help'' never had a female parrot before, laying

[sablesept]

update;; i waited several days before i vacumed the room, didn't want to disturb her.. seems she had laid an egg under my covered rocker also, threw that one out, had been there a few days before i found it.. she is laying on the one egg all the time.. i take her out of the nest a few times a day for just a couple minues,to poop and stretch and flap her wings.. the antibiotics seem to be helping, her poop looks alot better now... she is pretty quiet now not making so much moaning noise,but more alert.. she doesn't eat much unless i had feed her.. to me she is acting like a baby that wants to be fed, i mash up her food and she will eat it, guess i'll play dad for awhile/....lol

[sodakat]

Glad all is well. My female cuts way back on her eating while nesting. She does not lose weight during this time though. It is common for a male to feed a female while she is nesting and especially after the chicks hatch as the hen does stays in the nest most of the time to keep the eggs/then babies warm. She is not acting like a baby; instead she is acting like a hen that wants to be fed. Sounds like all is well. Good you found the first egg. Now you won't worry. Usually they do lay two eggs.

[Monica]

The rocker was considered a good place to nest... until she moved to her cage....

You are now acting as her surrogate partner. Personally, not the best of ideas. All along, she was being encourage to reproduce because she had a spot to do so (I have a female cockatiel that will deem any cozy hidy place as a good place to nest... thus I have to remove her nesting spot, and she stops... this once required removing a large flight cage that was currently in use out of the room, and moving the birds into another cage). Now, you are also encouraging it further by feeding her.


Personally, I think you should stop the behavior as you do not want to be seen as the partner... although others may have different opinions on what to do.

[sodakat]

Since she is 14 years old and has laid with her previous owner, I don't think she is going to change her ways much. She was so intent on laying that she laid the first egg under a chair. The nest box, in my opinion is a good thing as she can sit quietly for the full month if she chooses. I agree with Monica that you don't need to hand feed her or feed her special foods. She won't starve herself. Just keep up her regular feedings. She will come out and eat from her dishes when she is hungry.

If she does not leave the egg on her own after a month, you should take it away and remove the nest box so she isn't tempted to lay again right away.

[sablesept]

i am only feeding her the antibiotics once a day now in a spoon, mixed in a banana and a little yogurt, 3 days left of that.. she does eat alittle on her own, but not much and she soesn't touch her fresh fruits and veggies at all...which she loves...i did not realize i was being considered her partner by hand feeding her, so i will back off of doing that.. when her laying time is up, i will remove the nest and egg, its not fertile, i candled it.. the rocker where she layed her first egg will be moved out of the room, which leaves her no place to hide.. her former owner said she always hid under the furniture and nipped at the men in the house when they walked by... i never had a female parrot, so all advice has been very helpful, thanks to everyone for your help...

[sodakat]

I want to amend what I said about removing the egg after a month. First, I did not know there was even a remote possibility it could be fertile, but obviously if you felt you need to candle it, I guess there must be! Anyway, my main point is, since she has laid previously and is an older bird, just let her call the shots on when she is done sitting. She'll either destroy the egg or lose interest. When either of these happen, that is the time to remove the nest box.

You won't be perceived as her mate if you give her special soft foods in her food dish in order to encourage her to eat. Try some hard boiled egg or scrambled egg alongside mashed potatoes.

Kathy

[sablesept]

since i have only had her for alittle over a month, i didn't know if she had been around any male birds except my cag...i was about 100% sure they didn't mate..( casper, my cag, for 9 years,thinks i'm his mate, i rescued him from a very abusive home that was going to put him down)so i just candled to make sure., the previous owner rarely answers my emails. i have no ideal how the mating and egg forming process goes with birds.. i am not a breeder and i don't want to be.. can anyone explain how the process goes???

[Monica]

Like dogs, or humans, if you will, birds need a partner of the opposite sex for any possibility of fertile eggs. Female birds can lay eggs without a mate around. Some hens have been known for laying eggs even if they are the only bird, and have been, for years. Think, chickens.

Not only that, but they must be closely related to their partner for any possible chance of fertile offspring. Your african grey and eclectus producing offspring has just as good a chance as a human and a dog... It's null. Impossible. Not gonna happen.


There are no records of eclectus hybridizing outside of their species (only within their species), and if she hasn't been around a male of her own species/similar subspecies for 6+ months, there's a very probably chance that any eggs she does lay will be infertile. I don't know how long sperm can survive in a hen before it dies, but I've heard no more than 3 weeks at best. I am not a breeder, and it's not something I've looked into, either.




Most birds find dark places to hide in ideal places to nest. Therefore, they should never be given a chance to stake out an area as their own. It sounds as if the previous owners didn't know what they were doing, nor do you. However, I am glad you are willing to learn the right way to care for her!


I don't know of any eclectus mating videos, but there are videos of macaws, budgies, cockatiels, and I think ringnecks, too, mating. Not all of them mate in the same manner.
YouTube - Mating macaws
YouTube - Cockatiels Mating

[farmgirl63]

how often do they lay eggs and at what age do they start?

[sablesept]

i have done alot of research on eclectus, before i bought her.. just not any breeding or egg laying research.. thanks to everyone that has given me advice on the egg issue... i don't know why, being a female myself, i didn't think about a parrot laying an egg without a mate...like chickens do... i was raised around chickens,, must have been a blonde moment... she is on a proper diet, fresh veggies and fruit and beans and brown rice or wheat noodles, all kinds of nuts, i try to keep my birds on what they would eat in the wild.. scarletts previous owner gave me a paper that stated all her fav foods... it was mostly junk people food.. she doesn't get that stuff at my house...i researched what they eat in the wild and i am growing some of it myself..