Green Cheek

I have a GC 8 yrs old who has never had a mate just starting laying eggs. What do I do ? What do I do with the eggs? Can I stop this ?

-Where did she lay the eggs? Is she done laying?

-Just let her sit on the eggs untill she completely abandons them. Then take the eggs out and throw them away. This will hopefully keep her from overlaying eggs.

I found the eggs down in the bottom of the cage. I have removed all " material " that could be termed as nesting. I will remove the eggs and I guess throw them away. I will move the cage next Anything else I should do?

You want to discourage hormonal behavior that encourages laying. So longer bed times with complete darkness. Nothing that looks like a nest so no dark hide away spots or anything she can sit in to lay. No warm foods. No petting her anywhere but the head. Rearrange her cage and move the cage to different locations every once in awhile (not sure I would do this now since she already laid but in the future it helps to prevent the laying). You also want to make sure she has a good diet. So pellets, fresh foods etc. If she likes cuttlebone then that already helps out. I offer red raspberry leaf to my girls in their water since it has calcium and helps them pass the eggs. Also, if she is flighted it will help her pass the eggs since her muscles will be stronger.

Since she laid already I wouldn't remove them. She can lay more to replace the ones you took. For now I would give her something to nest in and let her sit the eggs she already laid. If you have already thrown them out and she starts laying again to replace them you can order fake eggs. And slip one into the nest box every once in awhile to try and trick her into thinking she has laid enough ( I think I read the average is 4-6 eggs. My girl laid 5 for the first time this year). She will eventually lose interest in the eggs and you can remove both the eggs and the nest.

For next year if you start early with the things in the first paragraph you should be able to avoid the laying. Sometimes though it is just not possible to stop them.

Don't throw the eggs away!


This is my general recommendation when dealing with hormonal egg laying hens.

• 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
  • 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
  
  
• 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

If you remove the eggs, you must also remove the triggers to egg-laying. If you don't, your bird will just lay more eggs.

If you decide to leave the eggs, then once the hen is done sitting, you need to remove the triggers to egg laying so that she wont lay more eggs.