I think the food tossing in the girls' cage is nesting behavior and has led to the egg laying. After observing them more closely it appears that two sisters from different clutches two months apart have formed a pair bond. They feed each other and at least one of them has been clearing the food out of their bowls in preparation to nest just like female budgies do when you put nesting material in their box- they kick it all away from where they will lay the eggs or pitch it out the hole if they can. In the adjacent cage separated by a sheet of thin plywood are four males. They can't see them but can hear them. One of these boys spends hours every day madly humping one of his toys. Plus there are seven or eight free flying budgies that "visit" both cages and "talk" to them through the cage bars.
Overall, my flock is a hormonal mess! Opposite sexes, same sexes, or toys. Wanting to mate, trying to mate, avoiding others who want to mate, actually mating, chewing up everything in sight, laying eggs! I'm running around saying "stop it you guys! and trying to separate the horniest "offenders". Imagine what would happen if I was dumb enough to hang nest boxes around the living room? There was an elderly man in Michigan several years ago who's son called animal protection because he had a room full of free flying, free breeding budgies that had gotten out of control. They confiscated about 850 budgies from his home!
What happened to my sweet budgies? How can I stop this chaos short of throwing a bucket of cold water over the whole bunch or putting them in separate cages?
