Using a hormonal-implant does in-fact work very well for some birds, others it doesn't. It really does depend on the specific, chronic behaviors that your bird is exhibiting and what you are trying to accomplish as to whether or not the hormone treatments will be successful.
There are 2 situations where a hormone-treatment is suggested and where it usually works very, very well:
#1) A female who starts laying eggs chronically, which is very stressful and potentially lethal to her health. If your bird does in-fact lay a clutch of infertile eggs, and then from that point forward continues to lay clutch after clutch after clutch, even if it's only one egg at a time, then something needs to be done to stop this behavior, as it can result in a horrible calcium-deficiency, which can result in frequent bone fractures, heartbeat irregularities, and Egg-Binding. When non-medical methods fail to stop the egg-laying, then hormone-treatment is highly suggested, usually with either Lupron or Depot.
#2) If your bird (usually this also occurs with females) starts constantly and continually masturbating all the time, all day long, every day, and it doesn't ever stop, as if your bird is ALWAYS in breeding-season year-round. Usually another behavior that comes right along with constant masturbation is an extremely unhealthy attachment to one specific person in the household. Female Macaws are notorious for this. Usually what happens is that they will constantly masturbate and regurgitate all day long, every day, with every person in the household, but there is one particular person in the household that the bird has an abnormally close, unhealthy relationship/bond with, to the point where that person literally cannot leave the sight of the bird without the bird throwing a complete tantrum of screaming until the person comes back into their sight. This person cannot do anything at all without the bird being on them or at least with them, such as simply eating dinner without the bird being on their shoulder. The bird has to sleep next to this person every night or no one in the house will sleep. And honestly, in situations like this that I've seen, the relationship is actually reciprocated by the person in most cases, and encouraged by the person. The person also has an unhealthy bond with their bird, and always has to be with their bird. This often develops between people who get their bird, usually a Macaw or a Cockatoo, as a young baby, and has lived with them and been their primary care-giver for years and years, if not decades. Since the bird cannot mate with this person and breed with them, the frustration of this is what causes the constant and continual masturbation on anyone and anything. They can also become quite aggressive with other people in the household, especially their person's spouse or significant other, to the point where they cannot touch each other at all without the bird attacking the spouse. In situations like this the bird's reproductive system needs to be completely shut-down, and their primary sex hormones need to be ceased, and this is where the long-term implants are very successful, usually starting to work within a month or so of injection, and lasting up to a year before needing replaced. However, usually there is an extreme behavioral modification that needs to be executed by the person involved, and a lot of the time they are unwilling to separate from the bird at all...Sometimes this situation is fully on the bird's end and is not being encouraged by the person, but what ends-up happening is that just to keep the bird happy and from screaming constantly and attacking others in the house, the person gives-in to the bird and just keeps the bird with them literally 24/7, 365.
If your bird fails to snap-out of breeding season and just continually displays constant "nesting" behavior, masturbation, etc. throughout the year, and things like a natural-light schedule, diet, behavior modification such as removing her from the corner whenever she tries to go to it, etc. all fail, then it's a good idea to talk to your Certified Avian Vet about at least trying hormone-treatment. Usually it requires a treatment that completely stops all hormonal activity and completely shuts-down the reproductive system, basically "chemical castration", in order for the treatment to work. This would be Lupron. It is often used successfully in humans that suffer from conditions such as polycystic ovaries, endometriosis, etc. by completely shutting-down all primary sex hormone creation and release, and does put the woman into full, chemical menopause. Been there, done that when I was 28, due to stage 3 endometriosis. I literally went into menopause all at once, suddenly, and once you have the shot it lasts for 3 months, there's not way to reverse it...Bad idea for a 28 year old female, as you can't even take hormone replacement drugs to get relief...great for broody-birds though, lol.
