Uh-Oh..... now what?

[superluvrgurl]

Okay so this morning, I got up early as I always do, and opened the cage door to feed my tiels, as I do every morning, except this morning Ryley, my oldest female, was on the bottom of the cage, and she lunged for me as soon as I went for the food dish.:o

Well, she was sitting on an egg. I know to wait until she looses interest in the egg to take it, but here is the problem..... Ryley is housed with another female, Chickin, and as of right now poor Chickin is banished to the very top perch of the cage, or Ryley tries to eat her. Ryley wont let her move. I am not sure what to do. I dont have another cage to house Chickin in to avoid the fighting, and Ryley is getting pretty vicious over that egg....:eek:

So ummm.... what should I do? Ryley just laid the egg on the bottom of the cage floor in the back corner..... so every time Chickin tries to come down to eat, Ryley attacks her and chases her all the way back up to the top perch. I went in this morning and took the hanging toy that Ryely had been "showing a little extra love" to. Hopefully after this clutch, that should eliminate the problem of eggs.....

Not shure what to do from here.... suggestions would be appriciated. Should I move the egg off the floor of the cage? Thanks a bunch!

~Rissa~

[sweetrsue]

If you have paper on the bottom of the cage remove it. A paper substrate tends to invite some hens to lay. Also you need to reduce the amount of light and activity in the room. A period of light less than 12 hours a day is what is needed to stop the breeding urge. If the room remains active however it has the same effect on the hen. She will assume the days are long making it breeding season. Still make sure she has a cuttle bone so she doesn't become egg bound.

[superluvrgurl]

there are sheets of paper on the bottom of the cage, but no paper-like litter if thats what you mean. should I take the paper out? I just put it in there to absorb their mess and make the cage easier to clean. should I take it out?

[sweetrsue]

Even just sheets of paper will look good to them for laying. A metal grate in the bottom with the paper under it usually discourages laying. Unless she figures out how to pull the paper up through the grate and shred it. I would put another food and water dish up high for poor little Chicken. Try removing the paper but leave the egg. She may decide to just stop sitting on it. Hopefully the shorter days will discourage her also. It can often take a week for this to have an effect.

[sweetrsue]

Plukie had the same thing happen to her recently and just now posted how it turned out!
http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=6992&page=3

[superluvrgurl]

so ummm... I have a grate for the bottom of the cage, but I took it out over 6 months ago because I felt the wire was hard on their footies. Guess I should put it back in.... but should I wait till she looses interest in the egg? Or should I put the grate in now and just put the egg on top of the grate? UGH! I almost feel sorry for her cause shes sitting on that thing for dear life and looks so proud.... poor lil booger things she's gonna be a mommy bird. Only thing is.... I really dont like the mood swings, and neiter does poor lil chickin..... she's not even sure what to think of all of this.... lol

[sweetrsue]

I do the same thing, I hate grates. If you can get her hormones slowed down by shortening the days you could probably take the grate out again in a couple of weeks. I would put the grate in and put the egg on the grate. She may or may not lose interest in it depending on how driven she is. The mood swings will also disappear as soon as she's out of laying mode!

[superluvrgurl]

okay so I have put the grate back in the cage, and i placed the egg on top of the grate sort of where she had it. She sat on it for awhile, and then came off to climb about the cage. she went up to the top perch and started preening chickin.... which is strange because this morning she was threatening to tear her to shreads! She's been dally-ing around the bottom of the cage since... I opened the cage door and she came to greet me and lifted a foot to be picked up. Maybe she is loosing interest in the egg? I just wonder if there are more to come.... I read somewhere that clutches can be up to 4 eggs and they arent always all laid on the same day. Is that true? Could this be her only egg in this "clutch" since this is the first egg that she has ever laid?

Poor Ryley, I hope she goes back to her normal self soon. Poor Chickin doesnt know what to do without her.... all the way up there on the top perch.
goofy birds!

~Rissa~

[sweetrsue]

She could very well have decided not to continue with the egg. Generally males sit during the day and hens at night. With no mate she may just follow that same pattern and not sit during the day. They lay every other day but the first clutch is usually smaller. If she has decided that the grate is not a good place to lay she might not lay more.

[superluvrgurl]

well I hope so.... I had to take a picture... she just looked so cute all hidden in the corner of the cage....

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a63/superluvrgurl/12-24-08_1036.jpg

That is before I put the grate back in. I opened up the cage door this evening, and both Chickin and Ryley are out climbing all over the cage as usual. The egg, is still in the bottom of the cage, and she is not bothering with it any more. So ummm.... if she doesnt go back and sit on it again, could I take it out tomorrow? I dont want it to go bad and start to smell since she is not sitting on it.:confused:

[sweetrsue]

Waiting a few days is probably a good idea. It won't rot in that short time. If you take it away too soon she may try to replace it and that's just a waste of calcium.

[superluvrgurl]

Well, then I shall leave the egg for now.... I just hope that there isnt another when I wake up in the morning. *sighs* Ive done all the things that were suggested.... I took the paper out of the cage, its now a bare pan. I put in the grate, to make it more "uncomfortable" I covered them early tonight..... usually wait till nine or so but tonight I covered them at eight. I also removed the toy that she was "giving extra love to" and tomorrow I am going to move the perches around. I hope she snaps out of this soon. lol Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll keep ya posted.

~Rissa~

[Plukie]

You could put the paper back in to make it easier for cleaning, with the grate in she won't be able to get to the paper. Tiels like to shred paper and use that for nesting, that's why Sue suggested putting the grate back in. I have to say since following Sue's advice peace has been restored in the Dooby and Daisy household.

[sweetrsue]

Thank you Plukie! Merry Christmas!

[superluvrgurl]

well update.... she hasnt paid a moment of attention to the egg. Its still in the bottom of the cage. She was waiting at the cage door for breakfast this morning as usual, and offered me a foot, to be picked up and demanded scritches.... seems as though things are returning to normal. Chickin is no longer banished to the top perch of the cage. I think that Chickin forgave Ryley cause they are perched together as usual.... chirping and being happy. *sighs* hope I dont have to go though that again :)
THANKS SOOOO MUCH!!!! for all your help... peace is being restored.
Merry Christmas guys!

[sweetrsue]

I'm glad things seem to be getting back to normal! Keep up the longer nights or you will be right back where you started!

[superluvrgurl]

Woke up this morning.... to egg number two. The first one is still in the cage, it has been sitting there in the same spot, and egg number two was all the way in front of the cage. When I opened the door, Ryley acted as if it wasnt there. She offered me a foot..... took some lovies, and ate breakfast with Chickin as usual. Could it be that she has lost interest in her eggs, but has not yet finished the clutch? I'm a bit confused at this point.

[sweetrsue]

Could be there was just another already developed and it had to be laid. Hopefully she can reabsorb the rest. They probably have not had calcium deposited on them yet.

[superluvrgurl]

I hope that you are right Sweetrsue. I dont want her to just keep laying eggs and deminishing her calcium supply. I added another mineral/cuttle stone in the cage that she was happily munching on this afternoon. Her attitude is back to normal which is a plus, but now I am concerned for her health. Should I be doing anything extra since she is laying eggs? Do I need to supplement her with anything? I just would be heartbroken if anything were to happen to her :( (Maybe I just worry too much, I dono)

[sweetrsue]

With a mineral block and a cuttle bone she's probably getting enough calcium. They do have Calcium supplements but if she's already going after the minerals you are providing she will probably get what she needs.

[superluvrgurl]

Okay update... yesterday one of Ryley's eggs got broken. Dont ask me how.. I just found it in the cage that way. Then this morning at lunch, there was another one.... Jeebus how long does this go on for? She sat on the new one.... for a bit, seems to have lost interest in it again. I dont know what to do with her. I got them a new cuttlebone today, since there was not much left of the old one... shes been munching away on that thing like crazy. *sighs* This makes number 3. Goodness I hope she is done egg laying.:wacko:

[sweetrsue]

It usually takes a week or so for the longer nights to effect their laying cycle but since she already started laying she may want to continue laying 'till she has what she considers to be a full clutch. That's why we all advise to leave the eggs there. If you keep the light periods short she will give up on the eggs after she thinks there is no chance that they will hatch. I've had birds that wouldn't give up on infertile eggs for more than 2 months. Hopefully yours are smarter than mine.

[superluvrgurl]

Well, Ryley laid another egg a few days ago... but there hasnt been a new one since. I think it may have something to do with all the changes that I made to the cage... ( grate, took out "special" toy, added new perches in new places) and to the fact that there is now another female housed with them. The eggs have been down there for a few days now and Ryley seems as though she could care less. She never sits on them. I hope that this is over with soon. I cover them around eight at night and they are up at about eight-thirty or nine every morning. Seems to make them in a better mood too!

[kimmikefids]

im glad she has calmed down!!! im glad we haven't had ur experience...tho our situation is slightly more worrying cause in each case there are males involved!! i hope she realises there are too many fun things to do to be tied down to an egg :p

[superluvrgurl]

meee too :D