Hormonal B&G macaw: need advice

Hello everyone.

I have a 17 yr old female blue and gold macaw that is acting very hormonal for the first time. She laid eggs in my closet. About 30 days later I slowly removed the eggs. Well the next day after removing the last egg, she lays another one.

How can I stop this? She is very loving and I’m very close to her. But this behavior worries me. Should I let her get off eggs naturally? Is there anything natural I could give her to help with this behavior?

Please help. Thanks in advance.

welcome to the forum
I'm sure we have members that will give you good advice

Hello and welcome!

Where in this wide world are you located? That’ll make a big difference.

The way to manage this IS the natural way: You actually want to leave the eggs. She will sit on them for about four weeks then abandon them as she realizes they aren’t fertile. By removing them you can actually stimulate MORE egg production, ironically.

Well, your B&G is at the very end of the Hormonal season in the Northern Hemisphere. This Season was much longer and more intense than past years. As the Hormonal Season begins in the Southern Hemisphere we are hearing that they are beginning to see the same effects. So understanding where you are in this Huge Worlds helps.

- When you have eggs, especially that number take half and Freeze them and then return them and Freeze the other half. Leave the eggs until she stops showing any interest in them.

- Sleep. Target 12 to 14 hours of dark, peaceful sleep. The TV goes to a very low level as does the other noise in the home. Once stabilized, move to 12 hours night and 12 hours day. Use dimmers to soften the lighting or brighten the lighting as you transition.

- Greatly reduce the sugar in her food servings. Some pellets have fairly high level of added sugar, so read labels. Also, fruits have natural sugar and that should also be cut back. NOTE: The process of Freeze drying fruits increases their sugar contain by volume.

- NOTE: Understand, she has zero control of the on rush of the hormonal chemical. Take care to not inspire /ramp-up the flow (see below).

- Other than the head and upper neck, zero contact with her body as that is seen as sexual.

- Halt providing any warm, mushy like foods!

- Increase the amount of dark green Veggies, than light green, then adding other Veggies. Veggies need to be at least 65% of her diet.

- Remember, this to shall pass!

That should get you underway! I cannot understate the FACT that she has zero control over the chemical rush! But, you do!

Check out the Amazon Forum and at the top is a Thread, which is highlighted in light blue. Look for the Thread with the title: I Love Amazons -... That Huge Thread has a list of Segments on page 1, look for the segment that defines a Diet for an Amazon. Your Macaw can use the same Diet, only adding more protein based on her activity level.

Thank you all very much for your replies and taking the time to address this issue. I very much value your time.

I live in Houston, TX.

I feel bad for trying to take her eggs, I should have been patient and let nature takes its course. Thank you both for the advice to do this.

I use ZuPreme pellets. I feed her a mix of that as well as some human food. I do feed her too many fruits, so I will be cutting back on that sugar source.

I also will start letting her sleep more. I have not been doing her a favor by staying up late and letting her with me.

This is interesting stuff—— I never thought I would be dealing with this. But I love my bird, so I will do whatever it takes to make sure she is well.

Oh Houston, my partner and I are actually considering a move out there to the Katy area.

Wonderful advice from my friend above. We’re about to enter fall season when many birds experience a smaller breeding season (smaller compared to the BIG one in spring). Sounds like your girl is falling victim to it.

This will definitely pass. Definitely follow all that Stephen (‘boats) has said, it’ll help mitigate. I want to specify that you can’t always control presence/absence of hormones but your husbandry can definitely exacerbate it. Once the hormoens abate you can reel back these controls, such as reduced fruits. They aren’t causing it, but can 10000000% make it much worse than it has to be.

My recommendation, if you are going to leave your hen to sit on those eggs for a few weeks, is that you boil them for a good few minutes, let them cool, and return them to her. As the parront of a madly chronic egg-laying lorikeet (we've managed to avoid it this year so far though thank God!) I boil her eggs and make a little mark on each one when I've done so, so that I know which are boiled and which are new if she lays more. The idea behind this is, if your hen manages to break the egg shell through prolonged and determined sitting, it's MUCH easier to clean up a hard-boiled egg than a nasty smelly liquid mess. You can also investigate buying fake eggs online which are made to mimic those of most commonly kept species. You will then have those on hand immediately if her hormones get out of control again!

Thank you for that advice. I definitely need to boil them. It would be very nasty if she broke them,