Egg Laying Behavior

Hello!

I rescued a cockatiel recently who I believe to be older, based on bloodwork and my vet's opinion, but of course we can't really tell, especially since she just looks shabby (she came from pretty bad conditions).

Today, much to my surprise, she dropped an egg from a perch roughly 3 ft off the bottom of the cage, and the egg made some noise when it landed... she did this a few days ago too, I believe, but I thought the egg belonged to my younger girl who is known to get frisky and lay eggs sometimes. Nope! Now I know I have two egg laying girls, lmao.

I know that in and of itself is not a concern, as long as I don't let the laying continue forever, but... the problem is, she keeps laying from high perches and destroying the egg, and doesn't show any signs of even WANTING to nest. Given that the last egg was on Friday, I'm worried this will keep happening every few days. Time will tell, but in the meantime...

Does anyone else have cockatiels that lay without nesting behaviors? How do you get them to stop, or how do you augment calcium in their diet? She shows very little interest in cuttlebone so that's off the table, although I do have several flavors in different places in the cage so it IS available if she starts feeling starved for calcium.

Any advice appreciated!

The simplest thing is is to figure out what's triggering her, then remove those triggers. It can be easier said than done with a hen that doesn't appear to have any specific triggers, so you may just have to experiment to figure out what works or doesn't work.



This is generally what I recommend for egg-laying hens. (X-post)

1. Remove Eggs
   • Rearrange the cage
   • Move the cage to a new location
   • Use a cage grate
   • Get a new cage/Use a different cage
   • 12-14 hours of complete darkness (may require as much as 16 hrs for 2 weeks - or try providing the opposite, as little as 8 hrs of sleep)
   • Full Spectrum Lighting/Better Lighting
   • Lower the indoor temperature
   • Decrease calcium and protein within the diet (if she is on a high calcium & protein diet prior to laying eggs)
   • 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

Generally speaking, there are triggers to hens laying eggs, and if you can remove the triggers, you may be able to stop the egg laying. Triggers can include toys that she can lay in, a plastic base to a cage, nesting material (i.e. cage bedding), a diet high in protein and fat, too much or not enough light, quality of light, etc. All things that should be considered. Removing the triggers to egg laying should be considered *FIRST* before any drastic measures should be taken. You never know, it could be something simple!

When I was a kid I had a cockatiel names bunny. She was a lutino named after that killer white rabbit from Monty Python and The Holy Grail because she would always lunge straight and your neck in an attempt to scramble to your shoulder.

Anyway, Bunny Laos eggs. She laid over 60 eggs in one year. I did everything I could think of, but I was a kid with no internet access so she eventually died of complications.

All that to say I really care about this topic. Here is my article on hormone control in companion parrots.
http://www.silversageaviaries.com/handlinghormones/



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Thanks for the input!

She had a toy she was masturbating on frequently... she laid an egg again, so I removed it. I might change my light's timers so there's less "daylight" in my room again but I already have controlled light conditions. My last resort if needed is to put her in a smaller cage I have in storage right now, at least until she stops laying.

This is quite frustrating to say the least. She's laying them so frequently I plan on calling the vet tomorrow.