Hello, I hope everyone is doing well. I have a question, my bird laid her first egg ever on Saturday (May 23) another on Tuesday (May 26) and the last one on Thursday (May 28). The problem is she has been laying her eggs in different places. She is not a caged bird. The first one was laid on my brothers in law’s neck (which I thought it was really weird, she is not even attached to him). The last one was laid in a drawer which is not even safe for her. She did not sit on the first two eggs, but when I saw her sitting on the last egg, I decided to move the other two eggs and put them in the drawer. Since Thursday she is sitting on her eggs, she doesn’t go out to eat or at least I haven’t seen her (I am worried about that). Right now I just noticed she was sitting on only two eggs (I think it might be because the drawer is not a proper nest and the eggs roll sometimes). Is it safe to buy a breeding box for the cage and move the eggs in there? Even when she is not used to be in her cage and she has never seen a breeding box? She only uses the top of the cage (on the outside) because thats where my birds eat. I dont know what to do because now she is sitting on her eggs and i dont know if I move the eggs she will sit again on them. I never thought about breeding them, and I know that it takes a big responsibility to let her have the eggs. I dont even know if the eggs are fertile or not, but I have been reading that I shouldn’t take them away because she might keep laying eggs and thats bad for her. I have hand feeding 4- week old conures and wasn't a good experience for me because of all the effort it takes. But it is so hard for me to trow away the eggs, I feel im trowing away a life.
Egg laying
- Thread starter Deisyg21
- Start date
Aaaaah welcome to the world of broody hens! There are many members reporting lately about their hens who have never shown the least interest in egg-laying in their lives suddenly being motivated to reproduce, many of them have spent more time with their birds through the Covid-19 lockdown or similar circumstances, not sure if this applies to your household.
I wouldn't necessarily buy a nesting box as it doesn't sound like you are actively looking to breed them. My lorikeet Lilly is a notorious little egg layer and will do so pretty much anywhere, usually on my couch. She lays infertile eggs occasionally (in fact I'm battling to stop her doing it again right now!) and her bouts of laying usually coincide with me spending more time at home like I am now.
I understand the feeling of not wishing to just throw away the eggs, I feel guilty about throwing Lilly's away even though I know they're infertile! However if you are not keen to intervene with hand-rearing should it be required and really don't need more baby birds it may be the kinder thing to do in the long term. It is important to allow your hen to sit on SOMETHING otherwise she just may continue to lay which as you know is not good for her health. As distasteful as it may sound, you can boil her eggs to a) prevent hatching, and b) to give your hen something to work off her maternal urges for as long as she wants until she loses interest of her own accord. Boiling the eggs makes them more resistant to breakage which becomes an issue after a while - if she was to break the shell in a week or two you'd be left with a nasty bacterial smelly mess to clean up! The other alternative is to buy some dummy eggs to circumvent the problems of shell-breakage and she can sit on those to her heart's content. Many clutches of eggs laid by wild birds turn out to be infertile anyway and the parents eventually lose interest and try again next season.
As far as your hen not eating - does she have a mate that is feeding her at all? I know with my Lilly, being a lorikeet for whom feeding is just that much easier, when she was nesting on my couch I was ferrying food and water to her all day for weeks on end
, I have been her butler on a number of occasions now. Other members may weigh in and have some suggestions for you regarding feeding, it certainly is important for her to get enough nutrition if she's entered a laying phase. In the meantime just make your hen as comfortable as you can with her clutch, perhaps mash up some food and hand feed her if you possibly can just to make sure she is eating. I know how worrying all of this can be so I wish you all the very best with your hen!
I wouldn't necessarily buy a nesting box as it doesn't sound like you are actively looking to breed them. My lorikeet Lilly is a notorious little egg layer and will do so pretty much anywhere, usually on my couch. She lays infertile eggs occasionally (in fact I'm battling to stop her doing it again right now!) and her bouts of laying usually coincide with me spending more time at home like I am now.
I understand the feeling of not wishing to just throw away the eggs, I feel guilty about throwing Lilly's away even though I know they're infertile! However if you are not keen to intervene with hand-rearing should it be required and really don't need more baby birds it may be the kinder thing to do in the long term. It is important to allow your hen to sit on SOMETHING otherwise she just may continue to lay which as you know is not good for her health. As distasteful as it may sound, you can boil her eggs to a) prevent hatching, and b) to give your hen something to work off her maternal urges for as long as she wants until she loses interest of her own accord. Boiling the eggs makes them more resistant to breakage which becomes an issue after a while - if she was to break the shell in a week or two you'd be left with a nasty bacterial smelly mess to clean up! The other alternative is to buy some dummy eggs to circumvent the problems of shell-breakage and she can sit on those to her heart's content. Many clutches of eggs laid by wild birds turn out to be infertile anyway and the parents eventually lose interest and try again next season.
As far as your hen not eating - does she have a mate that is feeding her at all? I know with my Lilly, being a lorikeet for whom feeding is just that much easier, when she was nesting on my couch I was ferrying food and water to her all day for weeks on end
, I have been her butler on a number of occasions now. Other members may weigh in and have some suggestions for you regarding feeding, it certainly is important for her to get enough nutrition if she's entered a laying phase. In the meantime just make your hen as comfortable as you can with her clutch, perhaps mash up some food and hand feed her if you possibly can just to make sure she is eating. I know how worrying all of this can be so I wish you all the very best with your hen!
Last edited:
noodles123
Well-known member
- Jul 11, 2018
- 8,145
- 473
- Parrots
- Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
A box (or any shadowy spaces) will only encourage more laying...
You should not be allowing access to things like low-ledges, drawers, boxes, nooks etc..
It's pretty unsafe not to cage your bird...it anything, it makes it impossible to control access to hormone inducing places (as you have described)--not to mention a plethora of other risks.
Please tell me she sleeps in her cage..
Do not get rid of the eggs until she loses interest. You can boil them quickly and return them to their original location (to prevent hatching) or replace with dummy eggs if you don't want them to hatch and aren't sure if they are fertile<- mark them with a pen w/ a small dot and replace them as soon as they are cool in case more eggs appear and you need to know which ones have been boiled (I know it sounds harsh..but if you eat meat, consider the contradiction--chicken, beef, turkey, pork....all came from living things with far greater sensitivity to pain than a few-day-old egg embryo).
If they do hatch, you know you will need a separate cage for each bird eventually, or you will end up with mating or aggressive siblings and an inbred mess..not to mention the potential requirement for your to intervene in the event that the mother rejects the chick or tries to kill it etc.
You should not be allowing access to things like low-ledges, drawers, boxes, nooks etc..
It's pretty unsafe not to cage your bird...it anything, it makes it impossible to control access to hormone inducing places (as you have described)--not to mention a plethora of other risks.
Please tell me she sleeps in her cage..
Do not get rid of the eggs until she loses interest. You can boil them quickly and return them to their original location (to prevent hatching) or replace with dummy eggs if you don't want them to hatch and aren't sure if they are fertile<- mark them with a pen w/ a small dot and replace them as soon as they are cool in case more eggs appear and you need to know which ones have been boiled (I know it sounds harsh..but if you eat meat, consider the contradiction--chicken, beef, turkey, pork....all came from living things with far greater sensitivity to pain than a few-day-old egg embryo).
If they do hatch, you know you will need a separate cage for each bird eventually, or you will end up with mating or aggressive siblings and an inbred mess..not to mention the potential requirement for your to intervene in the event that the mother rejects the chick or tries to kill it etc.
Last edited:
