egg eater

[kbordeau]

I have a bonded pair of SI Ekies that are 4 years old. They are intent on having eggs. The female is great. the male is an egg eater. I have tried the plastic eggs, the ceramic eggs, & taking him out of the cage. What else is there to try? He is a screaming menace without her. He eats the fake eggs(yes even the ceramic ones). He waits underneath her while she is having the egg so he can have a tasty treat. Im at witts end. Please help.
Kathy

[chapala]

I have no experience at all with breeding, but just guessing that this male may not be a suitable breeder with his egg eating habit.

[sodakat]

She is laying eggs from above him somehow? This means no nestbox? If you want her to hatch the eggs, you'll have to give her a box she can guard where she can lay her eggs. She will come out to eat and drink while she is nesting, so you can lock him out of her cage while she is sitting on eggs. He will probably want to be on top of her cage or very close though.

How is he otherwise, as a mate I mean? Do they engage in mutual feeding? Do they breed?

I have a pair that breeds sucessfully and raises chicks but have no idea what is going on with your male. I think you need advice from an experienced breeder because I don't think this is species related behavior.

Kathy (another Kathy!)

[kbordeau]

They do mutual feeding & do the deed. If it wasnt for the egg eating he would be a great mate. She does allow him in the nest box for sex. But he will refuse to feed her if she is ready to have an egg & if she is garding an egg. He will do what ever it takes to get that egg. When they dont have eggs, they do every thing together. We learn tricks, play in outdoor incloser, play on play gym, help me pick out food items for them on the counter, watch tv(they like Tarzan), & read books. There is never so much as a squabble. Food is plentiful. There are plenty of toys & foraging things.

[sodakat]

I do know of someone who has a pair with a month old chick that is being tended entirely by the female with no help from the male. The egg came as a surprise when it was laid in the female's sleep cage. The male has not shown an interest in doing his part and so far, so good as far as the chick goes. The female is eating/drinking and feeding the chick on her own.

I have to tell you that it is a big responsibility to let them have chicks. Be prepared for more parrots in your home. You cannot guarantee you will find an acceptable home for them.

If you don't want to banish him from her cage, you need to think about removing the nest box, especially if she continues to lay frequently. I have found that the nest box encourages egg laying.

How many times has she laid eggs so far?

[LovelySydney]

Oh my goodness! I hope there is some way to curb this behavior, I think a nest box is definitely in order, even locking him out of the cage. Anything to keep him away from those eggs.

[Jan]

I really do not have had any experience in a male or even a female eating their eggs... its more like eating the chicks after they hatch as I do not know if it is both or just male or female eating chicks but to remedy that problem that I just simply pull the eggs at the first sign of pip and finish out incubation myself.

Here is a question/answer that I found that was written by Dale Thompson and read the first question. Egg Eating and Egg Breaking Problems in Parrots like he points out, just remove the male after she has laid the first egg. I am not sure if you actually have a nest box for them or not. Good luck!

[Abby]

Good article there Jan.

I have been fortunate not to have any egg eaters either. If it was the hen then I'd say up the calcium but being the cock bird you have a different issue altogether.

my question is do you actually want to breed these two? If you don't then gert rid of the box (if you have one) and ignore the issue. If you don't want babes then no biggy, just kinda grosse.


however if you do want chicks then it's a different matter. The problem is once you have an egg eater if you're intent on breeding there's stuff all you can do. Well ok there's 2 options. Get rid of the offender (either temproarily or permanently) or start artificial incubation as soon as they're laid if you can get there in time. I haven't done artificial incubation, just doesn't interest me and if I can avoid raising from day 1 then I will. It's alot of work and unless you have some experience under your belt not an easy task.

At any rate you are going to have to keep the calcium right up if she's going to keep laying.

[Monica]

In all of this, I'm just wondering if this pair is old enough? Not physically, but mentally.... if the intent is to breed, then perhaps the pair is too young?



One trick though that I've heard to stop egg eaters (don't know if it really works, might end up being counter-productive) is to put a hole in an egg, remove contents of egg, then fill it up with mustard, and replacing egg in the nest (or using chicken eggs?)

[kbordeau]

Thanks for the responses. I have them seperated right now. Our area has a need for this kind of bird. But i`m in no hurry to have chicks. My female is intent on having chicks, so I let her have a clutch. I also let her sit on them as long as she shows interest. Maybe she will get bored sitting & stop.