Ugh, she did it: Egg

[ChristaNL]

This morning I got a surprise:
Sunny decided to produce& lay an egg sometime during the early morning.
(I found it broken under her perch.)


She *really* is not into being on the bottom of her cage-
and did not make an exeption this time.


Sort of having mixed emotions about this:
no- I already knew she was a girl through DNA testing- so not really "surprise" to find the evidence
but....like everyone else I don't really want any parrot go into egglaying modus because is it hard on their body
- on the other side.... her body is doing better, so egglaying is a luxury she can afford now -> so I also take that as a good sign.


This is her very first egg ever (if the info I got was correct - the previous owners were not sure boy or girl, becaue she 'never produced an egg in her life').
She is only 10 1/2 years old (and a few days).


It is crazy, this is the 3rd re-homer that does this (Japie did not have a chance being a boy-parrot ).
They come in, not laying eggs ever (the greys were 8 and 14 y. old) - and after some months of much better food, more exercise, less stress.... there we go!


Is this something that happens to other people with rehomers too?
Because... really, 3 is a pattern (in my humble-yet-shocked-opinion)



I'd better get back to daily weighing them - I do not like surprises that much.

 

[Kiwibird]

Perhaps there is something in the air at your place if all your females lay eggs? To my understanding and observation, larger parrots (with perhaps the exception of female eclectus) just don't seem to lay infertile eggs often/if ever and especially not outside normal breeding season (Europe is still the same as the US, in terms of it's late summer there right?). Seems to be something smaller parrots are more prone to doing. To have 3 large parrots all doing so would indicate it must be something you're feeding them or something

 

[ChristaNL]

Yup, we are @ 52° NB (north latitude), 5° OL (eastern longitude)
and the nights are getting longer.

The first migratory birds have already left... and I expected the parrots to "cool down" by now.
(the swift/ apus apus/ are always leaving the first week of august)

The equinox is the 23rd of september (12 hours daylight/ 12 hours of nighttime), so it will balance out eventually. :64:

I already noticed the macaw thought my toes were extremely sexy - never would have guessed she would go as far as trying for a family with them

 

[Laurasea]

It could be the excitement of having attention finially, and other feathered friends around. My GCC did this at ten years when I first brought home a second female GCC, she was so excited to have a second bird around. But she laid three one on each day for three days. Then never did again for the rest of her life..

 

[ChristaNL]

SO glad to read this!
Thank you!

Good to hear I am not the only one this is happening to.
We all know parrots react intensly to changes- this is just a rather extreme way.

 

[EllenD]

I would agree that it most likely has to do with the attention that they get with you, and the bonds that they are forming with you...It's probably triggering hormonal behavior, and thus the egg-laying, which isn't uncommon in broody-females, it's just what happens once their female sex hormones get flowing and their reproductive systems are "turned on"...In their prior homes, without any stimulation at all, it wouldn't have been an option (well, that and their diet was probably not very good either, so their bodies weren't in any shape to make eggs in the first place)...

This isn't necessarily a "bad" thing. It's only a "bad" thing if they continuously lay egg after egg after egg....So I wouldn't get too worried about it at this point. As long as she snaps out of breeding-season soon, she'll be fine.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I don't envy you the extra concerns of having laying hens. I'm happy to put up with my surly ol' rooster.
Good luck with all this.

 

[ChristaNL]

Thank you ladies


It really does not matter how long you share your house with them.. they always come up with something new.