# Will birds lose weight due to laying eggs?



## lmw2009 (Aug 17, 2013)

Hi my little bird has laid 5 eggs. She's a great first time parent, always in the nest box and the boy I have takes turns with her on sitting, they are infertile so there won't be any little ones. I feed them both eggs, brown rice, and whole wheat bread, along with seeds, and pellets. She gobbles up the food when she's out of the nest box. She drinks plenty of water, poops are good. So my question is, should I be worried about her losing weight from sitting on the eggs so much? I noticed she has lost a little bit of weight because I kissed her chest and could feel her keel bone. She's not acting sick or anything, not fluffed up in the corner or sneezing, no crust around eyes or nose. Should I be worried?


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

I have one hen that also neglects to eat much while sitting. It isn't the laying so much as her being a worry wart and being paranoid about her eggs I think. Look around and see if something could be making her nervous. I check in on my Perky every day while sitting for that reason. If she's looking thin, I take her out of the box and feed her from my hand. You need to watch these ones, they'll starve themselves if you're not careful.


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## lmw2009 (Aug 17, 2013)

Ok good idea. Question, can I feed them eggs and rice and wheat bread twice a day? Bc usually when they switch turns in the morning she eats the eggs, when she's done with that she waits for the seeds. Could I give her eggs once in the morning and once in the evening?


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

My single hen laid 14 eggs this spring before I could get her stopped, she refused to get off the eggs at all to eat, drink or poop. I had to towel her off the eggs twice a day and make sure she ate, drank and had a poo before I allowed her back on her eggs. I was very worried about her before she gave up on her eggs. She rebounded within days to looking plump and well fed again.


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## lmw2009 (Aug 17, 2013)

That's good that she rebounded. I'm glad she did. I hope that I don't have to go through that. I'll keep a close eye on her. Thanks for the advise.


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