Budgie BreedingBefore breeding any species, it is important to learn as much about the animals, their personalities and the best practices to follow for responsible and ethical breeding prior to making the commitment to take on the responsibility.
I have 2 females and one male. The females normally treat him like an outsider but last week I observed him on my older girl (2 & 1/2) and a day or so later there was an egg. She's laid her 7th today. I've had to remove them all immediately because they've all been cracked (she's laying them from a perch) I've done everything I can think to discourage her from laying -reducing daylight hours, cleaned and rearranged everything in their cage and there isn't anything in it remotely resembling a nest, just tree branches for perching, food/water silos and hanging toys, nothing they can climb into or sit in. They get fresh chop daily (broccoli,cauliflower,carrots,peas,brussel sprouts, kale etc) and a seed/pellet mix. What else can I do?
You can try moving her to a separate cage in a separate room for awhile and see if that breaks the cycle. I have the same problem with one of my hens and finally had to resort to Lupron injections as she was laying an egg every other day and I was getting concerned about the stress on her system from that. She has now stopped laying the eggs and hopefully will not start up again.
Thanks for the response...in all the years I've had birds, this is my first time I've ever had one lay eggs. Is this going to happen every time she's in condition?
There is really no way to know if it is going to continue to happen each time she is in condition.
Please continue to ensure you are limiting her daylight hours to no more than 8 hours per day, rearranging her cage frequently and moving her cage to a different room periodically.
Thank you FaeryBee. I've been covering them at from 6pm to 8am but suspect she might lay another egg (her 8th!) tonight. Is the only solution moving her to a separate cage in a different room as Cody suggested? I'm starting to worry with her laying so many eggs...would she stop laying if I just gave her a nest and let her keep one? (just curious, I don't want any babies)
No, please be sure you do not give her a nest.
I'd definitely separate her from the other two budgies into an individual cage in a different room for a few weeks.
Please be sure you are giving her a good calcium supplement in addition to her cuttlebone and mineral block to help replenish the calcium being lost in her laying all the eggs.
A budgie lays a specific number of eggs each cycle.
The first week the hen's body is preparing to lay the eggs.
The next two weeks is when the eggs are laid.
If a hen begins a cycle and you remove the egg(s) and start action to break the cycle, she will often continue to lay until the changes in the environment trigger her body to stop.
Replacing the eggs with dummy eggs is an old school way of dealing with the unwanted laying. It's best to simply remove the eggs as they are laid and not let her sit on them (real or fake)
Nesting is a lot of work, and can quickly deplete a budgies health, especially if there is no mate to help feed her and take care of the eggs and nest.
8 eggs is quite a large clutch, but not unheard of. Hopefully this will be her last egg.
Your best option is to move her to her own cage (with no nest spots available). Don't feel bad for moving her in on her own, it's really in her best interest right now, and you can move her back with her cage mates soon.
Thank you PookieBear. She laid a 9th egg yesterday...I have her in a separate cage on the opposite side of the living room with a white towel covering just the front side (so the others cant see her and fly to her cage) Fingers cross it works, I'm not sure what else to do.
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Help! My budgie just laid her 7th egg
