Egg Laying Help...

[Monkey & Izzy]

Monkey was adopted and I have had her about 10 months. She is very friendly and fun. She is between 3 and 5 years old. (That is what I was told.) I can't get her to stop laying eggs. I have tried:
Only petting on the head.
Changing the cage toys and position every couple of days.
I have tried not interacting with her as much and letting my husband play with her. (we take turns on who spends time with her each day)
No nesting material.
I have tried taking the eggs away and I have tried letting her nest when I take the eggs she just lays more and when I let her nest she will nest for about 2 weeks before she gives up then about a month later will start laying again.
She is a single Parrotlet There is only a male indian ringneck in the house.
I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to see her get sick.
Please if you have any advice.

 

[Monkey & Izzy]

 

[Monica]

Could you get us a picture of her cage setup, as well as the cage location?


Does she get warm food?

How many hours of sleep does she get each night?

 

[sunnysmom]

Often increasing the hours of darkness by a couple hours a day helps as it tricks them into thinking it's winter and therefore, not egg laying time (spring).

 

[Monkey & Izzy]

Monica Thank you for responding. She gets 12 hours of dark for sleep time. She doesn't get much warm food. The person who had her before had her on a seed only diet so I am still trying hard to incorporate fresh food and pellets into her diet. Twice a day she eats with me she gets fresh veggies, fruit, brown rice, ect. I give her varied veggies I steam them then some I mash some I leave whole. I also have cuttle bone and calcium powder. I am very worried about bone health and vitamins. I give her access to her seed because most of the time she won't eat much of the fresh stuff. The food I give her isn't warm it is mostly room temp. He cage set up I change every couple of days. Right now she is laying on a clutch. When I got her the previous owner had cut her wings across her back instead of clipping her properly. We are still waiting for most of them to grow back. She is happy and playful. She plays very well she gets two to three hours or more a day outside the cage.

 

[Monkey & Izzy]

Oh ya, Her cage location changes but it is always against a wall and varies from my bedroom or the living room. Always where people are.

 

[Monica]

Thanks for the pics!


Is there something on top of her cage? It looks rather dark within the cage, is it normally like that or is it just the image?


You can try increasing her sleep hours to 14-16 hours, but likewise, you might also try changing her sleep hours to 8. If you change it, you need to keep it consistently the same for *at least* two weeks.


Since this cage as a base to it, you might want to consider getting a cage without that type of base. As odd as it may seem, sometimes the trigger to egg laying is the base of the cage!



You might try feeding cold food instead of room temp or warm food.



Since she's laying eggs, it would be a good idea for her to have her wings! The more physical exercise she gets via flight, the less chance of egg-binding!

 

[Monkey & Izzy]

I have her cage a dim only because she is nesting. Normally her cage is well lit. She gets less upset this way. As for her wings I agree completely. On top of her cage is just a play table. Thank you for the advice.
Any ideas on letting her nest or taking the eggs? What about using dummy eggs? Should I be adding anything else in terms of nutrition?

 

[Monica]

The dim lighting and the playgym could potentially be increasing the hormones. Removing the eggs does no good unless you remove the triggers to egg laying as well. I'm all for removing eggs *IF* you also remove the triggers to egg laying! If you don't, it's better to allow them to sit on the eggs and try to 'wait them out', so to speak.


Dummy eggs may be a good idea to get so you can stop her from laying more eggs when she starts laying them, and you can replace the real eggs with fake eggs - thus no chances of the eggs breaking and spoiling. Extra calcium, protein and vitamin D wouldn't go amiss if she's not getting enough, and she can get a lot of that from cooked eggs!


Quoting an older post of mine.....

This is generally what I recommend for egg-laying hens.

1. Remove Eggs
   • Rearrange the cage
   • Move the cage to a new location
   • Use a cage grate
   • Get a new cage/Use a different cage
   • 12-14 hours of complete darkness (may require as much as 16 hrs for 2 weeks - or try providing the opposite, as little as 8 hrs of sleep)
   • Full Spectrum Lighting/Better Lighting
   • Lower the indoor temperature
   • Decreace calcium and protein within the diet (if she is on a high calcium & protein diet prior to laying eggs)
   • Remove anything that could be taken as a nest
   • Remove anything that could be used as nesting material
   • Don't allow her in any dark place or enclosed area
   • IMPORTANT: save the eggs in the fridge
   • If she lays more than 3-4 eggs, put them back in the cage
2. Leave the Eggs
   • Leave the eggs alone in the cage
   • [Optional] Replace with fake eggs (prevent eggs from breaking)
   • Increase calcium
   • Let hen sit on eggs for 3-4 weeks or until she gets bored of them
   • Once done sitting, toss

Generally speaking, there are triggers to hens laying eggs, and if you can remove the triggers, you may be able to stop the egg laying. Triggers can include toys that she can lay in, a plastic base to a cage, nesting material (i.e. cage bedding), a diet high in protein and fat, too much or not enough light, quality of light, etc. All things that should be considered. Removing the triggers to egg laying should be considered *FIRST* before any drastic measures should be taken. You never know, it could be something simple!

 

[Monkey & Izzy]

Thanks for the advice. The only reason her cage is dim right now is because she has a full clutch. She becomes very agitated. I'm going to try the dummy eggs next time. Maybe that will help. She has a grate in her cage and most of the other stuff I was doing. I'm also going to decrease her sleep hours for two weeks after this clutch. Thanks again.