* Pet Bird Chat * NEW

[AuraDragoness]

Dunno if this is still active or not but I need a bit of help.

So my Dusky Conure who for 9 years I thought was male laid an egg today and has been showing nesting behavior the past week (though I dismissed the later as playfulness)

I know egg laying in birds not meant to breed has many issues, one of those being something with a high fatality rate. I've looked everywhere for information on how to discourage the whole thing but not all the information is consistent.

Anyone ever been in this same situation before?

[Luzien]

not sure as i dont have this problem, just give her enough mineral and vitamin and such for breeding females to keep her healthy,this is needed, look what they have in pet store for this, then you could put her together with a female so she will not be breed again... for the egg...do you want to let her sit on it till something hatches... till she goes away when nothing comes out of it( need to look if something is inside with a flashlight and watch for smell), or do you want to cook it and cool it done to put back under her till she does loose interest as nothing comes out wenn you dont think something is inside or you dont want baby bird or her finding interest in laying eggs ...?

[Mothmanofficial]

Dunno if this is still active or not but I need a bit of help.

So my Dusky Conure who for 9 years I thought was male laid an egg today and has been showing nesting behavior the past week (though I dismissed the later as playfulness)

I know egg laying in birds not meant to breed has many issues, one of those being something with a high fatality rate. I've looked everywhere for information on how to discourage the whole thing but not all the information is consistent.

Anyone ever been in this same situation before?

If she has a nest, wide flat perch platform, or a deep large food dish, take it out. Replace dishes with either tube feeders or a few smaller dishes she cannot fit inside. She might still lay eggs without a nesting place though, so make sure she has calcium so she does not get eggbound. If she has no mate there will be no babies, so do not feel bad about throwing her eggs out. By all means do not let her keep this one or she will lay more.
EDIT: Yes I know that birds should always have a cuttlebone, but some people think it is ok to take their cuttlebone and they will stop laying, but instead it increases the risk of egg-binding.

[AuraDragoness]

not sure as i dont have this problem, just give her enough mineral and vitamin and such for breeding females to keep her healthy,this is needed, look what they have in pet store for this, then you could put her together with a female so she will not be breed again... for the egg...do you want to let her sit on it till something hatches... till she goes away when nothing comes out of it( need to look if something is inside with a flashlight and watch for smell), or do you want to cook it and cool it done to put back under her till she does loose interest as nothing comes out wenn you dont think something is inside or you dont want baby bird or her finding interest in laying eggs ...?

The eggs are not fertile as she hasn't done the thing with any other bird ever. However, I did read that things such as over-chatting with a nearby bird (even if its of the same gender) and dark places can simulate the erge to lay eggs. She is next to a Senegal parrot that she talks with a lot (confirmed female) and does have a way to get under the paper on her floor and hide; however, hiding under the paper is something she has ALWAYS done since 2016 and this has never happened before.

If she has a nest, wide flat perch platform, or a deep large food dish, take it out. Replace dishes with either tube feeders or a few smaller dishes she cannot fit inside. She might still lay eggs without a nesting place though, so make sure she has calcium so she does not get eggbound. If she has no mate there will be no babies, so do not feel bad about throwing her eggs out. By all means do not let her keep this one or she will lay more.
EDIT: Yes I know that birds should always have a cuttlebone, but some people think it is ok to take their cuttlebone and they will stop laying, but instead it increases the risk of egg-binding.

She doesn't have a nest or anything and just laid an egg underneath the paper on her floor. What's weird is, like I said above, hiding under paper has been a thing since 2016 and this has never happened before. As for taking the egg out (she has no mate so it isn't fertile), we've already done that. Haven't checked for any more since I just learned yesterday but I am questioning that, if she lays more regardless, what we should do (put in a bunch of dummy ones or just keep taking the eggs out). Although, prior to this discovery of gender, I did notice he/she was more friendly to my dad and brothers than to me and my mom...

I found a bunch of things I can do to discourage the egg-laying so I may try some of those but my biggest question is what suddenly simulated the desire to lay an egg (I'm assuming its the chatting with her senegal neighbor and the darkness of the paper but idk)

Thanks for the tip about calcium thing, my biggest fear is egg-binding since I don't want to loose her to something I can prevent (unlike my pied cockatiel who died at the end of his lifespan). Thing is, we put a cuttlebone in there but she never uses it. I'm guessing we just scrape the thing to where particles from it end up in the water?

Edit: I did find another egg but, good news is, she doesn't seem to be taking an interest in them so that's probably a good thing.

[Mothmanofficial]

I do not think grit would have simulated anything. I am trying to think of anything else that can help prevent the complications of egg-laying, but I only know what months of experimenting ways to get my finch hen to stop showed.

[souldier]

Got a new member of the family!



Not actually sure on gender but have been referring to her as a 'she' for simplicity. Her name is Blue, after the raptor in jurassic world. I've been spending some time these past few days introducing her to my other budgie Sawyer, who i've mentioned on here a while ago. although Sawyer is a bit ruffled at the new addition, there doesn't seem to be any major incompatibility issues, so i'm pretty thrilled about that.

How cute!
Looks like a male to me c:

[AuraDragoness]

I do not think grit would have simulated anything. I am trying to think of anything else that can help prevent the complications of egg-laying, but I only know what months of experimenting ways to get my finch hen to stop showed.

So I read that sometimes taking out the eggs just makes the bird keep laying more...but then I've seen people saying leaving them in has the exact same results.

This is my delima: She is laying eggs but doesn't seem to show any interest in them (that I can see at least)...yet when I take the eggs out she gets kinda sad but recovers quickly from it. The desire to protect and her urgency to get back to her cage if she's taken out remains regardless.

Should I keep taking the eggs out or should I leave them in? All the information on it is inconsistent. >_<

[Mothmanofficial]

I do not think grit would have simulated anything. I am trying to think of anything else that can help prevent the complications of egg-laying, but I only know what months of experimenting ways to get my finch hen to stop showed.

So I read that sometimes taking out the eggs just makes the bird keep laying more...but then I've seen people saying leaving them in has the exact same results.

This is my delima: She is laying eggs but doesn't seem to show any interest in them (that I can see at least)...yet when I take the eggs out she gets kinda sad but recovers quickly from it. The desire to protect and her urgency to get back to her cage if she's taken out remains regardless.

Should I keep taking the eggs out or should I leave them in? All the information on it is inconsistent. >_<

My girl lays eggs all throughout the breeding season, and last year I got her to stop by removing them. This year she is not laying though. It think it is because she is currently without a mate as hers died a month ago and I have not replaced him yet. I always provided her with the nutrients needed for a breeding bird (calcium, some mashed up hard-boiled egg) so that the risk of her getting egg-bound was decreased. Honestly, you can get her to lay less but I have been told that if you do not want even the small possibility of eggs, get a boy. I do not know how well conures breed in captivity, but if not encouraged with a nest and nesting materials, most hook billed breeds stop laying. Now as for the sad part, my hen always designed her nest cery carefully, strategically placing the green and blue paper clips her hubby brought to her all through it to make it pretty. I gave them all kinds of colors but hubby liked the blues and greens more so that is all Addy got. Then, once the egg was in there, she would be all proud, and look lovingly at her egg. Later, she would see it and be like "what is this white orb doing in my perfect nest!" And she would roll it out and eat it when it hit the ground. So I have no experience with disposing eggs because addy ate them all.

[AuraDragoness]

My girl lays eggs all throughout the breeding season, and last year I got her to stop by removing them. This year she is not laying though. It think it is because she is currently without a mate as hers died a month ago and I have not replaced him yet. I always provided her with the nutrients needed for a breeding bird (calcium, some mashed up hard-boiled egg) so that the risk of her getting egg-bound was decreased. Honestly, you can get her to lay less but I have been told that if you do not want even the small possibility of eggs, get a boy. I do not know how well conures breed in captivity, but if not encouraged with a nest and nesting materials, most hook billed breeds stop laying. Now as for the sad part, my hen always designed her nest cery carefully, strategically placing the green and blue paper clips her hubby brought to her all through it to make it pretty. I gave them all kinds of colors but hubby liked the blues and greens more so that is all Addy got. Then, once the egg was in there, she would be all proud, and look lovingly at her egg. Later, she would see it and be like "what is this white orb doing in my perfect nest!" And she would roll it out and eat it when it hit the ground. So I have no experience with disposing eggs because addy ate them all.

What's funny is for 9 years I thought she was male; conures can start laying eggs at age 2 or something so that is why I am confused. She doesn't have a nest box or anything but does hide under the paper on her floor...which is odd since it's been that way since 2016 and she didn't lay eggs then; plus it seems to be normal conure behavior even outside the breeding season. I have read that certain things can just turn on their hormones, one of those being interaction and chatter with another bird (no matter the gender or species). She HAD been rapidly chirping to her senegal neighbor but since said senegal mimicked the same sound back I dismissed it as social behavior.

But, now that I think about it...a few days before I did see her showing what looked to be intimate behavior with one of her toys.

Probably gonna see if she stops after 3-4 eggs (from what I read that is the minimum with 5-6 being maximum) and if she doesn't, I'll probably use some simple methods of discouraging the egg laying and see if that works.

Edit: Ok, so she seems to be acting normal again. Not attacking when I try to clean her floor (found no eggs either) and is coming out when her door is open so I think she MIGHT be done? Hopefully yes

[Mothmanofficial]

My girl lays eggs all throughout the breeding season, and last year I got her to stop by removing them. This year she is not laying though. It think it is because she is currently without a mate as hers died a month ago and I have not replaced him yet. I always provided her with the nutrients needed for a breeding bird (calcium, some mashed up hard-boiled egg) so that the risk of her getting egg-bound was decreased. Honestly, you can get her to lay less but I have been told that if you do not want even the small possibility of eggs, get a boy. I do not know how well conures breed in captivity, but if not encouraged with a nest and nesting materials, most hook billed breeds stop laying. Now as for the sad part, my hen always designed her nest cery carefully, strategically placing the green and blue paper clips her hubby brought to her all through it to make it pretty. I gave them all kinds of colors but hubby liked the blues and greens more so that is all Addy got. Then, once the egg was in there, she would be all proud, and look lovingly at her egg. Later, she would see it and be like "what is this white orb doing in my perfect nest!" And she would roll it out and eat it when it hit the ground. So I have no experience with disposing eggs because addy ate them all.

What's funny is for 9 years I thought she was male; conures can start laying eggs at age 2 or something so that is why I am confused. She doesn't have a nest box or anything but does hide under the paper on her floor...which is odd since it's been that way since 2016 and she didn't lay eggs then; plus it seems to be normal conure behavior even outside the breeding season. I have read that certain things can just turn on their hormones, one of those being interaction and chatter with another bird (no matter the gender or species). She HAD been rapidly chirping to her senegal neighbor but since said senegal mimicked the same sound back I dismissed it as social behavior.

But, now that I think about it...a few days before I did see her showing what looked to be intimate behavior with one of her toys.

Probably gonna see if she stops after 3-4 eggs (from what I read that is the minimum with 5-6 being maximum) and if she doesn't, I'll probably use some simple methods of discouraging the egg laying and see if that works.

Edit: Ok, so she seems to be acting normal again. Not attacking when I try to clean her floor (found no eggs either) and is coming out when her door is open so I think she MIGHT be done? Hopefully yes

She might be done then. Keep providing her with suppliments though, so that in case she decides to lay a few more she is in th best condition to do so. Also, I have had probably 75 chickens over the course of the past 9 years and one finch, and out of those birds only 3 were ever egg-bound. So of you take good care of them and give them what they need to lay eggs, the chance of egg binding is small.