Ask Lafeber

My Female Cocktail laid eggs without a mate

Hello m
I take care of two cocktail birds one normal white face and the other Lutino cockatiel ( at the fist i think the white face is a male but I read about cocktail and then I found its a female so I think both female because the yellow one had there feathers a yellow circle ). Some times i i let them play together in the same cage and outside.
Recently the grey one do strange movements and after some days I found egg in the cage .. and after48 days i found another. I afraid she will keep laying eggs and I don’t know what to do to eggs should I remove it from the cage or should I leave it with her.
Can you help me I need help to try to prevent her from laying eggs again in the future.

Hi,

Single female cockatiels often lay eggs, and are notorious for becoming chronic egg layers. However, there are changes you can make in the environment to discourage egg laying. If the changes do not help, then you would need to take her to an Avian Vet for hormone treatment. She will literally keep laying eggs until it kills her unless you take the steps to stop her. In the wild, there are environmental changes that make them stop. But in captivity, we provide the ideal breeding environment all year.

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.

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 her head and neck – do not pet her on the body.

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