Question on females becoming egg-bound

reeb

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Cape Town, South Africa
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Berry (♀ Cockatiel) hatched June 2017
Opal (♂ Budgie) hatched 13 August 2017
Pearl (♀ Budgie) hatched 15 August 2017
+ an aviary of 16 other budgies! all hatched 2014-2017
Hi everyone,

I always have this fear in the back of my mind that my female birds will become egg bound, which I know is deadly. I'd love to hear from more experienced owners how to:

a) Prevent a female from becoming egg bound;
b) Identify the early signs of an egg bound female;
c) The emergency steps to take if your female is egg bound (i.e. in preparation before going to the vet)

Thanks! :heart:
 

LordTriggs

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May 11, 2017
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Rio (Yellow sided conure) sadly no longer with us
A) add extra calcium to their diet when you notice any nesting behaviors or if they lay an egg
B) often it will be lethargy and you may notice the abdomen has a lump where the egg would be. You may also notice less poop
C) The best bet would be to put them in a warm steamy room and attempt to help ease the egg out by gently pressing on the abdomen from the top of the egg to assist the process of getting it out, only of course trying when the tiel is okay with it to prevent stress. Outside of that I would warrant a stuck egg as a true emergency situation involving a 'heads up' call to the vet letting them know you're on the way
 

SilverSage

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Eclectus, CAG, BH Pionus, Maximilian’s Pionus, Quakers, Indian Ringnecks, Green Cheeked Conures, Black Capped Conures, Cockatiels, Lovebirds, Budgies, Canaries, Diamond Doves, Zebra Finches, Society F
Hi everyone,



I always have this fear in the back of my mind that my female birds will become egg bound, which I know is deadly. I'd love to hear from more experienced owners how to:



a) Prevent a female from becoming egg bound;

b) Identify the early signs of an egg bound female;

c) The emergency steps to take if your female is egg bound (i.e. in preparation before going to the vet)



Thanks! :heart:



1) -leave the bird flighted. This strengthens her pelvic muscles which prevents egg binding due to muscle weakness. Leaving a bird flighted is one of the best things you can do for the overall health of any bird and that’s especially true of egg laying hens.
-provide plenty of natural calcium sources in her diet year round, such as cutter bone and dark leafy greens. DO NOT add the unregulated supplements bought from pet stores, etc, go with natural. Parrots pull the calcium for eggs from their long bones, not directly from their diet so the calcium needs time to be stored in the long bones to start with. Lack of calcium leads to soft egg shells which are hard for the bird to pass.
-if you are not intentionally breeding, prevent egg laying together through manipulation of the diet and environment.

2) early signs are things like sitting in the bottom of the cage fluffed up, straining, not eating, not moving, etc.

3) put her in her carrier (the one you will use to take her to the vet) and yes, in a dark, quiet, humid room. DO NOT attempt to manually push or otherwise touch the egg!!! As a mother that advice makes me want to scream in terror and hold my private parts (sorry Triggs). You could tear her. And that wouldn’t even be the worst thing you could do, you could crack the egg turning it into a mess of sharp jagged edges inside her. ONLY let an experienced avian vet do this for you. If you can’t find one of those, look for an exotic vet or a farm vet who deals with fowl but please DO NOT do it yourself.


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reeb

reeb

New member
Oct 23, 2017
568
Media
4
Albums
1
84
Cape Town, South Africa
Parrots
Berry (♀ Cockatiel) hatched June 2017
Opal (♂ Budgie) hatched 13 August 2017
Pearl (♀ Budgie) hatched 15 August 2017
+ an aviary of 16 other budgies! all hatched 2014-2017
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I think this is a great thread for others to get useful information!


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