Two male Lovies - turns out we were wrong!

[mango_&_sunny]

We inherited a 2nd lovebird from a friend who couldn't take care of it anymore. We already had one male lovebird at home. It turns out the new introduced Lovebird, Sunny, is a girl and laid an egg yesterday.

It is the beginning of winter here so I wasn't expecting any breeding to go on but I suppose it might be different for captive birds? Anyone have experience with their Lovebirds breeding at anytime of the year?

We don't want to go through the cycle of breeding Lovebirds after this potential clutch. We just don't have the right place to do that nor do we want to go down that road. So again, thinking long term, what do you do with eggs that you don't want to hatch. I have heard of people boiling them and returning them to the nest once they have cooled down. Not a huge fan of the idea but what else is there to do if you don't want to continuous cycle of breeding?

So far we only have one egg. It appears that Sunny is holding another egg or two at the moment. We are expecting at least another one to appear in the next day or so. If this clutch is successful, we are just thinking about keeping one of the baby chicks. Does anyone have experience in keeping 3 Lovebirds together? Am I crazy to entertain the thought of having a third Lovie? What has been your experience with this?

Should we be particular with the sex as well? What is better? Two females and one male OR two males and one female?

Appreciate and thank you for your comments/ responses in advance!.

 

[BirdyBee]

Bump!

 

[Terry57]

We inherited a 2nd lovebird from a friend who couldn't take care of it anymore. We already had one male lovebird at home. It turns out the new introduced Lovebird, Sunny, is a girl and laid an egg yesterday.

Just to let you know, the eggs may not be viable. You could candle them to see.

Please keep a close eye on her, if she gets egg bound it is a medical emergency and she would need to see an avian vet asap.

Egg Binding in Birds

It is the beginning of winter here so I wasn't expecting any breeding to go on but I suppose it might be different for captive birds? Anyone have experience with their Lovebirds breeding at anytime of the year?

We don't want to go through the cycle of breeding Lovebirds after this potential clutch. We just don't have the right place to do that nor do we want to go down that road. So again, thinking long term, what do you do with eggs that you don't want to hatch. I have heard of people boiling them and returning them to the nest once they have cooled down. Not a huge fan of the idea but what else is there to do if you don't want to continuous cycle of breeding?

The first thing to do is remove a nest or any nesty type place from their cage to discourage breeding. You can boil eggs, but you can also buy wooden ones to use.

So far we only have one egg. It appears that Sunny is holding another egg or two at the moment. We are expecting at least another one to appear in the next day or so. If this clutch is successful, we are just thinking about keeping one of the baby chicks. Does anyone have experience in keeping 3 Lovebirds together? Am I crazy to entertain the thought of having a third Lovie? What has been your experience with this?

Should we be particular with the sex as well? What is better? Two females and one male OR two males and one female?

Appreciate and thank you for your comments/ responses in advance!.

I got 3 Lovies from their only owner, and they had lived in the same cage for 12 years together. A couple of years after we got them, the male picked a fight with the extra female and he lost an eye.
I wouldn't keep more than 1 pair in a cage together, no matter what sex they are. I have seen people keep several pairs in a huge flight, but I personally wouldn't have more than a pair in a regular cage.
If you want to keep a baby I suggest setting up a new cage.

I suggest reading through the stickies in this forum, especially the one about unweaned babies. That way you can prepare yourself in case the parents don't feed them and you have to.

I wish you the best of luck, and please let us know how things are going

 

[Littleredbeak]

I know people do Two to a cage or multiple if they have a larger flock with a flight cage or small aviary. Terry offered some great advice

 

[mango_&_sunny]

Thank you for your responses to my thread. I have been providing Calcium and Vitamin D to their water bowl since Sunny started laying eggs. The total number of eggs turned out to be 7! 2 hatched. One baby gave up after 9 days. The other baby is 20 days old today. So far so good. I am prepared more now for any future clutches in what to do. For now, I will have to keep the nesting box and materials available until this baby is ready leave. Thanks again.