Ask Lafeber

Quaker Laying Eggs

So my pet quaker we thought was a boy just laid two eggs—the first one we didn’t know what to do and decided to feed it back to her. We have since limited sunlight and fresh foods like fruit and veggies. But she only has laid two eggs. She started laying on Saturday and it is now Tuesday. Is this normal? She is sitting on her second egg but has not laid any others. Most sources say 4-5 per clutch, Do we need to take her to the vet in case she is egg-bound? I’m just worried since it’s only two and not the normal 4. The eggs are infertile.

Hi Abby,

The average clutch is 4-6, but that doesn’t mean she will lay more. The first time, it’s not unusual for her to only lay one or two. She only forms one egg at a time, and each takes 48 hours, so it’s not like she had eggs inside her that need to be laid. If she was egg bound, she would show clear signs of distress. She would sit fluffed with her tail pumping up and down and you can tell she is straining. She wouldn’t be sitting on her egg or eggs. There are other changes you can do to discourage egg laying. It’s OK for her to sit on the ones she lays now, but we really do not know if that makes a difference. With some birds it seems to encourage nesting and with others, it seems to satisfy them and they don’t lay again for a while.

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. 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