Louise is laying eggs in record time

[Tally]

I've posted about this before and I've tried all the suggestions but nothing has worked. Louise is laying an egg a week now. I've tried covering their cage in the evening so they have fewer hours daylight but in Florida that's tough because it's light past eight and sun comes up before seven. I tried putting a box with shavings in the bottom but she ignores it and the eggs drop to the cage bottom and break. I don't have enough room for another cage to separate them but I don't think that would be a solution. I believe she is getting a good diet with fresh vegetables and fruit along with the seed. They get a tiny sprinkling of calcium powder because she uses her cuttle bone and the veggies are almost all green. I am very concerned about this. She doesn't seem to be frustrated or sickly and certainly has a good appetite which is probably due to her laying all those eggs. Should I be worried? What else can I do?

 

[Teddscau]

I'm sorry nobody's responded. Anyways, laying this often is very unhealthy. Chickens or finches laying this often? That's fine, but it's not okay for budgies. Is she showing any nesting behaviour (lots of chewing, searching for nesting sites, laying in food dishes, etc.)? It's weird to me that she isn't trying to actually lay them in an appropriate nest. To me, it doesn't really sound like she's showing any nesting behaviour. She should be extra territorial, shredding things, kicking food out of dishes to lay in them, begging her mate for food, etc. When my guys get "nesty", they become really focused on shredding, mating, looking for nesting sites, fighting off "rivals", etc. If your girl were a larger parrot, I would recommend having her spayed (or whatever you call it when you fix a bird). However, she's too small.

My best advice would be to give her 14 HOURS of complete darkness each day. I get that you live in Florida, but is there some place you could move the cage to to provide her with this much darkness? Like, a closet, pantry, bathroom, etc.? Obviously, there needs to be a bit of airflow wherever you put the cage at night. During the day, move the cage to a sunny room. But you HAVE TO make sure she gets at least 14 hours of complete darkness every day. I've kept my guys in flocks for years, and using this method has prevented laying (except that one time with Lara, but that's a different story). If I don't give them this much darkness, they become very hormonal and violent (Ziggy, more specifically).

I'd remove all potential nesting spots (dark areas in the cage, boxes, happy huts, food dishes that she likes laying in, etc.). Giving her things to shred is okay-ish, but you have to really limit how much she can shred in a day, as this can be triggering her to lay. I'd also consider buying some Nekton-S (you'll have to buy it online) to sprinkle on her wet food. It's a very good German vitamin that aviculturists all over the world use. It will help ensure she's getting the vitamins and minerals she needs. This compulsive egg laying is hard on her body, and even if it doesn't seem like it, it could be having an enormous impact on her health. It's good you've been keeping her calcium levels up, as this much egg laying can actually deplete her bones of calcium, causing them to become brittle.

Honestly, this is my best advice. You can also look into herbal remedies for controlling bird hormones. Also, rearrange her cage ever week. Swap out perches, toys, move dishes to different spots, etc. This will help discourage laying.

Also, limit her access to food. You don't want her to go without food, but I'd start weighing the amount of food you give them. Apparently, the average budgie eat 7g of food everyday. Since you have two budgies, you'll be feeding 14g. However, don't give them 14g all at once. Again, you want her to have access to food at all times, but you don't want to provide it all at once, as this will give her the impression that food is plentiful, as budgies are opportunistic breeders and are strongly influenced by the availability of food. In fact, I'd encourage you to try to encourage them to eating Golden'obles III (Goldenfeast pellets) and Totally Organic Pellets, rather than seed. You can still give each of them a tablespoon of seed to eat since budgies definitely seem to have a psychological need for seed, but you want to get them on those pellets, as bountiful seed (even when given lots of veggies) can trigger her to lay.

 

[Lacewing]

You can take her to an avian vet and see about the implant that helps regulate the cycle.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Chronic Egg-laying What You Can Do | Harrison's Bird Foods

Have you seen this?

 

[Tally]

Thank you everyone for your help. I've decided to take Louise to see the vet. My vet who takes care of my two dogs also sees birds so she has an appointment next wednesday. I'm so worried about her. I have all the faith in the world in my vet and I know he can help her. I let you know what he says.

 

[Lacewing]

Thanks for caring. Hope to hear from you soon.