EGG LAID AN…—well, EGG!!!

[egg_’n_oliver]

Don’t know what to do to be honest, but we took out the toy she was “mating” with, and took away her empty food bowl (which she was trying to nest in.) . Please give me and my mom tips on what to do with the egg and how to prevent her from laying eggs in the future. Thank you for reading and good night!

 

[LaManuka]

Oh dear, cockatiel hens really can get rather broody, and sometimes it doesn't take much - I've had a hen lay eggs on a bare cage floor, no nest, no empty food dish, nothing!

I would keep that egg, boil it, let it cool and pop it back where you found it. The rationale behind boiling it is to make it a little more durable if Egg does decide to go ahead and sit on it. If she does go ahead and sit, sometimes the shell will break, and if the egg is boiled it means you won't have a mess to have to clean up and off of your bird. Taking eggs away prematurely often means they will just go and lay more to replace them.

You'll need to keep an eye on her in the coming days as it's often, not always, but often the case that where there's one egg there's usually another one forming which may appear in the next 24-48 hours. I would do the same thing again, boil the egg and return it to her. Make a little mark on each one with a sharpie pen so you know which have been boiled and which have not.

Egg may show little or no interest in her first egg, so you'll need to keep a close eye. Some first time egg-layers lay one, have absolutely no idea what it is or what to do about it, and take no further interest. Some however will appear to show no interest at the first egg but get more interested in them as they lay more, a lot of species don't actually go and sit on their eggs until they've laid a whole clutch, or close to. It's hard to say at this stage which way Egg will go, so observation over the next few days will be important. If she starts to show signs of heavy breathing or straining to lay, you will need to seek veterinary attention as she may be egg-bound and this can unfortunately become dangerous very quickly.

With any luck at all this will just be a "one and done" scenario for you. I wish you and Egg all the very best! 🙏

 

[egg_’n_oliver]

Oh dear, cockatiel hens really can get rather broody, and sometimes it doesn't take much - I've had a hen lay eggs on a bare cage floor, no nest, no empty food dish, nothing!

I would keep that egg, boil it, let it cool and pop it back where you found it. The rationale behind boiling it is to make it a little more durable if Egg does decide to go ahead and sit on it. If she does go ahead and sit, sometimes the shell will break, and if the egg is boiled it means you won't have a mess to have to clean up and off of your bird. Taking eggs away prematurely often means they will just go and lay more to replace them.

You'll need to keep an eye on her in the coming days as it's often, not always, but often the case that where there's one egg there's usually another one forming which may appear in the next 24-48 hours. I would do the same thing again, boil the egg and return it to her. Make a little mark on each one with a sharpie pen so you know which have been boiled and which have not.

Egg may show little or no interest in her first egg, so you'll need to keep a close eye. Some first time egg-layers lay one, have absolutely no idea what it is or what to do about it, and take no further interest. Some however will appear to show no interest at the first egg but get more interested in them as they lay more, a lot of species don't actually go and sit on their eggs until they've laid a whole clutch, or close to. It's hard to say at this stage which way Egg will go, so observation over the next few days will be important. If she starts to show signs of heavy breathing or straining to lay, you will need to seek veterinary attention as she may be egg-bound and this can unfortunately become dangerous very quickly.

With any luck at all this will just be a "one and done" scenario for you. I wish you and Egg all the very best! 🙏

Thank you so much for the information, it was very helpful!!

 

[LaManuka]

Thank you so much for the information, it was very helpful!!

No trouble at all, I'm glad you found it helpful. Do keep us updated and let us know how Egg and her little egg(s) get on, won't you?

 

[clark_conure]

I'm not certain but I'm thinking your bird Might just be a female.

In case you were asking..... LOL

My vet said wait 14 days then start taking 1 egg away per day without being seen. Hope that helps that way they don't go right back into laying.

 

[Laurasea]

I dont counter any of the advice , because different species, different individuals parrots react differently. And vets themselves can offer different advice.

There is a bio feed back loop if they start sitting on them ( broody is a term I've heard) as it prepares them to sit and then become mothers. Fir my species of GCC and quakers my own vet and I decided to pull them and toss. This worked well for me and mine.

But species advice can be different. And cocktail are known to have increased risk to become chronic layers. So I deffer to cocktail owners.

Edit: most advice fir cocktail is indeed to leave the egg. On a competing forum I did read advice to add another fake egg after an egg is laid to help so one egg laid plus one fake egg for 2 eggs total Then when second is laid add a second fake egg for 4 totals eggs. This is believed to shorten the hormones time and influence her to lay less. ( of course I have no idea the value or truth of that advice)
This is just a link with Info on risks and the same advice the above members have given you

My Cockatiel Laid An Egg! Now What? | Pet Keen

If your cockatiel lives alone, you may be surprised to find that it has laid an egg. The truth is, like chickens, cockatiels do not...

petkeen.com

 

[clark_conure]

I'm not going to dispute this....I just don't know, it is species specific.

 

[LaManuka]

I've had two infertile egg layers, one cockatiel and one lorikeet. The cockatiel, Kang, wasn't *too* bad, she would generally lay one maybe two eggs at any given time, and would be happy sitting on a faux egg until she lost interest of her own accord, which was generally after only about ten days to two weeks or so. Lilly the lorikeet, on the other hand, would have continued to lay like mad given any chance at all. So yes, species does play a big part in how best to manage egg-laying, and although cockatiels are a bit notorious for becoming chronic, Kang only ever laid about 7 or 8 in her 18 year lifespan, so was definitely not what I'd call a chronic layer. Hopefully that will be the case for Egg too 🙏