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Post by faye on Jul 19, 2015 20:11:08 GMT -5
I'm sorry, I have no idea what I am doing. I'm just looking for an answer. I have a quaker parrot. Jacob is 15 years old. When he was 10 years old he started laying eggs, he/she would layed a couple eggs and I'd take them out and she would lay some more. We ended up with a dozen eggs. Well that stopped and now 5 years later she has layed 5 eggs and I have let her keep them. I put a basket in her cage and now she is sitting and being the best mom ever. My question is how long do I let her keep these eggs? Thanks for you help. |
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Post by biteybird on Jul 20, 2015 3:07:09 GMT -5
Hi Faye and "Jacob" (maybe Jackie?) and welcome to the Forum!  I don't have any personal experience with this, but others do. I seem to recall someone mentioning that if you take the eggs away the bird will keep on laying more, to replace them. With canaries, many owners replace the eggs with 'dummy' eggs so that the bird doesn't keep laying more but is happy sitting - of course, that way you would not have to contend with resultant babies. I'm sure some of the other Forum members will chip in soon. Please feel free to ask anything! |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 20, 2015 3:54:17 GMT -5
I had a cockatiel that kept laying eggs and she would continue laying if I took them away (there was a male with her). I removed the fertile ones and let her sit on the infertile ones. I would let her sit on the eggs for however long it took until she got bored with them. This may stop her laying. Make sure she is getting extra calcium if she is laying eggs (your vet will have a calcium supplement).
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Post by easttex on Jul 20, 2015 6:14:36 GMT -5
Hi Faye. My grey gets very hormonal and will lay some years. I agree with the others. Just let Jacob lose interest in them. It may take a while. Make sure she leaves the nest periodically to eat and drink.
Laying is hard on them, and I'd recommend you try to discourage it, if you aren't already. The daylight cycle is the primary signal to lay, so if she gets a steady 10 - 12 hours of darkness every night throughout the year, she'll be less likely to.
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Post by aaron on Jul 20, 2015 8:47:39 GMT -5
Welcome Faye and Jacob! Easttex is right, you should do what you can to try to prevent hormonal behavior so you can minimize future egg laying. As she noted, 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness is ideal and will reduce the tendency for her body to think it is springtime... Also, if she has access to anything that seems like a nest (clearly at this point she does because she is sitting on eggs), you want to take it away or prevent access. Also, it is best to keep rubs above the neck, as back stroking, for example, can be misinterpreted as a sexual advance Good luck! Let us know how things go. |
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faye
Hatchling
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Post by faye on Jul 20, 2015 13:14:51 GMT -5
I would like to thank all our new friends for the information. I will take his eggs away and try and keep him covered for 10-12 hrs a day. He has always had a little stuffed sheep in his cage that he gets stimulated by, I was told when I got him that it was natural and he needed the little sheep. I'd better get rid of it too, right? If I get rid of the sheep, won't he rub himself on something in his cage that might hurt him? He has a wooden log house that he goes into and sits on. I just don't want him to get hurt. I'm ok with the eggs, I just don't want to jeopardize his health and well being. He only lays every 5 years or so. Thanks again.
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Post by aaron on Jul 20, 2015 13:27:47 GMT -5
You probably don't want to simply take the eggs away, as this will potentially stimulate additional laying-- perhaps try replacing them with fake eggs.. or I've heard that some people will hard boil them one-by-one and then put them back.
I'm not sure if you should take that sheep away or not. If she sees it as a mate-like object that she might want to lay eggs for, then perhaps... but maybe leave that for now and try the other measures we've discussed first. I'd be interested to hear what the others think about the sheep.
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Post by easttex on Jul 20, 2015 14:05:14 GMT -5
Aaron is right, don't remove the eggs until she has clearly lost interest in them. In my opinion, it's probably not necessary to remove the sheep at this point. It's closing the barn door after the animals escaped. I would keep an eye on it in the future, though. If she seems to be viewing it as a mate - regurgitating for it, or other, overt mate-like behaviors - in spite of the steady hours of darkness, I would then take it away. |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 20, 2015 16:07:47 GMT -5
The eggs wont be fertile, so I would be inclined to leave them there. It will discourage her from laying any more. As to the sheep, I agree with the others, dont remove it at this stage. It is natural for animals to display sexual behaviour and, personally, I dont think it is a bad thing if they have a "favourite" toy. My quaker has not displayed this type of behaviour for over 12 months but he has been ill. Now that he is starting to feel better, I am expecting to see his attachment to his hutch which becomes his best friend Cutting down daylight hours does help, however, I have heard Shah at 3am in the morning getting friendly with his hutch |
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Post by cnyguy on Jul 20, 2015 19:36:46 GMT -5
Welcome to you and Jacob! I'll leave the advice on hadling egg-laying and egg-sitting to those who are experienced. The last experience I had with an egg-laying bird was when our canary William (thereafter called Billie) laid an egg, and that was when I was 3 years old-- a long, long time ago.  All the best to you and Jacob! |
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faye
Hatchling
Posts: 2
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Post by faye on Jul 21, 2015 14:30:45 GMT -5
Just want to say thanks again for all the comments and advise. You people are awesome! Jacob is my baby and I just want the best for him.
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Post by aaron on Jul 21, 2015 16:06:52 GMT -5
Always glad to help! Let us know if you have any other questions, and keep us posted on how things progress!
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All the best to you and Jacob!