Egg laying issue.

[Lilguy]

We have a 3 year old female cockatiel named Kiwi. She’s an important part of the family so we are concerned about her constant egg laying. She has laid 11 eggs since beginning of November 2024. She has laid before but it usually stopped after 5 or 6 and months pass before it starts again. We have tried many things. Diet, accommodations, lighting, physical contact. I don’t think this can keep up and not take her out eventually. She is other wise very healthy and interacts with family members well. She’ll lay on the grate or in seed bowls so we gave here a nest, doesn’t matter. Diet change just caused soft eggs, which has been reversed, eggs normal now.

Ive provided a pictures of our cage setup. We also have a parakeet and a parrotlet. KIWI is in the largest cage.

Any and all input greatly appreciated.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'm sorry you and your cockatiel are going through this. Birds are so hormonally programmed to reproduce that it's hard to stop them when it starts, even as you see, when the female has no mate (no avian mate, anyways). I have been through unwanted egg laying and it almost makes me not want any female birds, but some of my most beloved birds have been girls, including Rocky, my BFF budgie that hand raised a couple years ago. Your Kiwi sound like a great bird.

I assume you are letting her sit on the eggs and not removing them. Removing them will just cause her to lay more eggs. She will lose interest in them if they don't hatch after a few weeks. Not saying she won't do it again, but females generally stop when their nest is full and don't lay any more while actively incubating. Make sure she has lots of food close to her nest because she doesn't have a mate to feed her and you don't want her to neglect eating.

In addition to good diet and a mineral block I would get a liquid calcium supplement and add it to her water. Calcivet is excellent. She uses calcium from diet and from her bones to make egg shells and she's in danger of depleting her long term calcium storage. That can cause osteoporosis (brittle bones), trouble laying eggs, and egg binding which is usually fatal without immediate treatment. During the laying process, the muscles contract strongly pushing the egg out. If her blood calcium levels drop too low during the process the muscles can't contract strongly and the egg gets stuck. If she becomes egg bound it's an emergency for an avian vet but if you can't get her to the vet quickly, put a few drops of straight Calcivet directly into her mouth without delay. That will raise her blood calcium quickly and perhaps save her life. Oiling her vent and/or putting her in a warm steamy bathroom can help but the oral liquid calcium is critical. A vet can try to express the egg out of her and it can be successful but don't try that yourself. If the egg breaks she will get a massive infection called egg peritonitis and die. Do you have access to an avian vet? If so, bring her in for a consultation and advice.

I hope she does okay. There really is only so much you can do when a female bird does this.

 

[Lilguy]

Thanks Donna

 

[Lilguy]

How long should we wait, it’s been 4 weeks since she last laid her 7 eggs? Sitting on them most of the time except to eat.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I would think she would lose Interest by now. When did she lay her most recent egg?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

You may want to ask her vet about this. Everything I've read says they lose interest after the incubation period passes. As long as she's eating maybe you should just leave them with her. I'm afraid she may try to replace them if you removed them.

 

[Lilguy]

I would think she would lose Interest by now. When did she lay her most recent egg?

Mid January

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'd give her another week.

 

[The Green Demon]

How long should we wait, it’s been 4 weeks since she last laid her 7 eggs? Sitting on them most of the time except to eat.

I was told my lovebird would lose interest in her eggs after around 3 weeks. It took more like 6 months! But I left them there and ensured she had food and water nearby. She left them for short periods to fly around the house and gather more nesting materials, but I left them alone as long as she kept returning to them. She had four eggs in total and was besotted with them. Eventually, trips away became longer and longer, and then one day, I came into the room in the morning and she wasn't on them.

Now, I discourage any behaviours that might trigger a hormonal response, such as going into cupboards or bags (she loves to find a small space to snuggle into), any stimulating type behaviours are disrupted using distraction and removal of anything like fluffy bedding, throws, or rugs. I never stroke or pet her anywhere other than around her head and beak. Also, if she does begin creating a nest at the bottom of the cage, I will remove it immediately. This all seems to have been successful because we have not had any eggs since 2013.

Sometimes it feels quite mean, but she struggled with the second egg of the clutch, and I nearly lost her. I would rather be a diligent discourager than worry about losing her to egg binding. I hope this helped, and you can find something that works.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I wish female birds wouldn't lay eggs without mates. Frankly, I wish they would only lay eggs when we wanted them to but we don't always have any say no matter what we do.

Even though I don't give my budgies any nesting spots and keep the boys separated physically from the highest risk girls it doesn't always prevent it. Egg binding is an absolute nightmare!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I have a large cage with four female budgies, the mother of two of them, and an older female. They are separated from the father his two sons and a cousin, all males by a solid plywood divider. The two daughters like each other too much. They mate and lay infertile eggs in a food dish or in the cage floor and I cant stop them. I remove the eggs as they are laid and after about 6 they stop for a month or two just to start again. I give them a good diet with chop, veggies and a seed mix plus cuttlebones. They have never tried to brood the eggs. This particular extended family of budgies are prolific breeding machines and I can't do any more to stop them. My other budgies aren't like this. Very frustrating!