My budgie is trying to lay an egg today. I see it coming about halfway out then she seems to be in pain and picks at her opening but then gives up and the egg goes back in. At what stage do i need to help it out? How long should I let her keep trying? What is the best way to help?
Budgie egg bound?
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ParrotGenie
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Use warm water in bowl, or water in towel will help relax her and she may lay the egg, or massage it out. Do recommend a vet if never dealt with it as you may have break the egg while it is still in the hen and remove it in parts. If this occurs, the vet will use a syringe needle to remove the contents of the egg, then clean the oviduct to remove any shell fragments or egg residue. Leaving anything could lead to infection or internal tissue damage, so you have to be careful. A vet usually use a drug, which may help cause the oviduct to contract and expel the egg.
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noodles123
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I posted on the other thread--- if the egg breaks, you are in trouble. A vet is really the best course of action. You should make sure that you keep your bird warm if you try the bath (think of how cold a home feels at 70 F when you get out of the shower and step out of the bathroom. The affected area has to soak in the warm water and in another post, you indicated that your bird doesn't like getting wet, which means that this could just cause more stress...
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If you’re unable to get veterinary help you can try a little warm olive oil to ease the egg out. Just a few drops warmed between your fingers and massaged into her cloaca may help her along. I got an egg out of an egg-bound cockatiel that way, much to her and my relief. Good luck!
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Thanks for the tips. She is eating, playing, grooming and pooping, so I will keep an eye on her for now and try to help it out first thing in the morning. The vet is closed now so I don't want to risk causing more harm. Is it safe to wait until then?
noodles123
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I have no idea--it is so hard to know without a vet's opinion but it can be deadly, so if there is an emergency vet that handles birds, I would look into that. Can you move the cage to the bathroom, once it is all steamed up? You would want to stay in there and make sure it didn't get too hot---Increasing the humidity could help. I would warm up your house a bit too--pretty warm.
Here is one sites take:https://www.windycityparrot.com/blog/2015/09/24/help-birds-egg-bound-vet-wont-tomorrow/
Here is one sites take:https://www.windycityparrot.com/blog/2015/09/24/help-birds-egg-bound-vet-wont-tomorrow/
noodles123
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How is your bird doing today?
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This is a little nightmare. I found my budgie this morning trying to do her best to push it out. I called the local vet and they wont help. The avian vet is closed for the weekend and was closed last night when I noticed the problem. I have to do it solo. The thing that is freaking me out is she is bleeding. There is blood on the tail feathers and I know they can't lose much blood. My family is coming home to lend a hand and I will try to do my best to massage it out again but I am afraid of doing more harm than good. Poor little girl didn't even bite me when i soaked her and tried the oil massage. She is grooming now and eating because she is a strong and healthy little spirit. Any other tips? You tube videos are in a different language so it's hard to figure it out. I am giving her a break, and will form the best action plan before I handle her again. If someone is a breeder it would be great if you make an English video on egg bound birds. I feel like such a bad bird mom right now. I work in a hospital and know my way around the human body but wow she is so fragile. Has anyone ever seen blood around the vent? This happened even before i tried to help. When I was holding her i can't see the shell or any sign of where the opening is to pass the egg out. It almost looks like her she is pushing her insides out. It goes back in and is in now, but when she pushes I see a bloody skin over what must be the egg inside. When I feel her belly I can't really feel the egg so I can't tell if it's the wrong angle. Will I make things worse by trying to help it out, but I hear she might die if it stays in.
noodles123
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She could have a prolapsed cloaca-- you might try googling that. I am so sorry!!
Are there any vets within 5 hours of you that are open on an emergency basis?
Are there any vets within 5 hours of you that are open on an emergency basis?
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I didn't think of the driving option. I will look. It's funny when cost doesn't matter to save your little friend. Can't wait until my back up comes and I will have them hunt a place out. I am just sitting with her and singing a little song to cheer her up. She is grooming and likes the company.
noodles123
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Keep us posted. I'm sorry you are going through this! I hope she gets well soon.
noodles123
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So glad she made it! YAYYYYYY!!!!
Get her in to see your avian vet as an "emergency" appointment in the morning (first thing--ask them to squeeze her in if they must and explain) because they will need to check on her and likely do x-rays---especially since there was bleeding and the egg was stuck for so long---the other eggs (currently internal) could have similar issues --don't wait to get her in there until it happens again (or they may be closed at that time as well). There is a 90+% chance more eggs are on the way. There is a lot a vet can do to help, but it helps if they know ahead of time---they can give hormones, liquid calcium, etc etc (but only a vet can do these things safely).
Eggs are usually laid in clutches (more than one----4 to 8 total- often with 1-2 days in between the next).
Also, watch her butt closely when she poops and see if you notice anything odd (straining, blood, abnormal pink tissue that bulges out when pooping) and tell the vet...AND, make sure that you explain that laying one egg took nearly 2 days, there was blood and it "looked like her insides were coming out"- A prolapse can pop back into the hole temporarily (I don't know whether that is what you saw) but it does need to be checked. Plus, she is likely exhausted and may need some help catching up on hydration etc.
Does she have cuttle-bone in her cage--egg-laying is really hard on their bodies.
Congratulations on surviving the stress---now at least you can get an opinion from her doctor!!! Phew...
OH----and if this egg is fertile, and you don't want chicks, you may have to do something which seems a bit cruel...You have to either replace it with a dummy egg and discard it or boil the egg-like you would a hard-boiled egg, then let it cool (for safety) and return it to the cage--the latter of these two options is most popular and more likely to succeed. If you remove the egg and don't return it, they tend to want to repeat the laying cycle (the longer you wait to decide what you will do while she sits on the egg, the more the chick develops). You have to leave eggs in the cage until the bird loses interest or until the chicks hatch, and chicks are not straightforward as they seem...Sometimes the parents aren't nice to them, sometimes they need to be hand-fed...and unless you have a bunch of cages for each of them then I would not go that route--when they mature, they will mate with their brothers/sisters and the cycle continues (with the ill health effects of in-breeding).
If she is housed with a male, it could be problematic long-term (for her, and you).
This site shows egg development stages--- you can see that early on, things are developing at an embryonic level, but as time progresses, the chick becomes visible:
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/images/fromeggtoparrot2.jpg
Here is what a fertile egg looks like on day 1 of incubation:
and here is day 2:
Get her in to see your avian vet as an "emergency" appointment in the morning (first thing--ask them to squeeze her in if they must and explain) because they will need to check on her and likely do x-rays---especially since there was bleeding and the egg was stuck for so long---the other eggs (currently internal) could have similar issues --don't wait to get her in there until it happens again (or they may be closed at that time as well). There is a 90+% chance more eggs are on the way. There is a lot a vet can do to help, but it helps if they know ahead of time---they can give hormones, liquid calcium, etc etc (but only a vet can do these things safely).
Eggs are usually laid in clutches (more than one----4 to 8 total- often with 1-2 days in between the next).
Also, watch her butt closely when she poops and see if you notice anything odd (straining, blood, abnormal pink tissue that bulges out when pooping) and tell the vet...AND, make sure that you explain that laying one egg took nearly 2 days, there was blood and it "looked like her insides were coming out"- A prolapse can pop back into the hole temporarily (I don't know whether that is what you saw) but it does need to be checked. Plus, she is likely exhausted and may need some help catching up on hydration etc.
Does she have cuttle-bone in her cage--egg-laying is really hard on their bodies.
Congratulations on surviving the stress---now at least you can get an opinion from her doctor!!! Phew...
OH----and if this egg is fertile, and you don't want chicks, you may have to do something which seems a bit cruel...You have to either replace it with a dummy egg and discard it or boil the egg-like you would a hard-boiled egg, then let it cool (for safety) and return it to the cage--the latter of these two options is most popular and more likely to succeed. If you remove the egg and don't return it, they tend to want to repeat the laying cycle (the longer you wait to decide what you will do while she sits on the egg, the more the chick develops). You have to leave eggs in the cage until the bird loses interest or until the chicks hatch, and chicks are not straightforward as they seem...Sometimes the parents aren't nice to them, sometimes they need to be hand-fed...and unless you have a bunch of cages for each of them then I would not go that route--when they mature, they will mate with their brothers/sisters and the cycle continues (with the ill health effects of in-breeding).
If she is housed with a male, it could be problematic long-term (for her, and you).
This site shows egg development stages--- you can see that early on, things are developing at an embryonic level, but as time progresses, the chick becomes visible:
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/images/fromeggtoparrot2.jpg
Here is what a fertile egg looks like on day 1 of incubation:
and here is day 2:
Last edited:
noodles123
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- Jul 11, 2018
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- Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Also- if/when you boil the egg- consider putting a tiny mark on it so that you know which ones have been done already.
In many cases, it is best to leave all eggs in the cage until the full clutch has been laid...but I am not sure if parakeets are like this or not--You can pull, boil, replace (prior to the clutch being laid in full), but then I would leave them all in there until the last one is laid (and make sure that she fully loses interest).
In the case of dummy eggs, I do believe you want to make the switch all at once (after the final egg has been laid).
In many cases, it is best to leave all eggs in the cage until the full clutch has been laid...but I am not sure if parakeets are like this or not--You can pull, boil, replace (prior to the clutch being laid in full), but then I would leave them all in there until the last one is laid (and make sure that she fully loses interest).
In the case of dummy eggs, I do believe you want to make the switch all at once (after the final egg has been laid).
Last edited:
noodles123
Well-known member
- Jul 11, 2018
- 8,145
- 478
- Parrots
- Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
How is your bird doing?
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