Nesting Season?

[Too Family]

My female normal is about to lay eggs... She is 4-5 years old and she shares a cage with a 9-10 yr old male normal. They do not have a nest box or a nest and I honestly do not want baby teils. My question is should I put a nest in their cage for her to lay them in, and just take them out as she lays them? The rest of my fids have not reached sexual maturity yet, so I have not had to deal with breeding and the rest are caged seperately as well.

Helpful hints:
What to expect?
Throw away the eggs let her sit on them?

Is there an owners manual? LOL!

Any advice is much appreciated...
Amy, and soon to be mommy Sunshine

[trtldove76]

Hi I don't know much but have read a bunch. Some people say take them away, but that could lead to her laying more eggs and if she does then some would say to freeze them or boil them I have also heard of shaking them.

Then shorten there day to the sun coming up and going down. Someone will be along shortly to tell me I full of it or maybe just fill in the blanks.

Welcome to BirdBoard!

[rick_s0910]

Well, If you take them away, she will just lay again, which is obviously bad for her. I dont know what you can try, but if she lays them, let her sit on them for about 28 days. I guess you can destroy the embryo if you want, just let her sit on them. Hope this helps.

Rick

[Cindy215]

It's not breeding season in the Northern Hemisphere (or Southern really, at this point) so it's a hormonal imbalance. The should only get hormonal in Spring/Summer. It comes from too much light, long days like spring.

She isn't in "breeding condition" anyway and you dont have to hatch the eggs you will freeze them or swap them to prevent a bigger drain on her and the male having to raise babies, just laying drains her calcium out of her bones anyway and raising chicks is alot more stress and draining.

Make sure her diet is good meaning especially not just seed and enough calcium. You should discuss with your vet it depends on if she is EATING 85% pellets or just regular food. You should supplement calcium if she's not on pellets but not if her main diet is pellets. Most people I know use Calciboost the dose varies depending on the bird and if they are laying or not. Usually twice a week in non laying birds and up to 5 times a week when laying but you need to review with an avian vet.

It's hard to say what to do exactly now if she is about to lay you may need to let her. Normally you'd change her hours, decrease the protein and vitamin e. There are other things that all put together will fix the hormonal thing but it takes at least two weeks and you say she is ready to lay so I dont know if it's a good idea to try and prevent it if there are eggs in her....

Take each egg, one at a time, freeze for 24 hours, mark with an x and return at room temperature. Leave them there INDEFINITELY. She will lose interest and abandon them when they don't hatch. You can order fake eggs to swap from fakebirdeggs.com.

NOW, when you want to fix this, you'll fix their schedule to follow a natural daylight schedule depending on what's going on each season outside.

Here's a cut and past from another post explaining it so I don't have to retype it LOL:

QUOTE:
It's not breeding season in the Northern Hemisphere so your bird is having a hormonal imbalance. That comes from the days being too long like simulating spring/summer.

If you follow a strict natural daylight schedule including dawn and dusk this wont happen. No artificial lights after about 3 pm. She needs to go to sleep in a darkish room, no human interruptions like tv, radio, computers , people talking etc. A cover really doesnt cut it. They have a sensor in the brain (pituitary gland) regulated by light that controls the hormones telling the body what "time of year it is". Thats how they make chickens lay eggs 24/7 in factory farms by leaving lights on all the time. Then they die about age 3.

Right now in Pa, my birds go to sleep at about 5:40 pm and wake up about 7 am EST.

You can simulate with a dimmer in a small lamp placed on the floor (to simulate the angle of the sun) but it's trickier. Walmart sells a dimmer you screw in where the bulb goes and has a dial to turn it down, down, then off. The ones you tap arent right they only have three options.

So essentially follow the light schedule that is going on in your state at all times of year. For people in extreme climates like Alaska you have to adjust I never had a bird there, though.

Also decrease protein (including seeds), and vitamin e, and raise the greens and veggies.

Also no stroking beaks, feet, back or butts. That's a mating signal.

Dont allow her to "nest" in dark spots like behind pillows, in shirts, in drawers, bookcases, under toekicks of the kitchen cabinets, in closets etc.

Move her around to brightly lit spots all day, encourage her AWAY from her cage (nest), get her to fly around and find enrichment to do not focus all day long on her hormonal urges.

Change the inside of the cage around, change toys, perches, swap food and water bowls etc. These things are subliminal messages that it's not a "safe" nest.

All these things together will work to snap her hormones back into place but the lighting is number one. Then when it's "really" breeding season, she'll have an easier time of it. I don't know her age but it will be a yearly thing in breeding season so you want to minimize her anxiety all year long so it's only a mild deal every year not something she is fighting all year long. Especially now since it's winter.

UNQUOTE

As far as a nest goes, I wouldn't give any nestbox but maybe I'd help her out with some materials for the bottom so she is more comfortable if she lays. Put the food close by next to her on the floor in a bowl or paper plate and give good healthy dark leafy greens, veggies, grains and a little fruit if she likes it. A good wheat bread, a bit of egg. Even though I said lower the protein and vitamin e if she lays she still needs high quality foods and soft foods if they go through the motions of him feeding her. Seeds wont cut it. You have to remove it in two hours for bacteria.

Then do the egg swapping that I mentioned. I forget the average size of the clutch but after it stops a couple weeks later I would start following the outside schedule to calm the hormones down. Hopefully after about three weeks she will start to lose interest. Encourage them out of the cage if you can and dont leave them in dark places only light for the day hours they're awake.

I'd say right now the goal is to lay any eggs in progress without any danger and that means she needs calcium if she isnt getting it. You may want to call your vet right away, review her diet and get his/her imput. They may want her in the office right away to give her a calcium injection, even to prevent egg problems. (breaking inside or getting egg bound).

[Too Family]

Well she is not under nurished by any means...When we got her a year ago she weighed 139 grams. She was down to 128 before I noticed she was going to lay. I did put some shredded paper in the bottom of her cage which she made suitable for herself. She has not layed any yet. I did talk to me vet and he said to let her lay them and don't take any out until she has layed all of them so wait a week or two. Then take them if she is not sitting on them. Her last clutch last year she didn't bother with her other owner told us. She laid six and just left them alone. Honestly, I don't think they are fertile... The two of them are in a room full of other birds, no nest box or privacy, but who knows. What is the usual gestational period for cockatiels? She has lots of cuddle bone and eats constantly. How long do they carry them before they lay?

[Cindy215]

Is this an avian vet? He said the cuttlebone was enough? (sorry but it's not)

Undernourished doesnt have anything to do with weight, sorry. I have a budgie with Lipomas who weighs more than anybody because tumors weigh more. Even infertile eggs draw the calcium out of her bones.

[Too Family]

No he didn't say that cuddlebone souly was enough but they have a vitamin suppliment I put in their water daily and she eats lots of pellet and seed and cherrios daily. I had her checked when we got her for health problems because of her weight and he said she was very health, just a piglet... she is active and plays in her huge cage all day. She was eating seed with heavy sunflower when we got her and now she has a very god diet. Her clutch she laid last year she abandoned after 2 weeks. So I will see what happens with this one. I did put some shredded papers in the bottom of her cage and she made her little nest.

[Monica]

First off, I don't suggest encouraging her to lay... as this could cause more issues... by providing her materials to make a nest you are encouraging her to lay...

Second, cherrios may contain zinc and should not be fed often... third, lots of fresh foods is a must... veggies, rice, pastas, sprouts, beans, eggs, etc...

[Too Family]

Well, I took Sunshine to the vet today because we still have no eggs laid. Come to find out she didn't even have eggs...she had 27 grams of brownish cloudy fluid in her abdomen (She weighed 137 grams when arrived and 110 when we left). The Dr. drained most of it out, we have her on antibiotics, they are going to do some cultures and testing on the fluids. I was a emotional wreck today. I was hystarical at the vet when he told me she had the same thing that Spike (our cockateil that died from this last year) had. Fortunately, he said that we have a better chance of saving Sunshine because we caught it early enough he hopes. She is at home tonight and playing on her cage, eating veggies and her other food. (actually a few minutes ago she was on the keyboard helping my respond to another post). I have to take her back Friday to recheck her. I know we are not out of the woods yet, but I feel better knowing what is wrong and we are on the way to getting her well again. Thank you everyone who has offered your thoughts and support, I really do appreciate all your thoughts and prays.

[Cindy215]

Originally Posted by Too Family

Well, I took Sunshine to the vet today because we still have no eggs laid. Come to find out she didn't even have eggs...she had 27 grams of brownish cloudy fluid in her abdomen (She weighed 137 grams when arrived and 110 when we left). The Dr. drained most of it out, we have her on antibiotics, they are going to do some cultures and testing on the fluids. I was a emotional wreck today. I was hystarical at the vet when he told me she had the same thing that Spike (our cockateil that died from this last year) had. Fortunately, he said that we have a better chance of saving Sunshine because we caught it early enough he hopes. She is at home tonight and playing on her cage, eating veggies and her other food. (actually a few minutes ago she was on the keyboard helping my respond to another post). I have to take her back Friday to recheck her. I know we are not out of the woods yet, but I feel better knowing what is wrong and we are on the way to getting her well again. Thank you everyone who has offered your thoughts and support, I really do appreciate all your thoughts and prays.

Thank you for taking her to the vet promptly. I really hope she pulls through. Eating constantly is a sign of liver problems and is frequently seen by caretakers before a sudden death from subsequently found liver disease...people see them almost attacking millet voraciously.

I don't know what your vet said about giving her but obviously you want alot of foods that dont stress the liver like no animal proteins at all, and alot of dark leafy greens and veggies. Seed and nuts are proteins too so don't allow her to revert to an all seed diet. I'd ask about Naturade Aloe Detox alot of my rescue friends use it. The liver can improve. Here's a link but there are many others on google.

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww24eii.htm