Tookie Update - My He is a She!

[kissedbypix]

I awoke this morning to a little suprise! My Tookie I definately a Girl!
No Need to get my Bird Tested........lol
The Proof was at the bottom of the cage this morning.
Sadly her little egg was cracked beyond repair and im not sure what to do with it
shall I Allow her to eat it?....Im off to surf the internet to get some answers.....

 

[Kalidasa]

If she doesn't seem attached to it I would hard boil it it feed it to her. If she is attached to it, I would still boil it and replace it so she doesn't lay more. Well it looks like you can use the money you're saving for a DNA test on something else. . Tookie is an awesome name for a girl also lol! Keep a eye on her, there might be more on the way.

 

[kissedbypix]

thank you! its cracked sad to say I have left it at the bottom of her cage on a clean wash rag to see what She does....Is may sound odd by she has a wooden ring she grabs and rubs up against and I can tell what she is doing....If i remove it from cage she just finds something else to rub up against. This explains why she has been eating shells, I will be going to bird store later to get her some calcium supplements as I'm sure she will need them

 

[MikeyTN]

Or you can use clear nail polish to seal it so she can finish her batch and incubate if she wants to.

 

[kq_fan]

o oo oo ooo you should carefully blow out the yolk and keep the shell!

 

[MikeyTN]

o oo oo ooo you should carefully blow out the yolk and keep the shell!

I did that when I was un elementary school...lol....but if she wants to incubate, they must keep the egg or she'll keep on laying which is not good for her.

 

[Agapornis]

OH my gosh, I just found out my little boy Fiji was actually a girl too! No eggs yet, thank god. I paid for a DNA test, and now i'm sorry I did! Ignorance truly was bliss.

Kissedbypix, is Tookie your only bird?

 

[MikeyTN]

Why you sorry to do DNA testing?

 

[kissedbypix]

Only Bird at the moment....was thinking a male nanday down the road

 

[tiedyed]

Only Bird at the moment....was thinking a male nanday down the road

I was thinking maybe a male Sun down the road. But...bird breeding? Hmmm idk about that.

 

[MikeyTN]

You know by getting them a mate sometimes they will turn on you where they're not as friendly to you! Also you never know if they would even like each other. That's something to think about!

 

[tiedyed]

OH my gosh, I just found out my little boy Fiji was actually a girl too! No eggs yet, thank god. I paid for a DNA test, and now i'm sorry I did! Ignorance truly was bliss.

There's no guarantee that a hen will lay eggs anyway, so don't regret getting the test. We had no intention of getting Tookie tested, we didn't really care since we weren't planning on breeding anyway. Considering Tookie is (reportedly) 10 years old, and the guy we got her from called her a him, we assume that nobody knew prior to this morning's surprise. It also answers the question of whether or not she's happy and content with us. It would seems she's VERY happy and content with us.

 

[Calace]

100% accurate and cheap DNA test!

 

[MonicaMc]

Well, ignorance may be bliss, but at least you don't have to rush to the emergency vet wondering why your *male* bird is panting, at the bottom of the cage and not acting right!!! I've heard of some stories of such owners who go to the vets office only to find out their male is in fact a hen! (vet was able to 'feel around' and felt an egg, or an X-Ray revealed an egg inside the bird!)

So really, ignorance isn't bliss! Knowing if you have a male or female could potentially save the life of your bird!


As far as hens only laying if they feel happy or content... don't agree with this... I have a hen that was laying eggs in her.... well... I wouldn't call it a home... torture cell? She was previously in a house where up to 5 people were chain smokers (as you can imagine, ceiling yellow, house dark, so much smoke you can see it move in the air - their fingers even stained with nicotine), the house was over-run with cats, many cats actually sick with sinus infections and eye infections, dogs barking outside, small cage, which eventually ended up getting covered 24/7 because she was "too noisy"..... oh, and she was literally starving to death. She was near 50% underweight when I took her.... and there she was, sitting on a clutch of eggs, some of them abnormally shaped.


Anyway..... congratz on a little girl, kissedbypix!!! And here's the general info that I recommend for egg-layers!

• Remove Eggs
  • Rearrange the cage
  • Move the cage to a new location
  • Use a cage grate
  • Get a new cage/Use a different cage
  • 12-14 hours of complete darkness
  • Decrease calcium and protein within the diet (if she is on a high calcium & protein diet prior to laying eggs)
  • Remove anything that could be taken as a nest
  • Remove anything that could be used as nesting material
  • Don't allow her in any dark place or enclosed area
  • IMPORTANT: save the eggs in the fridge
  • If she lays more than 3-4 eggs, put them back in the cage
• Leave the Eggs
  • Leave the eggs alone in the cage
  • [Optional] Replace with fake eggs (prevent eggs from breaking)
  • Increase calcium
  • Let hen sit on eggs for 3-4 weeks or until she gets bored of them
  • Once done sitting, toss

In short though, if you plan to remove the eggs, you also need to remove the triggers for egg-laying! Otherwise, hens will just continue to lay!

 

[kissedbypix]

well tookie has had 4 eggs so far, egg three she actually laid in my hand..... the shell was so thin it looked like godzilla stomped all over it and she was protective of egg three so i let it be.....I did however invest in some calcium drops. i left it in her cage for about a week until i noticed she ate the contents. today she laid egg 4 seems a little studier then the last again she is being protective..... will this ever stop? if i shower her with attention will she keep laying?

 

[MonicaMc]

If you treat her as if you are her mate, feed her warm mushy foods, allow her a place to nest, pet her in areas other than her head, etc, then yes she could very well continue laying!



Laying soft shelled eggs may or may not be an indication of calcium deficiency. Sometimes, calcium deficiency is the result of a vitamin D deficiency, and you can't correct the calcium deficiency until you correct the vitamin D deficiency.... may sound a bit confusion, but birds can't absorb the correct amounts of calcium without vitamin D - which is why the sun is so important! Some foods as well as pellets may contain vitamin D but it may or may not be enough.

 

[LoryLover]

Our lory was a 6 week old baby when we got her and thought she was a he. Nine years later "he" laid an egg. Two days later, another egg. I expected the second egg, since I figured lories typically lay 2 to 3 eggs per clutch.

It's been 7 years since then ("she's" now 16 years old) and no more egg laying situations, thank goodness. Keeping her away from any "nesting" type material or area in the mating season has been the way to avoid egg laying for us.

 

[kissedbypix]

so she laid on egg for for a week and tonight she had another one........About a month ago i got her a sleep cage which i keep in my room. she has been getting sun daily.... her eggs are sturdy......she has no nest, sleep cage doesn't have toys to speak of just a rope ring...
her large cage in livingroom is the one she displays sexual behavior in
for the last week during the day she makes little mewing sounds
I was also told limiting her food during the day may help. I'm thinking of just keeping pellets in her sleeping cage where she spends most of her time now as its the only place she really
wants to be at this point in considering a hormone shot...im at my wits end.

 

[Echo]

A GCC clutch is normally 4-6 eggs. So she should stop at that number providing you let her sit on them.