My bird laid an egg tonight

[bridget503]

Hi! I have a male and female parakeet(and a male lovebird) , and recently they started having sex. I shoo them apart when I see them going at it, but tonight when I looked in their cage, I found an egg. I'm not sure what I should be doing. I really don't want babies(although they would be cute)! Help!

 

[MikeyTN]

Your only option is to separate them while she's in mating mood, her cere is crusty brown right now....Is she incubating at all?

 

[mcw009]

I don't know much about parakeet reproductive habits, but you could also look into replacing each egg laid with a dummy egg and letting her "incubate" those. If you just keep tossing the eggs without separating the birds, she'll just keep on laying.
(also remember that's basically to birdie abortion, if that bothers you)
eta: the dummy egg solution would also require giving them a nest box

 

[bridget503]

I don't know if she's incubating, we were gone all evening, and I found the egg when we got home. I have to work all week, and will have to rely on my boyfriend to keep them apart. Where would I find a dummy egg? The ones in my fridge are too large, lol.

 

[mcw009]

If they don't have a nest, she probably isn't incubating. Where was the egg? Sometimes birds without access to nesting material will improvise, using their food dish or grit cup, or else they'll just drop the egg wherever and ignore it.
I'm not sure if budgies ever just lay eggs without being fertilized (though many other species definitely do). In that case, this could just be a fluke that you don't really need to worry about. If she doesn't lay any more eggs in the next couple days, that might be the case.

I'm not sure about getting dummy eggs- a quick google got me a few results, including these:
DummyEggs.com and theEggShop.com Fake Bird Eggs Stop Bird Egg Laying - Solid Plastic Dummy Bird Eggs
https://www.birdsupplynh.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=375
Or you could ask a pet shop if they know anywhere.

 

[luvmytooo]

Parakeetws lay eggs every other day. Once she lays about 3 eggs , she will start to incubate them , then 17-20 days later you will have chicks. So , if you dont want chicks , dispose of the eggs as you find them. The female will have a rather large poop right before she lays another egg. So , if you see that on the bottom on the cage , she is going to lay another one. Your chicks will hatch every other day as they were laid. . There will be a significant size difference between the first hatched chick and the last hatched.
You can tell if a egg is fertile by candling. Hold a flashlight up to the egg and see if you see a solid form with red veins all around it.
(best I can describe it for you) That is a fertile one. You can also google candling parakeet eggs and you will see pictures that can better help you
You will have chicks if you saw them mating , so dont delay in tossing those eggs. If you decide to let her have the rest of the eggs , get a wooden "cockatiel" nestbox with a concave bottom and put some shavings in the bottom , about 2-3 inches worth. The hen will move and fix the shavings to her liking. You can find the boxes in most petstores , but PLEASE make sure it has a concave bottom or else you can end up with deformed chicks !
Make sure to have ground oyster shells , grit , charcoal and plenty of fresh seeds. You male will be feeding the female while she incubates her eggs. Check the seeds 2-3 times daily including the water . You wont believe how much seed they can go through during this time ! Also offer the usual greens , fruits , veggies you have been doing. Put a bath on the bottom of the cage in case the female wants to bathe. Dont clean the nest box at all ! It will get pretty dirty ,but hens dont like their nests being messed with !
You will have to pull the female once the male takes over feeding the chicks or else she will lay another clutch. Your chicks will be weaned at 8 weeks or a little sooner. Once they are all out of the nest box and eating the seeds on their own , they are ready for new homes. Its really fun to watch the chicks grow and feather . If you toss the eggs from this clutch ,, you can always decide to put the nest box up for the second clutch.
I dont think I mentioned that its best to hang the box on the upper corner of the cage on the outside so you have easy access to monitor them. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do
All the best,
Laura

 

[rochesteralexk]

wait. Parakeets and Lovebirds can mate and produce offspring?

 

[luvmytooo]

wait. Parakeets and Lovebirds can mate and produce offspring?

Not that I know of , lolol. :11: I think the OP said she has a male and female parakeet and a lovebird. I could be wrong
Females can lay eggs without mating too , but of course they will be infertile

 

[MikeyTN]

If they don't have a nest, she probably isn't incubating. Where was the egg? Sometimes birds without access to nesting material will improvise, using their food dish or grit cup, or else they'll just drop the egg wherever and ignore it.
I'm not sure if budgies ever just lay eggs without being fertilized (though many other species definitely do). In that case, this could just be a fluke that you don't really need to worry about. If she doesn't lay any more eggs in the next couple days, that might be the case.

I'm not sure about getting dummy eggs- a quick google got me a few results, including these:
DummyEggs.com and theEggShop.com Fake Bird Eggs Stop Bird Egg Laying - Solid Plastic Dummy Bird Eggs
https://www.birdsupplynh.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=375
Or you could ask a pet shop if they know anywhere.

This is very false! They do not need a nest box to incubate!!!!!!

Yes they do lay eggs every other day. She can incubate right away without waiting for the rest of the clutch to be made. Sometimes they will wait so the babies hatch rather close to one another, but usually like the laying date which is every other day. IF there's a will there's a way. My Cockatiels laid eggs on a saucer plate and incubated them without a nest box and brings them close to hatch date but there were too much going on so they usually crack them before hatching so I eventually broke down and got them a nest box but I didn't want babies to begin with. But they were being so mean to the other birds in the aviary that I was forced to. That way they had their privacy and leave the other birds alone. She liked to nest near by the food bowl so that was the reason why she kept cracking the eggs cause she wouldn't let anyone eat. IF not on the saucer, she lays directly on the bottom.

The poster did say she's got a pair of keets and a lovebird.

 

[mcw009]

If they don't have a nest, she probably isn't incubating. Where was the egg? Sometimes birds without access to nesting material will improvise, using their food dish or grit cup, or else they'll just drop the egg wherever and ignore it.
I'm not sure if budgies ever just lay eggs without being fertilized (though many other species definitely do). In that case, this could just be a fluke that you don't really need to worry about. If she doesn't lay any more eggs in the next couple days, that might be the case.

I'm not sure about getting dummy eggs- a quick google got me a few results, including these:
DummyEggs.com and theEggShop.com Fake Bird Eggs Stop Bird Egg Laying - Solid Plastic Dummy Bird Eggs
https://www.birdsupplynh.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=375
Or you could ask a pet shop if they know anywhere.

This is very false! They do not need a nest box to incubate!!!!!!

Yes they do lay eggs every other day. She can incubate right away without waiting for the rest of the clutch to be made. Sometimes they will wait so the babies hatch rather close to one another, but usually like the laying date which is every other day. IF there's a will there's a way. My Cockatiels laid eggs on a saucer plate and incubated them without a nest box and brings them close to hatch date but there were too much going on so they usually crack them before hatching so I eventually broke down and got them a nest box but I didn't want babies to begin with. But they were being so mean to the other birds in the aviary that I was forced to. That way they had their privacy and leave the other birds alone. She liked to nest near by the food bowl so that was the reason why she kept cracking the eggs cause she wouldn't let anyone eat. IF not on the saucer, she lays directly on the bottom.

The poster did say she's got a pair of keets and a lovebird.

I stated explicitly that they will sometimes improvise, however eggs laid directly on a cage floor, even if attempted to be incubated, are not likely to be a successful clutch anyway... Like you said yourself, your tiels couldn't even manage on a saucer.
The point of saying she'd need a nestbox was only for if she decided to go with dummy eggs. As in, for a place to put them. Cause throwing them around the cage haphazardly or leaving them in the food dish would proooobably not be effective.

 

[luvmytooo]

They usually start to incubate them around the third egg so as they hatch reletively close to one another , yes. But to give them a nst box would be the right thing to do regardless.
Look at the Diamond doves or Finches , they have eggs and chicks everywhere ( that I have seen ). But if you want to do it right and its best for the chicks so they dont get chilled.

 

[MikeyTN]

If they don't have a nest, she probably isn't incubating. Where was the egg? Sometimes birds without access to nesting material will improvise, using their food dish or grit cup, or else they'll just drop the egg wherever and ignore it.
I'm not sure if budgies ever just lay eggs without being fertilized (though many other species definitely do). In that case, this could just be a fluke that you don't really need to worry about. If she doesn't lay any more eggs in the next couple days, that might be the case.

I'm not sure about getting dummy eggs- a quick google got me a few results, including these:
DummyEggs.com and theEggShop.com Fake Bird Eggs Stop Bird Egg Laying - Solid Plastic Dummy Bird Eggs
https://www.birdsupplynh.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=375
Or you could ask a pet shop if they know anywhere.

This is very false! They do not need a nest box to incubate!!!!!!

Yes they do lay eggs every other day. She can incubate right away without waiting for the rest of the clutch to be made. Sometimes they will wait so the babies hatch rather close to one another, but usually like the laying date which is every other day. IF there's a will there's a way. My Cockatiels laid eggs on a saucer plate and incubated them without a nest box and brings them close to hatch date but there were too much going on so they usually crack them before hatching so I eventually broke down and got them a nest box but I didn't want babies to begin with. But they were being so mean to the other birds in the aviary that I was forced to. That way they had their privacy and leave the other birds alone. She liked to nest near by the food bowl so that was the reason why she kept cracking the eggs cause she wouldn't let anyone eat. IF not on the saucer, she lays directly on the bottom.

The poster did say she's got a pair of keets and a lovebird.

I stated explicitly that they will sometimes improvise, however eggs laid directly on a cage floor, even if attempted to be incubated, are not likely to be a successful clutch anyway... Like you said yourself, your tiels couldn't even manage on a saucer.
The point of saying she'd need a nestbox was only for if she decided to go with dummy eggs. As in, for a place to put them. Cause throwing them around the cage haphazardly or leaving them in the food dish would proooobably not be effective.

The reason my tiels weren't successful was because they were in a aviary situation with other birds. If they were alone, that be a different situation. They were so close to hatch date when one of the other birds made her mad. I've had females in the past incubate them right on the bottom of the cage and they were alone, they incubated the whole time. If they were fertile, they would of hatched. I bred them for years to know it can be done!!!

 

[mcw009]

This is very false! They do not need a nest box to incubate!!!!!!

Yes they do lay eggs every other day. She can incubate right away without waiting for the rest of the clutch to be made. Sometimes they will wait so the babies hatch rather close to one another, but usually like the laying date which is every other day. IF there's a will there's a way. My Cockatiels laid eggs on a saucer plate and incubated them without a nest box and brings them close to hatch date but there were too much going on so they usually crack them before hatching so I eventually broke down and got them a nest box but I didn't want babies to begin with. But they were being so mean to the other birds in the aviary that I was forced to. That way they had their privacy and leave the other birds alone. She liked to nest near by the food bowl so that was the reason why she kept cracking the eggs cause she wouldn't let anyone eat. IF not on the saucer, she lays directly on the bottom.

The poster did say she's got a pair of keets and a lovebird.

I stated explicitly that they will sometimes improvise, however eggs laid directly on a cage floor, even if attempted to be incubated, are not likely to be a successful clutch anyway... Like you said yourself, your tiels couldn't even manage on a saucer.
The point of saying she'd need a nestbox was only for if she decided to go with dummy eggs. As in, for a place to put them. Cause throwing them around the cage haphazardly or leaving them in the food dish would proooobably not be effective.

The reason my tiels weren't successful was because they were in a aviary situation with other birds. If they were alone, that be a different situation. They were so close to hatch date when one of the other birds made her mad. I've had females in the past incubate them right on the bottom of the cage and they were alone, they incubated the whole time. If they were fertile, they would of hatched. I bred them for years to know it can be done!!!

I currently have 90 pairs of breeding birds who have been breeding continuously since May, and 25 pairs for a year before that. Some of them attempt to nest on the ground. A few of these nests are successful. By and large, however, ground nests have a very poor success rate.

Besides, I'm not even freaking advocating she just let them keep breeding and ignore it. You seem to be missing the point.
Also, there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to the exclamation mark.

 

[MikeyTN]

What exactly do you breed? and How long have you done this if I may ask?

I don't disagree with you on the ground nest have poor success rate, that is true! But I'm saying that it can be done, not that it can't. Your earlier post saying that they won't incubate without a nest box. Read what you wrote! Plus I didn't mention anything about you saying to let the poster breed and ignore, that's not true!

 

[bridget503]

She laid another egg today, in my bag of cloth shopping bags of all places, lol. I put it in a lined bowl, but in the poor lighting, it doesn't look fertilized. Will keep everyone posted, and thank you all for the advice and information! !

 

[IcyWolf]

You probably won't be able to tell if it is fertilized if it was just laid. Give it four or five days and then candle them and it should be pretty apparent. Good luck!

 

[MikeyTN]

Like Icy says, it takes about 4-5 days before you can see anything. That's IF she's incubating!

 

[bridget503]

Got another egg last night, again in the shopping bags. I bought a nesting box, and some nesting materials, but she doesn't want to go near it yet. How can I get her to go in there, or do I leave the nest in the bags?

 

[mcw009]

What exactly do you breed? and How long have you done this if I may ask?

I don't disagree with you on the ground nest have poor success rate, that is true! But I'm saying that it can be done, not that it can't. Your earlier post saying that they won't incubate without a nest box. Read what you wrote! Plus I didn't mention anything about you saying to let the poster breed and ignore, that's not true!

I said *probably*. That's an important modifier. I don't just include words cause I like the way they look on screen.
I breed finches and I already told you for how long. I think over 1500 total babies counts for a fair amount of experience. I already said I'm not familiar with budgie reproduction, but there are some things about birds that are pretty universal.


Anyway, OP, I assume you've decided to let them breed after all? I know my birds are nervous about new toys and other items at first; a nest box is no different. So give her some time to get used to it and explore it. Once she's comfortable with it, you might try starting a nest for her and see if they'll start building and can transfer the eggs there. I'm not sure she'll start building a new nest if she's already got a fertile clutch, though.

Also, new moms don't always get the idea the first time around. Be prepared to take over parental care when the eggs hatch, if she doesn't pick it up.

 

[luvmytooo]

She needs to check it out first . Hopefully her instincts will kick in and she will feel it's safe for her to lay her eggs. Where are the rest of the eggs ?
If you do put the eggs in the nest , there is a chance she may not go in and care for those eggs . You can either toss the eggs she has so far and maybe , if she is going to lay anymore , she will do it in the nest box. Its really a wait and see game right now. Maybe another poster can be of more help. Honestly I havent had this problem , so I can only make suggestions to try to help you. But I really think its all up to the hen whether she acepts the nest box. Like another poster mentioned , your hen may not "get it" the first time around. She will lay another clutch soon after the first chicks are weened , or in this case , its a lost clutch , she may lay the next clutch in the nest box.