How to stop budgies from breeding?

[Pikafuey]

Hello! I'm new here, but I was hoping for some advice on my aunt's pair of budgies.

These budgies are a bonded pair, having been together for 5 years. My aunt is having a hard time keeping these two from breeding! So far they have hatched and raised 5 babies, who are all grown now. But the female keeps laying eggs! She is in the nesting box constantly, and despite my efforts to convince my aunt to remove the box, she refuses as there's always eggs in there.

Is there a way to keep these two from breeding besides separating them? My aunt would never agree to separating them, and I heard it's never a good idea to do that to a bonded pair.

 

[Kiwibird]

Would she consider putting a plexiglass divider in the cage so they're still 100% visible to each other when no one is around to watch, then letting them interact when supervised so any kind of mating behavior can be stopped?

 

[itzjbean]

She should be either SHAKING or FREEZING the eggs to destroy the yolk inside to prevent unwanted babies from hatching. If she does this eventually the hen will abandon the eggs that never hatch. It is not cruel and your aunt needs to take responsibility for what she is doing. What if this pair is related? Are they disease tested? They could easily be spreading disease, parasites and genetic problems. Just like a backyard breeder who has no idea what they're doing and just lets their dogs breed to have more puppies to sell. Please tell her to stop! She needs to take the nest box out and let the birds have a break -- any more than 2 clutches a year and it is VERY BAD for their health to keep laying and producing chicks.

PLEASE GET HER TO STOP BREEDING by either separating the pair in cages side by side and for the love of all things holy, take out the dang nest box!

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

Honestly, the first thing is the nest box needs to be removed. Generally, even a bonded pair won't breed if a nest box is never provided, but since they have already bred, just removing the box may not stop them from breeding right away. They may have to be separated to stop the breeding cycle.

Aside from the fact that your aunt does not seem to know what she's doing to be breeding, budgies are a species that once they get started, can very literally breed themselves to death if not forced to take a break from breeding. You may want to explain that to your aunt if she thinks separating them is cruel, letting them deplete their stores of resources like calcium until they can't survive is much worse.

 

[Pikafuey]

I wish she'd listen to me about this nesting box! I have tried multiple times to convince her, and I'm honestly concerned about the female

For a while she was getting rid of the eggs, but couldn't do it anymore because she felt it was too cruel. Despite my best efforts she won't really listen to what I say. I even have egg food for my own budgie that I had offered for her birds; in hopes it'd help the mama bird out nutritional-wise. But she's funny about giving them anything they've never had before because she has it in her head that it'll make them sick or something.

If I do convince her to remove that box, how long should the birds be separated to end the breeding cycle? I have a small cage one of them can be housed in near the main cage, if she allows it.

 

[Cardinal]

Hi I agree with Outlawed Spirit

Budgies can literally "breed themselves to death" and the females will be the casualty.

Perhaps she can get another cage where she can house them in the non breeding season- say 9 months a year and transfer them to the breeding cage for about 3 months a year.

This will also help maintain hygiene in the cage.

 

[EllenD]

The nest box is one of the main reasons that the female keeps laying eggs! Any small, dark place that the female is provided will start hormonal behavior and start her laying eggs, whether she breeds with the male or not.

You need to explain to your aunt WHY the female keeps laying eggs, as well as explain to her that it's extremely bad health-wise for her female to continually lay eggs this way, it is leeching all of the calcium from her bones and causing malnutrition. It will also eventually cause her to become egg-bound, which is 100% fatal without immediate medical intervention.

Removing the nest box is step #1. It must be done immediately or the female will never, ever stop constantly laying eggs, fertile or not. Step #2 is going to be getting her birds on a "Natural Light" schedule, meaning that they need to be able to see a window and the sunrise and sunset. They need to wake up at sunrise and be covered for sleep at sunset. This will help to calm the hormonal behavior...Step #3 is your aunt buying/ordering some fake Budgie eggs. She needs to remove ANY material from the bottom of the cage that could be mistaken for nesting material, such as any type of bedding, shredded newspaper or paper, etc. Only have the flat newspaper or cage liners in the bottom of the cage, that's it, as nesting material/bedding also causes hormonal and nesting behavior. Once the nest box is out and they are on a "Natural Light" schedule, then if the female lays an egg, it needs to be immediately removed and replaced with one of the plastic eggs, and she needs to do this with ever egg the female lays after. And she needs to just allow the female to lay the eggs in the bottom of the cage, SHE CANNOT ADD A NEST BOX BACK IN WHEN THE FEMALE LAYS THE EGGS!

If she replaces every real egg immediately with a fake plastic egg and allows them to remain on the bottom of the cage, the hen will eventually realize that they are not going to hatch, she'll get bored with them, and she'll stop laying them. The she can remove all of the plastic eggs at once, once the hen stops laying on them. She needs to freeze each real egg overnight in the freezer as soon as she pulls them, this will make them non-viable and then she can pitch them.

If these steps don't stop the hen from laying within a month or two, then she needs to separate the two birds, the plexiglass or a cage-divider (they make metal bar cage-dividers) is going to be a must, they will be able to see each other but not mate. If she does this and the hen still lays infertile eggs, then she needs to put them apart so they can't see each other anymore, as the hen is eventually going to die from being bred to death basically, or rather from laying eggs constantly.

I hope your aunt is also providing them with a high-protein pellet diet that is supplemented with a high-quality seed mix, and tons of fresh veggies and fruits daily. SHE ALSO MUST HAVE BOTH A CUTTLEBONE AND A MINERAL BLOCK IN THE CAGE. This diet and the supplements is the only thing that will keep the hen from not only becoming malnourished, but also from becoming fatally egg-bound, as a low calcium blood level is the main cause of egg-binding.

 

[MonicaMc]

Shaking the eggs does not kill the eggs.... babies have still hatched from shaken eggs. Not good.


If your aunt isn't willing to do anything or listen, I'm afraid there really isn't anything you can do, unless you can convince her that it's more stressful on the hen's body to continually lay eggs and/or hatch chicks and if they aren't on a healthy, varied diet, it could eventually lead to her death. Not only that, but the hen needs exercise in the form of flight to prevent egg binding.