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Eggs??
May 25, 2016 15:28:56 GMT -5
Post by beccilouise on May 25, 2016 15:28:56 GMT -5
Hi Mike, I second julianna, pellets are really important. I use two types: Lafebers Nutriberry (in garden vegetable, tropical fruit, summer orchard and El Paso flavours) and KAYTEE's rainbow cockatiel mix, which are a good size for Maya's beak. I also make sure she has sprouted seeds as least once or twice a week, on top of a range of vegetables like baby sweetcorn, peas, green beans, carrots and broccoli (Maya likes hers boiled). Maya also, like Julianna's QP, sometimes has a little bit of wholewheat toast and the odd piece of pasta. I tend to try and save seeds for her training treats, especially really oily seeds like sunflower seeds, so they are still in her diet but in a very controlled way. There's a really good list of healthy foods, as well as notes on key things to avoid (like chocolate and avocados!) on the diet and health section of the forum  Also, if you've got calcium powder, you don't need oyster shells. The calcium powder on the food should be fine. |
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mike
Hatchling
Posts: 8 
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Eggs??
May 25, 2016 16:56:48 GMT -5
Post by mike on May 25, 2016 16:56:48 GMT -5
Toni has 3 eggs now. There were only two about two hours ago. Can't wait for this fever to go away. And all I have for her to lay on is a soft bath cloth. I'm open to suggestions. I got the cage from a friend who's Mom had died and I believe Wrens were in it before because it has two straw nests that I removed three years ago. There is lots of room on the bottom is what I'm trying to say I guess. Thinking about going in the morning to chat with the Vet I talked to on the phone Monday this is so unreal.
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Eggs??
May 26, 2016 5:10:10 GMT -5
Post by biteybird on May 26, 2016 5:10:10 GMT -5
Mike, I know this is pretty freaky for you. Try not to panic about it - I know it's difficult. I don't have any experience with this situation (although our quaker is a 2.5 year old girl, so we may have this problem sometime, who knows), but the others have given you good advice about food & supplements and people will chime in with advice about how to make Toni more comfortable while she's in this phase (at least until you get to speak to/visit the vet). Try to reassure Toni and behave normally, as she will pick up on your anxiety...our Bonnie always does. Hope the vet can help you & please let us know how everything is going.
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Eggs??
May 26, 2016 12:34:25 GMT -5
Post by julianna on May 26, 2016 12:34:25 GMT -5
The soft cloth at the bottom should be good for now Mike. Most people on here do not encourage building materials but there is nothing wrong with giving her a piece of Kleenex or cardboard to rip up and use as nesting material. After the eggs are gone, remove the nesting materials.
Don't panic... you are doing a fine job and your bird sounds like she is doing a fine job as well.
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Eggs??
May 26, 2016 16:42:57 GMT -5
Post by beccilouise on May 26, 2016 16:42:57 GMT -5
I second the others, Mike. This is a natural behaviour for a very healthy quaker parrot. The tissue might really help, I try very hard to avoid giving Maya nesting stuff. Just make sure she has plenty of protein and calcium to replace that which she lost in the eggs. She'll be alright |
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mike
Hatchling
Posts: 8
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Eggs??
May 26, 2016 17:33:30 GMT -5
Post by mike on May 26, 2016 17:33:30 GMT -5
I talked to the same Vet I talked to on Monday and he said to come off the regular bird seed I've been using and do go to pellet foods like Zupreen. If my bird shows any odd behavior bring her in. The bird should lose interest soon, providing no more eggs are dropped I've seen LaFeber before and the Zupreen. Toni likes sunflower seeds. Human foods like string beans the bean is always extracted and nibbled on, corn and peas also are good nibbles. Usually whatever I eat is part of Toni's diet. -- Thanks for all the help and I will keep you all posted as to how things go with us here in Biloxi. ----- Whoever changed my subject of Eggs to Hatching needs to rechange it. These eggs are not fertile.
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Eggs??
May 26, 2016 18:51:15 GMT -5
Post by Caseysmom on May 26, 2016 18:51:15 GMT -5
Hi Mike, I am glad your vet was able to give you some reassurance. Hopefully she will stop laying soon, sit on them for a bit, then loose interest. Don't worry the tilte of your thread is still Eggs... Under your name it says hatchling... Just a ranking of sorts that counts posts that people make. You will see different titles under people's names based on the number of posts they have made.
There is advice on the main page for pellet conversion, but I wouldn't want to stress her out too much right now, you can get some and add it to her dish but not replace what she is used to and try some of the calcium ideas people have mentioned like egg shells etc.
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Post by easttex on May 26, 2016 19:21:34 GMT -5
That's good advice to remain calm and remember that this is a very natural thing that your Quaker is doing. Most of us try hard to not let our female parrots go into breeding mode, and there will be a lot of tips we can share with you on that, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed for you for this year. I would do things now to support her nesting activity. Make her as comfortable as you can. I'd go ahead and give her something nest-like. She may lay quite a few more eggs, or may be satisfied with just a small clutch, and then sit on them for a while. She'll be reluctant to move off the eggs. She'll occasionally come out to eat, drink, and poop. Her droppings may be stinkier than usual, since they kind of ferment in there. She'll probably sense that nothing is happening with them before long, and will abandon the nest. Don't worry, she'll come back to normal. Just be gentle and patient and help her through this.
If she is on an all-seed diet you definitely do want to supplement with calcium. Just make sure it also has potassium and magnesium so the calcium can do its work.
**I'm editing this to say, don't worry about having potassium and magnesium in the supplement. They are both important minerals for health, but it is phosphorus and not potassium that helps with calcium absorption. As long as you're giving a supplement made for birds, you shouldn't have to worry about these things at all. Sorry if there's any confusion; my brain took a little holiday.
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Post by beccilouise on May 27, 2016 3:29:19 GMT -5
What everyone else has said. Female birds in the wild do this year in, year out! I definitely agree with the others about not stressing her out too much. Offering high potassium foods is a good shout; red pepper is high in magnesium and fresh banana is high in potassium. Be careful about feeding too much banana, as it's also very sugary, but should help her to absorb the calcium. Sprouted seeds are also really good and you can make them yourself. They have lots of protein in. To sprout your own seeds or beans, you will need:
- an empty jar, some fine muslin netting, an elastic band, a bowl OR a seed sprouter (I got mine for under £10 from amazon.co.uk)
- Mung beans, adzuki beans, chickpeas, green lentils, red lentils
- I also use grapefruit seed extract, but you don't need to use this.
1) measure out half a cup of mixed seeds and put them into the clean and dry jar. Put the muslin over the top of the jar and secure with an elastic band, leaving the lid of the jar off so the beans can breath.
2) fill the jar with enough cold water to just cover the beans, rinsing the beans thoroughly. Pour out the water. Repeat this process until the water runs clear.
3) fill the jar again with just enough lukewarm water to cover the beans. LEAVE FOR 12 HOURS. (This is where you add 6 drops of grapefruit seed extract if you want to, just to help to kill off any bacteria)
4) Drain the water from the jar and rinse the beans as in step 2.
5) place the jar tilted upside down in a bowl to allow the remaining water to drain out of the jar, but also making sure the jar is able to breathe.
6) Rinse the beans as in step 2 every 8-12 hours for three days. You will see that the beans start to split and germinate with small sprouts.
7) After 2 - 3 days, rinse the sprouted beans again, put them into a plastic container and refrigerate them, serving to your bird as needed. Sprouts can be refrigerated for up to three days. If sprouts appear to be brown, do not sprout, or become waxy to the touch, throw them away.
Maya loves the sprouts. They are an excellent source of living protein, and many avian vets and nutritionists now recommend adding sprouts to the diets of captive birds as a key part of their diet. Once you've gone through the process of sprouting once, it's really easy to do again. I do it regularly, and also sprout alfalfa seeds and quinoa on a regular basis.
Once she's lost interest in her eggs, a Lafeber or Zupreem diet will be a really good shout. Maya has KAYTEE's as her regular pellets, as they have a little calcium in, and also has some of the Lafebers pellets in her foraging bucket. Hagen and Harrisons also do really good pelleted diets and Rosemary Lowe has a book out about parrot nutrition with lots of great advice, which I can highly recommend as I have bought it. I think it's called something like 'Nutrition for Parrot's and Finches' or something similar, but it's by Rosemary Lowe and is excellent. I also subscribe to Parrots magazine, which has lots of good advice about diet and nutrition, as well as behaviour advice, advice for breeders and for companion birds during the breeding season, as well as other things. It's definitely worth looking into!
Don't worry, your birdie is fine. It's a learning curve that we all have to face at some point, working out how our birds respond to the breeding season and what is best to ensure their health and happiness. Next year, making sure she gets 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness per day during the summer, as well as removing any nest-like areas from her cage and avoiding feeding her soft foods, particularly if it is warm, will really help to reduce her nesting behaviour and hormones. Hope this helps!
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mike
Hatchling
Posts: 8
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Eggs??
Jun 5, 2016 16:10:35 GMT -5
Post by mike on Jun 5, 2016 16:10:35 GMT -5
I'm back again giving updates. Two eggs got broken and removed and the third egg, which was the last one laid is still being sat on. This third one came forth on May 25 and is still being sat on. Toni has been coming out and visiting with me some and then going back to that one egg. Counting today it has been 11 days of Toni nesting a non fertile egg. What is the length of time some of you have had your bird nest?
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Eggs??
Jun 5, 2016 16:24:02 GMT -5
Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 5, 2016 16:24:02 GMT -5
My cockatiel nested for over 3 weeks. She will eventually lose interest.
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Eggs??
Jun 5, 2016 16:58:06 GMT -5
Post by easttex on Jun 5, 2016 16:58:06 GMT -5
It has varied with my grey, but it doesn't take more than a few days for her to quit. I don't think what you're seeing is terribly unusual, though. With fertile eggs a Quaker will sit for about four weeks, and I'd expect her to quit before that. It's good that she's coming out to visit you. They often won't.
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Eggs??
Jun 6, 2016 12:51:18 GMT -5
Post by julianna on Jun 6, 2016 12:51:18 GMT -5
I have never experienced unfertile eggs so I really cannot add any advice. When I had my lovebirds... they really enjoyed eating some boiled egg... and hopefully your little one will enjoy it as well.
Best wishes.
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Eggs??
Jun 7, 2016 6:16:12 GMT -5
Post by biteybird on Jun 7, 2016 6:16:12 GMT -5
Bonnie hasn't shown any sign of getting broody. I'm hoping she won't lay eggs...fingers crossed, but I guess it's possible at some point.
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Post by beccilouise on Jun 7, 2016 10:09:50 GMT -5
I think it depends heavily on the species and, within that, from bird to bird. Almost certainly, when it gets close to the time they should be hatching and they don't hatch, she'll get bored. Others have more experience of this than me, I'm just going off what I've read. But I think 11 or so days is nothing to worry about. Remember, this is natural, normal, healthy behaviour.
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