I was told that I purchased 2 males by the breeder. They are about 1 1/2 years old and I’ve had them a little over a year. Someone laid an egg recently and the “male” is aggressive with the “female ” at times chasing and trying to dominate her. Should I separate them? Will she lay more eggs? Take away the egg? They are from the same clutch and are very attached to each other. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
Hi,
Yes, you need to separate them and discard any eggs. To begin with, related birds should never be allowed to reproduce. The earliest a hen should be laying is 3 years old. She’s far too young, and at a high risk of becoming egg bound or dying from complications. Separate cages, and as long as he chases her, no more interactions out of the cages. Sometimes we have to show tough love to provide the best care for our pet birds. You should also make some changes to discourage hormonal behavior and nesting. I’ll provide a list for you. If you have any bird huts, tents, boxes or anything she can get inside of, throw it away. The do not need a bed, and only breeding birds need a nest, only during breeding season. Conures tend to like cozy places, but there are many things our birds like that are not good for them. Again, tough love.
Keep in mind that in the wild for breeding, they need 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 show 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 let her 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
