# Someone laid an egg. What now?



## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Okay. So. I went upstairs to clean out the bowls. I got sidetracked and went back down to the bird room 30-40 minutes later. There is an egg in the middle of the cage on the bottom grate on top of a paper plate. 

Both girls are in the cage and neither is anywhere near it. I held it up to both of them. Willow hissed at me and farrah beaked it so id get it away from her. 

I grabbed it and headed upstairs to toss it in the trash. Then I thought about what I was doing. Now I am not sure. 

Knowing both girls extremely well.... I think either could of laid it. I also think neither one cares a thing about the egg or raising babies. 

I had to move the egg bc they were kicking it around on accident. 

I had nothing so I set it in the least used food bowl with some seed around it. 

Do you think whoever it is will lay again? Is it okay to take the egg away since neither even cares?


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

I think they may ignore it until they lay another one (if they do). Then they may want to sit on it. I would leave it and wait a few days and see if another is laid and then they become interested. If they do you can boil them or replace them with dummy eggs to prevent her from laying more.

You know Phoebe laid and ignored that egg for most of the day, but now she had laid number two she is sitting and very protective.

I hope others have more advice, because I am in the same situation! Well, except mine are possibly fertile eggs!

Why are our girls laying eggs!? It is nearly winter!


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

its breeding season lol mine are a bit hormonal, but no eggs from the tiels. munch laid eggs, but thats yearly for us. 

leave the egg where you found it. if she doesnt lay more in a week and shows no interest then, you might be able to take it away.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

I will leave in the food bowl. If I leave it on the grate- Somebody is going to break it. I don't want anybody replacing broken eggs. I need to find my culprit lol


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I dread the day, haha. Keep us posted!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The culprit may or may not lay another egg. If you can keep the suspects in separate cages, the guilty hen might identify herself by laying another one. 

Are any of your birds male, and if so, have you seen any mating?

Hormone control techniques may help prevent more egg laying http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

It's two girls and two boys in the cage. I have caught ama trying with farrah once. But she bucked him off. Willow has some stains on her back like someone has pooped on her so I'm thinking she has been spending time on the bottom waiting to lay. I hate separating anybody bc they all have weird attachments to one another. They are on hormone reduction already. 

I'm really hoping it will just be the one egg. Neither girl has interest.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

If you had side by side cages you could keep everyone close together enough to satisfy the flock bond. It would just be temporary, until you knew who was laying eggs.

But since you already have reason to suspect Willow, maybe it will be enough to keep a close eye on her to see what she's doing.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

if there is another egg tonight, i will pull the travel cage up next to the big cage and put two in it if i can't figure it out. 

since i'm obviously separating the girls- would it be smart to put ama in the cage with willow (who i am suspecting) since he is likely the father? 

or would it be better to put grey in with her since he is older and would probably be more of a help if she decides to sit?

edit: stupid birds. lol. i sound like a soap opera.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The best bird to put with her is the one that she's happiest to be with. If she's equally happy with either, you can choose, and if she's not very pleased with either one of them she might be better off alone for the time being.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

she hates everyone. lol. but i don't know how she'd fair on her own. i will see if we have an egg when i get home. if so, i will go with the flow and see what works and report back. 

thanks!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

There are a lot of what-ifs here. How many eggs will she lay, will she incubate them, are they fertile, will they hatch. If she ends up hatching out 3 or fewer babies she should be able to take care of them by herself (will she take care of the chicks is another what-if). If she hatches out 4 or more babies she will probably need help feeding them. But you haven't come to that bridge yet so there's no point in worrying about how you're going to cross it.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

tielfan said:


> There are a lot of what-ifs here. How many eggs will she lay, will she incubate them, are they fertile, will they hatch. If she ends up hatching out 3 or fewer babies she should be able to take care of them by herself (will she take care of the chicks is another what-if). If she hatches out 4 or more babies she will probably need help feeding them. But you haven't come to that bridge yet so there's no point in worrying about how you're going to cross it.


Yeah. I'm just kind of playing with the waiting game here at this point. I highly doubt if she does lay more and sits that they are fertile, but it's all what if at this point. 

And then there is the possibility that it's farrah which is a totally different story. one step at a time. 

I'm prepared knowledge wise, so I'll ask more individualized questions based on the situation as i go. 

Thanks for the suggestions and the advice, carolyn. it's nice to hear things you don't think of when this stuff is happening.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Egg #2 tonight. I separated willow with grey. Grey is upset to be away from ama but I sat the cages next to each other. Grey went down twice and rolled the eggs around and willow has ignored them entirely. Grey is pretty much glued to the side of the cage so he can be close to ama. And ama is staying close by.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Also. Willow was protecting the egg and keeping everyone away from the food. And she attacked me a couple of times and then she decided shed rather come out and play than sit on her eggs.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

OK, you've identified the culprit. Now you'll have to wait and see whether anyone develops an interest in the eggs. It's possible that Grey might take an interest later on; rolling the eggs around could be breeding behavior, since they have to be turned periodically. But it sounds like he's too concerned about Ama to be seriously interested in nesting.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

I will really know when I get home... She should lay #3 tonight and she was nesty over the last one until she realized it was play time. I will update!


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

she laid egg three last night on a paper plate. we were outside the cage and she sat down and started smacking her beak around. she worried me a little bit bc she started making a weird noise while she was pushing, but she got it out. so i gave her back her paper plate and she pushed them around a little bit.

i swapped ama and grey bc ama loves willow and willow is being needy right now (needy as in- wanted to get close to someone and cuddle and preen) and grey wasn't obliging.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Aww all these eggs being laid! 

I hope I don't go home to Allie to find eggs in my cage!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Two hens can share a nest peacefully if they're compatible. Last time I had babies, I stole two eggs from Shodu and gave them to Snowy and Mims, who are both hens and both in love with the sexually incompetent Vlad. They did a very good job of incubating the eggs and raising the babies together, while Vlad got in the way and tried to get the hens to feed him.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Lol. Willow and Farrah don't get along or I would have definitely paired them. Willow tolerates Ama bc he is endlessly persistent and that's it. Still no interest in the eggs. 

Lol. I hope Allie doesn't either!


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## Ghosth (Jun 25, 2012)

Enjoy!

After 14 days when there was no sign of development with Cara and Joeys eggs I made the nestbox and the eggs do a vanishing act. They were not exactly happy with me at the time, but all has settled back down.

If your eggs are looking like they might be viable you might want to think about adding a nest box to the cage.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

ugh! she went two days without laying eggs. and so i moved her back to the main cage and she laid another one. she sat on it til i came in the room and then abandoned it when she saw me. **sigh** i just moved her eggs to the big cage and hopes she stops.


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

I hope she stops too!


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

she was sitting without laying a new one this time so i moved her back to the little cage with ama. farrah and grey aren't too happy about it. seems ama is everyone's favorite. lol. as soon as i moved her- farrah ran down to eat.  they have pellets and herbs up top, but willow was chasing everyone away from the seed and i can't have that.


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## Loopy Lou (Jul 26, 2012)

Oh dear, she has been busy!


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

**sigh** egg #5 tonight. She doesn't even sit on them so I don't why she won't stop!


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Maybe she's waiting to sit on them all at once. Lol..


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Lol. Maybe when **** freezes over.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Or she can't feel the heartbeat in the others so she's replacing them already. Fingers crossed she stops soon!


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

I went ahead and bought her a nest box. I've caught her randomly sitting on the eggs. =\ I bought "softwood" bedding for it? I hope that's decent. I'm thinking about putting Grey back bc I haven't seen Ama help her at all. I dunno.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

There's info on nestboxes and litter at http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27688 If your softwood nestbox litter is similar to wood shavings and it is NOT an aromatic wood like cedar, it should be OK.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

This is what I got:

http://www.petco.com/product/117369...g-for-Small-Animals.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

It's spruce, fir, and pine shavings. So it should be good then. She's stressing me out. lol.


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## cknauf (Aug 27, 2012)

I'd be careful with pine. It isn't considered as bad as cedar, but I know reptile owners are cautioned not to use pine bedding because it contains the same chemicals as cedar, just not as much. Not sure how it affects birds.

EDIT: Also note that pine and cedar are not immediately deadly--the problem is they build up in the body over time and become toxic. I don't want to worry you further


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

cknauf said:


> I'd be careful with pine. It isn't considered as bad as cedar, but I know reptile owners are cautioned not to use pine bedding because it contains the same chemicals as cedar, just not as much. Not sure how it affects birds.
> 
> EDIT: Also note that pine and cedar are not immediately deadly--the problem is they build up in the body over time and become toxic. I don't want to worry you further


she's not really sitting (it's totally random and she immediately hops up and comes running when she sees me), so i don't expect her to spend too much time in the box, but i'm hoping this helps her play house and get over it faster. lol.


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## cknauf (Aug 27, 2012)

meaggiedear said:


> she's not really sitting (it's totally random and she immediately hops up and comes running when she sees me), so i don't expect her to spend too much time in the box, but i'm hoping this helps her play house and get over it faster. lol.


It's likely not problematic. I know pine is considered a safe wood for toys, but years of reading reptiles magazines and books has trained to me view "pine bedding" as "OH NO DON'T DO IT!".


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## triinket (May 5, 2012)

Oh dear,
I hope everything goes well.
Maybe get a super cool toy to distract her? Lol.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Pine is considered to be a safe bedding for cockatiels and many people use it. Some people think aspen is superior but there's nothing wrong with pine.

Your wood shavings look OK to me. The main thing to watch out for is whether there is a lot of dust in it, since some brands are very dusty. If there's a lot of dust, you can put the bedding in a colander and shake out the dust.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

I put in. Not really dusty at all. She was sitting when I went down there. 

The biggest box they had has what looks like a hole that's too small in the front. =\


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

I got mine from petsmart, it was the one marketed for tiels. The hole does look small but they manage to get in and out. It took a while for them to figure it out but now they have no problems at all. Of course Phoebe and Quinn are my two smallest tiels.

How did you attach yours? I ended up just using bungee cords. Not sure that is right, buy hey, it works!

We could be grandmas together lol!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> How did you attach yours? I ended up just using bungee cords. Not sure that is right, buy hey, it works!


Anything that holds the box securely and doesn't create any kind of safety hazard is fine.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

I just stuck it inside the cage. Lol. Willow isn't being very receptive.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Poor Willow barely fits in her box. It was the biggest one I could find. Sorry the mess, it's all millet and I haven't cleaned it up. 

She is normally turned where her tail feathers are sticking out of the hole. :3










She's defensive until she realizes it's me, comes out to chew on the seagrass mat (it's become a weird obsession. i'm starting to wonder if she's eating it or just obsessed with shredding it?), and go back in to sit. 

Here is an action shot of me getting the **** bitten out of me for fun. 










Just hoping she gives up soon.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

That looks like a budgie box. You can order a cockatiel box online, or even make your own nestbox. It looks like the current nestbox is just sitting on the bottom of the cage, so there's no particular danger if you cut a door hole in a bigger cardboard box and put it in the same place. You need safe sturdy materials with a box that's some distance off the ground, but there's no danger of eggs or babies falling from a box on the floor. You do need to make sure that the box is stable and doesn't tip over when the parents are going in and out.

My birds tend to become less territorial about the nest as the babies grow up. They get used to me poking around inside and don't bother to attack me after a while. Try to avoid attacks like this, not for your own sake but because the eggs/babies can be damaged while the parent bird is jumping around trying to bite you.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Aww she needs a bigger box! You can make one out of a dark-colored storage container too.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

I'll probably run with the cardboard box idea since I have plenty of those. She doesn't really attack me inside the box. She actually climbs out and pecks at me and then wants me to pick her up. She headed for the seagrass mat again tonight.


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

Yeah I just stuck a cardboard box into my birds cage. It's free and you can just throw it away once you're done with it. Very easy, hassle-free, and most importantly, doesn't require you to invest in it. Make sure that they there isn't anything on it that they shouldn't be chewing on though, like tape. My birds chewed their box to pieces, and then the babies got their turn on the box when they grew up.


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