Egg Laying - what's normal?

[laurend]

So Missy laid an egg overnight in her sleep cage.

My heart sank a little when I saw it - she wasn't exhibiting the "warning signs" I've read about. The only unusual thing about yesterday was larger than normal poops, but they looked normal, so I wasn't alarmed.

She was behaving normally this morning, but I'm still worried. I've read a lot of horror stories about egg binding and losing birds as a result, so I have been talking with an avian vet about it this morning.

She assured me that it's pretty normal for her to lay a clutch of eggs twice a year, but her biggest concern was that Missy was grooming herself around the vent area a little bit this morning afterwards. She said it can potentially be an early sign of dystocia. My biggest question - have any of you had a bird that did this after laying an egg? I tried searching through old posts, but didn't see much about that specific behavior. I wasn't expecting that to be so alarming since she just laid an egg!

The vet doesn't think it's necessary for me to bring her in yet, but she gave me a list of things to look out for and advised me to up her night phase to 18 hours (or as close to that as possible) for the time being. She actually recommended that I go to a different vet who is very good at working with hormonal/mating issues in birds.

(Not sure if any of you reading this will be from the Midwest area, but if so, please PM me if you have any experience with Dr. Peter Sakas!)

I left her in her sleep cage today with her egg - she was showing no aggression towards me and came out to greet me when I removed the cover from her cage, but I had always read to leave them with the egg until they lose interest/start to ignore it. Maybe a dumb question, but is it possible covering her cage is making her associate it as a nest?

My brother mentioned she may not act completely normal over the next few days - is that true? What is normal after egg laying? Is there anything else other than increasing the night phase that will stop the behavior? Should I avoid handling her at all? Increase time spent in her cage/away from me?

 

[MikeyTN]

Could you post a picture of your sleep cage???

 

[laurend]

Of course.

I don't have a personal computer at home, so I'm working on figuring out uploading images on here from a phone. I'll get it in a few!

However, I'm most concerned about her behavior. I noticed a small amount of blood at the bottom of her cage when I got home. It is definitely dried and appears to have been there a while, but it scared me. I call the emergency vet clinic, and they told me it was normal and considering she's behaving normally and her vent is at a normal size and she doesn't appear to be straining with it, they're not concerned. They of course told me to keep an eye on her, but I'm still nervous.

She's perching okay, appears to have no trouble pooping. She is spending some time at the bottom of her cage on the egg, but she has also been climbing around and perching to eat/drink. She's not acting super hyper or excited (except for when I first got home and she saw me), so that's freaking me out, but at the same time, some nights she doesn't do that on a normal basis.

I'm working on the pictures, but any insight on what's normal behavior wise, I'd be extreme grateful.

 

[laurend]

 

[MikeyTN]

Remove the cover and see if that helps! Someone made some changes to the bottom of the cage and seem to belp with the egg laying issue. Make sure she can get some calcium supplement if she needs it. And just keep an eye on her, that's about all you could do for her. She sounded pretty normal to me, I think she's already pretty attached to you.

 

[laurend]

Thank you SO much.

She's never laid an egg before, and I just read so many awful stories about people losing their birds to egg binding.

I told my brother I wasn't sure if I could ever have "real" kids - today has been so stressful! I'm happy to hear everything sounds normal. I failed at putting her to bed super early so she could easily get the 18 hours of night that the vet recommended because I wanted to monitor her behavior a little before I put her away. I'll have my roommate get her up tomorrow though after I go to work so she does get at least 14-16 hours. I'll keep you posted!

Still am open to hearing any other advice/input/shared experiences from everyone else - thanks all!

 

[MikeyTN]

The main thing is if your able to keep her from getting to the bottom of the cage she would probably stop laying even if she's in 12hr light. Dixie is in my aviary and she's done her mating thing but never laid an egg as she can't get to the bottom of her cage because the way aviary is setup.

 

[laurend]

I can try that. What do you recommend to block her from the bottom? Do I wait for her to lose interest in the egg before I block her from that?

 

[MikeyTN]

The way cages are setup, it's hard to prevent them from wanting to get to the bottom. Dixie have been with us for about 8 years now, not once did she laid an egg. I wonder if the high bottom cages like my HQ cage where the grate is like a ft away from the bottom, wonder if cages like that would help with the issue? But then you have her in a sleeping cage at night which that really don't help with the situation that give her a chance to brood. It's a tough issue.....The way I stop some of my excessive egg layers is I kept changing them from cage to cage and place to place. Removed all the toys where they would rub themselves against until they stop. I've tried the longer night thing, that absolutely did not work out.

 

[laurend]

Hmmm... this is tricky!

She's doing really great today. She had a pretty large poop this morning, but that's not abnormal for her.... but still, considering that was the one difference I noticed in her right before her egg laying, it has me on watch!

She's still laying on the egg, so I'm still leaving her in the sleep cage, but I'm going to remove the cover and see if that helps. She's always slept with a covered cage, but I am the first to put her in a sleep cage. Considering it's smaller and darker, maybe it's causing her to associate it as a nest. Maybe not, but we're gonna try it... and hopefully it will help!

When she came to me from my brother, she was only sleeping 8-10 hours a night... I started putting her to bed around 6pm/7pm so that she would get 12-14 hours to help lessen the hormonal issues, but I think it's safe to say that clearly didn't work.

Now..... what do I do with the egg and when do I do it? Everything I read says to leave it until she abandons it, but how will I know for sure she's abandoned it? She doesn't act like she has a lot of interest in the egg when I'm around, she'd rather see me and play. But I still usually find her laying on it when I wake up or when I get home.

 

[MikeyTN]

You toss the egg when she's no longer sitting on it as it can take about a month. Or anytime before that ifsshe's not showing interest.

 

[Zumaria]

I'm just curious...what would happen if she tossed it before they lost interest?

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm just curious...what would happen if she tossed it before they lost interest?

It would prompt them to lay another! That's why it's always suggested to leave them be.

 

[Zumaria]

Ooh ok! I was picturing explosions.

 

[laurend]

In case anyone was wondering, Missy is doing great.

She sleeps on her egg at night and sometimes quietly disappears from the living room to go lay on it for a few minutes during the day, but she's being her normal CRAZY self. She's acting significantly less hormonal than the weeks (or months...) prior to the egg - I assume that's a result of her having an egg?

 

[MikeyTN]

They can still act crazy while on eggs but it should be somewhat better as their hormones is not in full fledge wanting to mate and all.

 

[halogen]

I know it's a bit late, but Dr. Sakas is great! My vet actually told me the same thing, that I should go to his hospital because he knew a lot more about birds. He helped my mothers' tiel when she was egg bound, and did a great job of keeping us informed and our bird as well cared for as they could through the whole thing.

 

[laurend]

Thank you! I'm not 100% sure how the heck I'm going to get to Niles, but I think I'm going to try and schedule her a visit with him for after the holidays!