African grey

[Alland]

Hi everybody can you help me?. My African grey has layed 5 eggs over about a month. She seems very subdued at times. And at other times she sits with her head in the feed dish. The food dish is one of those scuttles feed pots it's all enclosed other than the opening for her head to feed. Once her head is in the feed pot it would be completely dark? Please can anyone help

 

[Seattle]

It's normal for female birds to roost and lay eggs every once in a while. It's a natural part of life for female birds - she probably views the scuttle feed pot as a potential nest which is why she keeps her head in there. Are you a breeder? Do you have her around male birds? Did you take the eggs away from her?

Keep her in a low-stress environment and make sure she gets plenty of nutrition. Remove nesting materials to prevent her from becoming aggressive or protective over the eggs. Finally, just be patient and wait for her hormones to reduce back down to normal levels and then she will be back to normal again.

 

[henpecked]

Are you "pulling" the eggs as she lays them ? I wouldn't, it sounds like she keeps laying in a attempt to have a full clutch of eggs. You can find fake eggs online to give her. You can also move her cage to a new area or change things in her environment. they will only lay when several conditions are right. Shake up her surrounding a bit and see if that doesn't snap her out of cycle.

 

[Alland]

Hi Henpeked thanks for the message. I'm a newbie as you may have guest. Trying to find my way around on here without a lot of success.
I do have a prob with my African Grey she is approx 6 years old. In the last month she has laid 5 eggs and she seems very subdued.i was told to leave the eggs in her cage. And she would come to the conclusion they are not fertile.
But her strange behaviour is quite worrying. She puts her head in the feed pot.
It is totally enclosed once she puts her head through the hole. So therefore must be very dark which she seems to like at this time. But normaly she is very confident talking all day long and mischievous. But since the egg laying her behaviour is very strange.
Kind regards alland.

 

[MikeyTN]

They have the clear version of the food dishes your talking about. Perhaps get the clear ones instead? In the total darkness is where she is comfortable with egg laying. Like Henpeck suggests, move the cage to a new location and move stuffs within the cage around.

 

[Alland]

Thanks Mike for suggesting changeing the feed pot to the clear version. That's a great idea thanks

Cheers Mike

 

[Kiwibird]

You should also provide her a cuttlebone or mineral block. Egg laying takes a lot out of a female bird, especially calcium! And don't disregard Henpecked's suggestion about replacing those eggs with dummy eggs (can be purchased online) or she may well keep on laying every time you take them away. Heres an entire website that sells the eggs and calcium supplements for laying hens-http://www.dummyeggs.com/Alargeparrotpage.html

 

[Alland]

Thank you kiwibird for the information it is really appreciated thank you

Thanks kiwibird

 

[Alland]

Hi guys thanks for all the info previously. But i am now considering a new member to our family a Baby Blue and Gold Macaw. Can there be any hidden problems with African grey of around 6 years old and a Baby Blue gold Macaw. Is there any reason they will not get along together. And the other potential problem is Macaws can develope this heart stopping screech. Is this a trait of the Macaw. Are they generally a noisy bird. I would love to get my second parrot but I want to be quite sure I'm doing the right thing cheers guys

 

[miloslave]

How long have you had the grey?

 

[Alland]

Hi there I've had Peanut about 6 years. I got her around 12 weeks old

 

[MikeyTN]

Hi guys thanks for all the info previously. But i am now considering a new member to our family a Baby Blue and Gold Macaw. Can there be any hidden problems with African grey of around 6 years old and a Baby Blue gold Macaw. Is there any reason they will not get along together. And the other potential problem is Macaws can develope this heart stopping screech. Is this a trait of the Macaw. Are they generally a noisy bird. I would love to get my second parrot but I want to be quite sure I'm doing the right thing cheers guys

They can get along fine together, but the problem lies with what the grey creates, powder dust!!!! A lot of Macaws develop an allergy against the powder dust. That's something you need to consider as you should get a air purifier. Birds scream, there's not much you can do about that but try to teach them to talk or make funny noises as my macaws does it most of the time over screaming.

 

[Alland]

Thanks for the info. But I thought all our feathered friends made some amount of dust with there feathers and re growth. So you say some species make more dust than others? Thanks Mike

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Thanks for the info. But I thought all our feathered friends made some amount of dust with there feathers and re growth. So you say some species make more dust than others? Thanks Mike

I believe all birds make some small amount of dust, but the dustier species are the cockatiles, african greys and cockatoos.

 

[MikeyTN]

The dust I'm talking about is "Powder Dust", it's different then the regular feather dust your talking about. Only Cockatiels, African Greys, and Cockatoos produces such dust.

 

[getwozzy]

Powder down birds are more dusty than non-powder down birds.... They have special feathers that create this dust which helps with waterproofing- they rub these feathers and preen the dust throughout their feathers. This powder dust can leave your fingers feeling slightly sticky since it's kind of waxy, but their feathers are super soft to the touch.

 

[Tosca]

Macaws are very loud and can become annoying at times. You can hear them outside the house and for quite a distance. So if you are worried about a screech now as a baby, then consider the noise as an adult. It gets much worse. Macaws can be loud playing and scream for long periods of time. I suggest your spending some time observing adults before bringing one home so you know exactly what to expect.

 

[thekarens]

If your macaw screams or yells for an extended period of time there's a problem. It's normal for a mac to give a flock call or an excitement call a few times a day, but if they are yelling for extended periods there's a different problem going on, like not enough attention or enough out time. However, their call can be astoundingly loud, so be aware.

Personally I won't have a grey with a mac. I know off at least one person who lost their mac to grey dust and they had air purifiers. It's not worth the risk to me.