They just won't stop breeding !!

[Hudzy]

Hey all,
We are new owners, who started out with a random pair of peach faces just over a year ago, that were about 10 weeks old. They turned out to be a male and a female, and we haven't been able to stop them mating and laying. We've tried removing all food from the cage at night, and putting them to bed early to put them off but it hasn't worked.
The mum abandoned the first clutch at 4 weeks and we managed to hand raise them. We froze the eggs from the second clutch hoping that would deter them but it hasn't worked. They now have 5 eggs in their 3rd clutch.
They don't have a nest box, she is laying on the bottom of the cage...it looks very uncomfortable.
Any suggestions ?
We kept one of the chicks from the first clutch, which we now think is male because he is regeratating to my hand and trying to mount it, to mate we think. Any suggestions on how to handle this would be greatly apprecaited too.
Thanks guys
Bubble & Squeak...& Peanut

[jess_skaine]

How were you able to tell that they were male and female

[CrazyBirdLady]

Are you telling me that the hen is sitting on fertile eggs on the cage floor? If so, you need to give her a nestbox or some sort of nest for her to finish incubating the eggs in. If she hatches chicks on the cage floor, they chicks are susceptible to diseases as well as a good possibility of splayed legs.

After this next clutch is done, you can try the following things.

Change the cage contents completely around removing anything shreddable.

Move the cage to another location or even change cages.

Limiting light with peachface lovebirds really doesn't do much to stop the mating/breeding/reproductive cycle. My lovebirds are winter breeders and the less daylight, the better in their minds.

Distraction. If you can take her out of the cage (if she's tame or semi tame) after this next clutch for lots of interaction with you, it can help to keep the mind off laying eggs.

I know firsthand how frustrating it can be when hens chronically lay.

[Hudzy]

With the second clutch - yes, we left her to sit on the eggs on the cage floor, and froze the eggs so they wouldn't hatch. But it hasn't detered them. When she started laying this clutch, again on the cage floor, I gave in and gave her a box.
We regularly move everything around in the cage, but I'll keep trying. They aren't tame, but do spend about an hour in the morning and again in the evening out of their cages in our lounge.

Any ideas on what to do with the litttle fella who keeps trying to mate with my hand ?!
Cheers, Hudzy

[Hudzy]

We didn't know they were male and female until they started mating and laying !

[CrazyBirdLady]

I'd let the hen sit on the eggs until she starts showing little interest in the nestbox and eggs again; generally 25-30 days after the first egg was laid. At that point is when to move things around. Sometimes it works, others it does not. Lovebird hens can be very determined to lay eggs; little stinkers.

The little guy trying to mate with your hand is obviously very bonded with you. It's a matter of personal preference of what you might do. If it really doesn't bother you all that much, he's just doing what is natural and you can let him continue or you could offer a surrogate "mate" in the form of a stuffed animal or something else soft. Trying to stop the behavior altogether can cause issues like plucking ( I learned this a long time ago with my first lovebird!) and the behavior is hormonal, so it most probably will go away after a bit. Males go through the hormonal stages just like the hens.

Good luck.

[Hudzy]

Thanks for all your help Crazy Bird Lady