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Cause for concern?

Aves

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I think my birds are opposite genders. Is it okay they live together? Will they lay eggs when they get older? I don't want that to happen because that would cause endless problems.
 

Feather

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Also don't give them a nest box, sleep tent, or anything else that will encourage nesting behavior in the first place and you'll probably be fine. A single female can still lay all on her own, and an actively mating pair might never produce eggs at all. :shrug:
 

Destiny

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It is okay to keep them together, but you might need to deal with eggs at some point. Don't let them hatch, if you are not prepared for chicks. Breeding is a big responsibility and it takes a lot of knowledge, time, and effort to do properly.

When my female budgies lay eggs, I replace them with dummy eggs. They will sit on them for a while, then give up when the fake eggs do not hatch. Be sure to provide extra calcium when your female is laying eggs. It takes a lot of energy to produce eggs.

If you don't have dummy eggs, you can just take the eggs out, boil them, and return the eggs after they cool. The boiled eggs won't hatch, so they are safe to leave in the cage until your female grows bored and stops sitting on them. Discard any eggs that are cracked or broken. Also, be sure to mark the boiled eggs using a pen or pencil before returning them, so you can tell them apart from new eggs.

It is pretty simple. Female birds will lay eggs even without a male present. The only difference is that, since they are not fertile, you don't need to replace them. You can still use dummy eggs, however. By adding extra fake eggs as soon as you notice the bird has started laying, you can sometimes trick the bird into laying fewer eggs, since the nest already looks "full". This reduces the strain on the bird and can help the bird recover faster.
 

AussieBird

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If you make sure there's nothing to encourage nesting you may never have anything to worry about. None of my girls have laid without a nestbox.
 

PoukieBear

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A lot of people are suggesting you replace the eggs with dummy eggs, and I really have to chime in here because this is a really old school way of dealing with unwanted breeding and eggs. Sorry folks! I know you are just trying to help, but dummy eggs are the wrong way to do it.

Why? Dummy eggs still encourage the hen to sit and incubate a clutch of eggs. Incubating eggs is a lot of work, especially for such a small bird. Hens will waste a lot of time and energy sitting on eggs that will never hatch. Dummy eggs will also cause the hen to remain hormonal and in breeding condition, which is the exact opposite of what you want.

All you need to do is remove the eggs as she lays them, and do not let her incubate anything. Budgies will lay an average clutch of 4-6 eggs, and will NOT continue to lay eggs if you take them away as she lays them. (Budgies can't count).
 

Lori D Pert

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A lot of people are suggesting you replace the eggs with dummy eggs, and I really have to chime in here because this is a really old school way of dealing with unwanted breeding and eggs. Sorry folks! I know you are just trying to help, but dummy eggs are the wrong way to do it.

Why? Dummy eggs still encourage the hen to sit and incubate a clutch of eggs. Incubating eggs is a lot of work, especially for such a small bird. Hens will waste a lot of time and energy sitting on eggs that will never hatch. Dummy eggs will also cause the hen to remain hormonal and in breeding condition, which is the exact opposite of what you want.

All you need to do is remove the eggs as she lays them, and do not let her incubate anything. Budgies will lay an average clutch of 4-6 eggs, and will NOT continue to lay eggs if you take them away as she lays them. (Budgies can't count).
I did not know this. Thank you!
 

Destiny

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All you need to do is remove the eggs as she lays them, and do not let her incubate anything. Budgies will lay an average clutch of 4-6 eggs, and will NOT continue to lay eggs if you take them away as she lays them. (Budgies can't count).
If budgies can't count, how do they know when they have laid four to six eggs? ;)

I have more experience with egg-laying in chickens rather than budgies, so I was curious to know how this works. Removing eggs from the nest definitely does not stop a chicken from laying. Quite the opposite, in fact.

After doing a bit of research, I learned that bird species can be roughly categorized as either determinant or indeterminate egg-layers. Determinant layers, like doves, pigeons, and some seafaring birds, like gulls and albatross, will lay a fixed number of eggs. The clutch size is unaffected by addition or removal of eggs. In contrast, indeterminate layers will replace lost eggs if the eggs are removed prematurely or lay fewer eggs if additional eggs are added to the nest. Repeatedly removing eggs can cause an indeterminate egg layer to continuously produce eggs, far in excess of the normal clutch sizes for that species. Chickens are indeterminate egg layers, along with many other bird species.

The desired clutch size varies widely between species, from just a single egg to dozens of eggs. It is theorized that the nesting bird's "brood patch" is involved with determining clutch size and halting egg production - the feeling of the eggs against the bird's skin stimulates hormones that trigger egg-laying to stop when the nest is "full". This is why dummy eggs can be a useful tool to reduce egg production in indeterminate layer bird species.


So what about budgies - Are they determinate or indeterminate layers? Well that's where it gets interesting. Similar to gulls, they will lay eggs every other day, and start incubation immediately. The typical clutch is 4 to 6 eggs. Budgies are considered to be determinate egg-layers by many sources. But budgies sometimes exhibit characteristics of indeterminate layers, like excessive egg-laying.

Digging deeper, I found an interesting article that looked more closely at the timing of egg removal. In short, if the budgie was allowed to sit and incubate the first egg, with all subsequent eggs being removed, the laying pattern was fixed and laying would stop after 4 to 6 eggs, but if the first egg was pulled immediately, and all subsequent eggs were also removed quickly, so the bird was never allowed to incubate for longer than eight hours, indeterminate egg-laying was demonstrated. Budgies in the experimental group (early egg removal) laid over twenty eggs and showed no signs of stopping, compared to the other group, which laid the normal amount of eggs for their species.


The results of this study strongly suggest that budgies are in fact, not determinate egg layers, but rather semi-determinate. A true determinate egg layer is not affected by manipulation of the nest, like removal or addition of eggs. The number of eggs is determined entirely by internal factors.

....

What does this mean for budgie owners?

If budgies were true determinate egg layers, there would be no point in using dummy eggs. You could simply pull all eggs immediately and the bird would naturally cease laying after a fixed number of eggs. But since they do show some indeterminate tendencies, leaving at least one egg in the nest - boiled or fake - is the better choice. You can safely remove further eggs, but should leave one dummy egg in the nest to help trigger the end of laying.

I wasn't able to find a good egg addition study in budgies, so I don't know if adding eggs would shorten the laying cycle. I would guess it does not.

Also, keep in mind that laying patterns differ between bird species. Cockatiels, for example, are indeterminate layers, so dummy eggs can be very helpful for curbing excessive egg laying. But doves and pigeons are determinate layers. Dummy eggs would likely not be effective for them.
 

Chase Hein

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I made the same mistake with lovebirds, I figured they would know that they are siblings..... but they just went ahead and started laying, so yes your budgies might lay, but you could always boil the eggs like @ParrotNuts said.
 

Lady Jane

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What @PoukieBear wrote should be kept as reference for all new or young budgie members. Fake eggs are expensive too. Lori if you have the time perhaps you can do an educational thread on this subject. It is hard to let go of old ways sometimes.
 

Kassiani

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I think the research cited by Destiny is very interesting. Certainly, if I ever have a hen, I would tend to do what I could to discourage continual egg-laying as indicated in the experiment in the second journal article. Although I have no experience, I would consider chronic egg laying as far more depleting than sitting on a dummy egg for a few days when food and water can be moved close to a brooding hen.
 

Lori D Pert

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I can only write from experience but I have had a sole hen who was a chronic layer as well as have been in an aviary where there were hens who laid with partners. We would in every case let them sit on the eggs. When the eggs did not hatch they would eventually give up but would lay again in a matter of weeks. Everytime. I think that if this dilemma presents itself again with Sam and Scout, I will try @PoukieBear suggestion.
 
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