clutch still may fail, they are more likely to try harder and be more interested in figuring out how to care for the eggs.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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