Blue Front Amazon laid egg, advice on making it easier for another?

[BlueFrontOwner]

My blue front amazon decided to lay an egg. She has no mate, I think the reason for the egg was I was placing her in a box in the ceiling of the basement. She kept wanting to go there and stay there for around 8 hours daily. She never went to the bathroom once in there. It was like her nest.

Anyway, I noticed a couple of days ago that she was struggling to pass something. I looked and it seemed like an egg. I heard these birds can have eggs without a mate. She struggled the end of Saturday, all of sunday and finally when I was going to take her to the vet this morning she suddenly passed the egg.

She was throwing up and looked sometimes very weak during the time she was trying to pass this egg. She really struggled to lay this.


If she passed one egg, is there a chance that more eggs will be on the way?

I was wondering if there is anything I could do to her diet to make a next egg easier to pass? I heard that a lack of calcium could be part of the problem for making the egg hard to pass as it makes the shell soft. Is it recommended to supplement with calcium? If so how?

Now that she passed the egg on the bottom of the cage she is not attending to it? Does anyone know if Amazons will sit on the egg?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Please remove the box. Remove anything that could as much as resemble a nest box.

Yes, Amazon hens "can" lay eggs without a mate present. My 14 year old YN did this several years ago. She laid inside her food bowl, 3 eggs in total. She laid an egg every other day AND sat on them. After 3 weeks I removed the eggs and changed to different food bowls and haven't had the problem since.

Your hen may have possibly been eggbound? I am hopeful our "henpecked" will chime in, as he is extremely experienced with these things.

 

[ShellyBorg]

I would remove the box and change the placement of the cage even temporarily. Shake her up a bit so she may come out of "breeding " mode.( Do not shake the bird! Just move her around and may be change up her cage) Don't spend a lot of time petting her either, and keep it "above the shoulder".

 

[henpecked]

I'd do all of things suggested above. maybe a cuddle bone would help with the calcium. The next eggs should pass easier if she is healthy, which sounds like it could be an issue as well. I'd keep her warm, I'd weigh her daily, If she eats pellets switch to a HiPro, Move her cage to a new location in your house. hang some new toys , Shake things up a bit, like the others suggested. Keep us informed and let us know how she's doing. If she looks like she might be egg bound again ( fluffed up, withdrawn) try massaging her vent with mineral oil and if she doesn't pass in the first day, contact the vet. What ever you do don't give her any dark hidie hole to nest in.

 

[BlueFrontOwner]

Thanks for the replies.

She was weak for a few hours after laying the egg (not talking, moving, or eating) but looks to be back to normal and is eating.

She seemed to stay away from the egg that was at the bottom of the cage. I went to pick it up to look at it and then she got all curious about it. After I put it back in the bottom of the cage she immediately picked it up and tried to carry it up to a higher perch. After she couldn't climb with this big egg in her mouth, she decided to take a bite at it. I figured she was going to do that.

I took it away from her.

I guess she is a bad mother as she didn't give any attention to the egg and then tried to eat it like it was a toy.

 

[henpecked]

Hopefully you won't have to deal with anymore. Glad to hear she's doing better. Are you joining the forum now?

 

[JerseyWendy]

..... Are you joining the forum now?

 

[BlueFrontOwner]

Hello everyone,

My bird never laid another egg and is back to normal. However, she keeps begging towards the basement door where I built a little nest for her and probably the reason why she laid that egg.

She really loves it in her nest and I was placing her down there for like 10 hours a day for many months before she laid an egg. I do not know what she is doing inside there as it is deep and dark and I can't see her but she was very happy in there. She never went to the bathroom once and only comes out and lets me take her after many hours when she probably wants to eat.

She is so happy when she is in there and is constantly begging to go down there.

So my question is, should I really not let her go in there anymore? To me I think it is very cruel to take away what is natural to her and where she loves to be?

She was able to pass her first egg after a couple of days and if she was to have another egg don't you think she should pass them without any problems now? How often will she lay eggs by letting her go into her nest?

Personally I would rather take the risk of her being eggbound again than have her being unhappy. Would like your advice on what I should do.

 

[JerseyWendy]

...
Personally I would rather take the risk of her being eggbound again than have her being unhappy. Would like your advice on what I should do.

Dear BlueFrontOwner, please tell me you aren't serious. PLEASE look around through the Amazon section (or other sections regarding laying hens without partners). Please know your hen "could" die if she is eggbound. Are you willing to risk that?

Yes, Amazon hens that are in "breeding mode" may appear to be sulking when you remove their "nest", but I'd much rather live with a sulking hen than a dead one. Your girl WILL get over it once she realizes that nest is no more.

Do an advanced search on "eggbound" or "laying eggs".

 

[ShellyBorg]

Get rid of the nest. Start clicker training and give her something else to do with her time. Think of a women who have tried to have kids for years and never are able to. They get depressed and withdrawn. This is what you are setting up for your bird. Also if you are willing to risk her dieing of egg bound you should possibly think about rehoming.

 

[triordan]

My presumed "male" layed her first egg Saturday night, I have heard it often comes with 1 or 2 more but nothing since then for me. ... I didn't realize how dangerous it can be so I would recommend not allowing the nesting, eggs develop quickly 24-36 hours she could become a chronic layer

 

[henpecked]

Do you think eggs laying , brooding (going without food,water,etc) is stressful ? How long will you let her sit them? Think she'll lay some more when you do pull them? Do you think it might be unhealthy ? At what point do you take the nest away? After she is spent, exhausted,malnourished or dead? We all love our birds and do anything for them ,but none of us give them nest. Oh wait, maybe your on to something !!! Think of all the money we'd save on food,toys, nice quiet bird, never know you had one. Just have to empty the dead bird out of the nest every once and awhile. Don't tell me, you only feed her peanuts and sunflower seeds because she really likes them, right?

Wonder how much this troll charges to cross the bridge?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Wonder how much this troll charges to cross the bridge?

Yup, I'm smelling something, too, here. Phew!!! Perhaps it's time to pull the plug? :54: