extreme egg-laying budgie

[usamma]

I have a budgie who seems to have made it a career to lay eggs. I am worried about her health. Last summer she laid 2 clutches each of eight eggs, we let her raise 14 chicks along with her mate and some hand-feeding help. We learned our lesson about breeding unwanted pets (ended up keeping four of them because we could not find good enough homes).

So anyway, we separated this hen from her mate and she continues to lay large clutches of eggs over and over. Just when we think she's done, she will start laying again. Here's what I've tried:

-- putting her together in a large flock cage with no nesting area.
-- putting her with one female for companionship.
-- putting her by herself, away from view of other birds.
-- letting her get at least 12 hours of darkness and quiet every day


My latest tactic is to make a small nest out of an open box (not a nest box), and let her lay and sit on them and get tired of it. I have collected many of her past eggs and put some of them in with the current clutch so she thinks she has laid a bunch and will stop.

The clutch before last she actually laid a clear egg with no shell. She has also laid odd-shaped ones. I am starting to get very concerned about egg-binding.

What else can I do?!

[shosh]

I had a lot of trouble with my lovebird..she was chronically laying and I was as concerned as you. I think I may have finally gotten a hand on the situation.
Now, she's a bit different because she is bonded with another female.....so they both lay eggs but Bindi is the real problem with laying.
I did a lot of things....I tried 12 hours of darkness but that did nothing...I tried moving the cage around every once in a while...that did nothing. So, I moved their cage to the opposite side of the room and put the grate back at the bottom of the cage. What I found has made the MOST difference and so far seems to be the key, is to remove ANYTHING shreddable from the inside of the cage. When they come out, they do a bit of shredding, mainly of wood and try and build a nest, but when I see that happening, I put them back in.
Their cage still has toys but not their favourite shredding toys...it's for their own good and I've noticed a BIG difference.

I wouldn't suggest giving your girl ANY nest....that would only encourage her to lay. You want to get her out of nesting mode.....no nest, no materials.
I also read that limiting the amount of food you feed can help because abundance means springtime, means nesting. I also changed their food dishes because the old ones were large and she used to throw out all the food inside and scrape around and LAY AN EGG! Now, with narrower bowls, she can't do that ( and I save a fortune on wasted pellets and seeds!)
Try giving your girl enough food for a day or so....that's it.

Make sure you've got a cuttlebone or extra calcium for her if she lays...and very good food in general.

hopefully, this helps a bit.

[Monica]

If you remove her eggs, there are various steps you need to take to discourage further egg-laying. If you don't change anything around, chances are, the hen is likely to continue laying. With that said, determined layers wont care one way or the other.

1. Remove Eggs
   • Rearrange the cage
   • Perhaps move the cage to a new location
   • Use a cage grate
   • Get a new cage
   • 12-14 hours of complete darkness
   • Decreace calcium and protein within the diet
   • Remove anything that could be taken as a nest
   • Remove anything that could be used as nesting material
   • Don't allow her in any dark place or enclosed area
   • IMPORTANT: save the eggs in the fridge
   • If she lays more than 3-4 eggs, put them back in the cage
2. Leave the Eggs
   • Leave the eggs alone in the cage
   • [Optional] Replace with fake eggs (prevent eggs from breaking)
   • Increase calcium
   • Let hen sit on eggs for 3-4 weeks or until she gets bored of them
   • Once done sitting, toss