Will Not Leave Nest Box

[Scottish Steve]

Hi guys.
Hope you are all well..

We have a couple of Conures, who had 5 babies about 16 months ago, and from January of this year, Duffy (the girl), laid an egg in her and Ollie's cage, so we thought it was time for the nest box again.

The problem now is, Duffy has laid 9 eggs (total) in this clutch and in the box, of which none have hatched (we've candelled them), and about 2 weeks ago, we noticed a couple of the eggs she was sitting on were cracked, and thrown to the side, and she's still sitting on the others.
When the 2 eggs cracked, we took them out, and she pretty much, immediately laid another 2 in their place.
She's now been in there for over 2 months, and I keep hearing the two of them mating, and I think she now wants to keep trying until she produces eggs that are fertile.

Should we take down the nest box, or just keep putting pieces of cuttle bone in her box and let her time out herself

Many thanks.
Stephen

 

[MahaSarah]

I think it is time to take the nest box out and keep it out for a good amount of time so she can recuperate from all the eggs she has laid recently. 9 eggs is a lot in that amount of time!

 

[Scottish Steve]

Hi Sarah, and thank you for your reply.
What if she starts laying in her cage, or anywhere around the house?

 

[MahaSarah]

I would say to change the lighting schedule she is on and take away anything that will resemble a nest. No letting her go under the blankets or in cozy areas that resemble a nest. Also provide lots of things that will boost her calcium levels since she has laid so many eggs.

 

[Scottish Steve]

Thanks Sarah.
You mean, provide lots of calcium enriched treats etc?

What should we do with the eggs that are still in the box, and she’s currently sitting on?

 

[MahaSarah]

Youre welcome.

Not so many treats but foods. You can also provide her with egg food that will help with getting her calcium back.

I would remove them honestly and take the nest box out at the same time. Normally I would say leave them in there until she loses interest but it looks like that won't happen since you said she has been in there for over two months. So take out both and nestbox and eggs at the same time, change her lighting schedule, and no more cozy hideouts.

 

[Scottish Steve]

What is the ‘lighting scedul’, and thank you so much..

 

[Kodigirl210]

Lighting schedule is how many hours of light vs dark. Normally birds require 10-12 hours of sleep. When adjusting a schedule for a breeding bird to stop it, you switch up to 14 hours of blackout (totally darkened so no light hits the cage anywhere.). Reduce seed & upping the pellets might help as well.

 

[Zara]

Remember cuttlefish bones offer very little nutrition. They are good for grooming and little more.

Offer her a boiled egg smashed up. You can grind the eggshell into a fine powder and sprinkle it over her food. Offer dark green veg.

Worth noting Vitamin D helps the bird absorb calcium from the food. A bit of sunshine will do the trick.

Reduce seed & upping the pellets might help as well.

This is also a good idea

 

[Scottish Steve]

Thanks everyone for your help!
We cleaned out Duffy's nest box tonight, with the view of taking it down and placing her eggs in a small container under their main food dish, but we candled the eggs one more time, to make sure, and it looks though one of the eggs is actually developing - red strings around the center and a little blob in the middle somewhere, so we put fresh bedding in their and placed the eggs (and birds) back in their box.

We are going to get some high powered greeneries for the little guys - thank you so much for the advice, and also do our best to sort something out with the lighting.

I'll be in touch with any news..

 

[Kodigirl210]

Make sure to feed high potency pellets for the mom so she can bulk up on the right vitamins & minerals. Also add a mineral block to help out. Best of luck.

 

[Scottish Steve]

..will do, many thanks!