Guilt about potentially having to remove GCC eggs

[kaiyla]

I have a male and female green that are EXTREMELY bonded.

FOR FEAR OF HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE EGG SITUATION, I SEPARATED THEM INITIALLY WHEN I FIRST GOT THEM A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, (apologies I don’t know why that’s in caps, but I’m too lazy to fix it) and the male became so stressed, he plucked his feathers from his chest. I felt awful for him and returned them to the same cage together. They sleep together, they eat and forage together.. it’s clear that they have a better life being together.

Anyway, they just turned two years old and have been meeting like five times a day the last two weeks.

I guess this means I should get a lay box for her? The problem is this, I cohabitate with these two green cheeks and quaker parrot. I cannot take on another parrot OR parrots if they have eggs, and they are to hatch..

This makes me feel incredibly guilty, because I don’t know what to do.
I’m very bonded to my birds myself, and they are my whole life. (Maybe TMI but I’ve been diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression. I’m recently, unemployed, and have separated myself from a 15 year relationship, and went through a series of deaths of loved ones). My birds give me such comfort right now. When I say my birds mean everything to me lol I mean it.

If they have an egg, it’s like.. that some thing that they created together. In nature, this would be so natural, and no human would have to tamper with it.

I just want to go about disposing the eggs in the most humane way but I don’t know how.

May I have some direction here please? Anything is appreciated.

 

[Jcas]

I totally understand your birds meaning so much to you! It sounds like your conures are much happier together! However, they don’t need to become parents in order to be more “fulfilled” if that makes sense. The best thing to do is DON’T put in a nest box or any kind of hiding/ nesting spot as that will encourage the laying of eggs. Birds can mate all the time but that does not necessarily mean that the female will lay eggs.

If an egg ( s) does happen, immediately removing the egg and disposing of it is the first step. If it hasn’t been exposed to the right temperature ( under the hen) for more than 24 hrs there is no development in the egg, so merely removing it will prevent a chick from developing. If the hen has shown an inclination to sit or continue laying eggs, then many people seem to find success with replacing the real egg(s) with fake ones. The hen will sit for several weeks then eventually realize that nothing is hatching and will return to her normal life. This is a very natural way to let her work through that desire to set. It’s totally okay to acknowledge that you can’t take on more birds right now and to take steps to prevent that from happening! Again, though, mating doesn’t automatically equal egg laying so you may have nothing to worry about 🙂

 

[kaiyla]

I totally understand your birds meaning so much to you! It sounds like your conures are much happier together! However, they don’t need to become parents in order to be more “fulfilled” if that makes sense. The best thing to do is DON’T put in a nest box or any kind of hiding/ nesting spot as that will encourage the laying of eggs. Birds can mate all the time but that does not necessarily mean that the female will lay eggs.

If an egg ( s) does happen, immediately removing the egg and disposing of it is the first step. If it hasn’t been exposed to the right temperature ( under the hen) for more than 24 hrs there is no development in the egg, so merely removing it will prevent a chick from developing. If the hen has shown an inclination to sit or continue laying eggs, then many people seem to find success with replacing the real egg(s) with fake ones. The hen will sit for several weeks then eventually realize that nothing is hatching and will return to her normal life. This is a very natural way to let her work through that desire to set. It’s totally okay to acknowledge that you can’t take on more birds right now and to take steps to prevent that from happening! Again, though, mating doesn’t automatically equal egg laying so you may have nothing to worry about 🙂

Thank you so much for this reply!! Will she end up egg bound if I don’t put the lay box in? Ugh because I already did before I read this, but I will remove it immediately if that’s what it calls for, which sounds like it does.

 

[Jcas]

Thank you so much for this reply!! Will she end up egg bound if I don’t put the lay box in? Ugh because I already did before I read this, but I will remove it immediately if that’s what it calls for, which sounds like it does.

Not having a nest box should not have any effect on egg binding. Most often that seems to be caused by lack of calcium in the diet. Without a place to lay, hopefully that will help prevent her body from even making eggs in the first place 🙂.