She laid an egg.

[optimisticStar]

She has been with me for 6.5 years now and all this while I thought it was a 'HE' until I saw an egg at the bottom of the cage today. She is living alone in the cage so not sure how she laid an egg.

Anyways, she sits on it as much as possible and takes around 5-10 mins break in between.

What do you guys do with the egg? I want to clean her cage, but am worried that she might not touch the egg if I place hands inside the cage or even accidentally touch her egg.

What should I do? Could the egg be fertile?

Edit: Until last month she was in the cage with another budgie who is a male, but I have placed him in a separate cage now due to his health issues.

 

[Zara]

Hens can lay without a male, but it will never be a fertile egg unless your budgie is the birdy virgin mary.

Leave her with her egg.

Edit:
How many days ago was the male with her? If more than 10-12 days, then it´s infertile 100%

 

[Fia Baby]

Leave it with her until she gets tired of it or it breaks. If she starts to lay eggs frequently, you'll want to supplement her calcium and D. I'd wait until she was done before doing a thorough cleaning, or you may stimulate her to lay more.

 

[optimisticStar]

Hens can lay without a male, but it will never be a fertile egg unless your budgie is the birdy virgin mary.

Leave her with her egg.

Edit:
How many days ago was the male with her? If more than 10-12 days, then it´s infertile 100%

They were together for 6+ years. Got separated into diff cages a month back because the other bird got sick. Infact this bird who laid the egg was trying to sit on top of the other birdie, so I thought this one was male and other one was female. But seems to be other way around. When I got them I atleast knew one is male and other is female, but didn't knew which is male/female.

 

[optimisticStar]

Leave it with her until she gets tired of it or it breaks. If she starts to lay eggs frequently, you'll want to supplement her calcium and D. I'd wait until she was done before doing a thorough cleaning, or you may stimulate her to lay more.

She probably would have laid 2 eggs I guess. I see one broken piece of an egg in the bottom tray and she is sitting on the full egg now. I will leave the cage as is for now.

Should I supplement her with calcium and D now as well? At times she looks tired/week, but he voice is full-on.. I mean she is loud as before.

 

[Zara]

Then it´s not a fertile egg.
I hopè your other bird is ok
You can put a little bit of tissue between the bars and the egg may stop it breaking, don´t go overboard, just a small piece to protect it

 

[optimisticStar]

Approx how many weeks does it take for an egg to hatch? I would leave it until that many weeks and then remove it if nothing changes. She seems to be calling our other bird for help constantly and that's not gonna work. She sits on the egg for 5-10 mins, then goes eat, takes some rest and back on to the egg. I am worried if she might lose her energy.

I am thinking to feed her some calcium tomorrow morning.

 

[Lady Jane]

You can put a food dish within reach of where she is sitting. If she eats pellets and leafy greens her calcium may be ok. If she lays more then yes to supplement. Can you post a photo of her?

 

[Comet]

"In avian species, specialized simple tubular invaginations referred to as sperm storage tubules (SSTs) are found in the oviduct. Because of the presence of this structure, once ejaculated sperm have entered the female reproductive tract, they can survive up to 2–15 weeks in domestic birds..."
Sperm Storage in the Female Reproductive Tract in Birds

I've also seen that budgies, in particular, are capable of "storing" sperm for possibly many months, or even years. I'm not saying for sure, but if she was with a male for 6 years, including only a month ago, there's a possibility that the egg is fertile. Do you know if she laid the egg on the ground, or if it fell from the height of a perch? Also, is there a grate (wire bars) at the bottom, or just newspaper/paper towel? *Edit: I just saw there was a grate. Tissue paper is a great idea! Just be extremely careful picking up the egg. Make sure your hands are clean and dry, and touch it as little as possible.* I ask about the perch because, if it is/was fertile, a fall could have shaken it too much for it to develop.

Budgie eggs typically hatch in 17 - 23 days. If nothing has happened by the 23rd day, it won't hatch, and you can remove it.

 

[Zara]

To move the egg, put the tissue right next to it and push the egg with a cotton bud (Q tip?) , that way you don´t need to touch it.
Candle the egg in a week, if you see veins it´s fertile.

 

[PoukieBear]

Let me throw a monkey wrench in here.

I'm of the opposite opinion that you should REMOVE the egg. The egg will be infertile and there is absolutely no reason for her to be incubating it. Sitting on eggs (even just one) is a lot of work and stress for a bird, especially if there is no partner there to help feed her and look after her. Yes, she is taking quick breaks to eat and drink, but this simply isn't enough for her to continue sitting on eggs and staying healthy.
Is it doable for a single bugie? Yes. Is it optimal for her to do it alone? NO.

With no partner, she will begin to lose weight, may get stressed out and start plucking (although rare in budgies) and it will take her a long time for her to recover if she loses too much weight.

Her age is a big issue as well. Budgies should no be bred (or allowed to lay eggs) after 4 years old. Any older than that and you risk your hen getting egg bound, and this can quickly and painfully kill your bird.

I know none of that is easy to hear and I realize that it's probably not what you want to hear either. But there it is.... Only you know your bird, and only you are keeping an eye on her, so now that you have ALL the information, good and bad, you can make an educated decision of leaving or removing the egg.

 

[Farlie]

Sorry, had to laugh. My Quaker did that to me. My Henry turned into Henrietta one day...

 

[Lady Jane]

@PoukieBear I think what you say makes much sense. Should Mickey begin egg laying I will refer to your information.

 

[Zara]

When my lovebird first laid eggs, If I took them, she would replace them. So I have to let her keep them even though they were infertile.

I suppose each hen is different. Obviously the ideal for most of us is to not encourage the laying and no eggs appearing and of course the fertility status of the egg is a huge factor.

 

[PoukieBear]

When my lovebird first laid eggs, If I took them, she would replace them. So I have to let her keep them even though they were infertile.

I suppose each hen is different. Obviously the ideal for most of us is to not encourage the laying and no eggs appearing and of course the fertility status of the egg is a huge factor.

Budgies will only lay between 4-6 eggs at a time (on average), and will not continue to lay eggs if you take them away.

 

[Zara]

Budgies will only lay between 4-6 eggs at a time (on average), and will not continue to lay eggs if you take them away.

So do lovebirds, on average. There are always some birds that go against the grain. My hen managed to pop out 10! Not good

 

[Fia Baby]

I was also operating under the assumption that she would work to lay a complete clutch if the eggs were removed.

 

[PoukieBear]

N

I was also operating under the assumption that she would work to lay a complete clutch if the eggs were removed.

Nope! Their bodies can only produce a limited amount of eggs, so if you take them away as they are laid, she's not going to lay eggs into infinity and beyond simply because she doesn't have a full clutch.

 

[optimisticStar]

She laid another egg yesterday in another corner of the cage and now she doesn't even touch the egg she had laid before nor does she try to move it towards the new egg. Am thinking to move both the eggs together with help of a tissue.

 

[Comet]

If you feel it's best to keep the eggs, yes, move them closer together.
How is her health doing?

*Edit* Even if the eggs are, by chance, fertile, a fertilized egg will not hatch if it goes for too long without being incubated.