Cockatiel with unfertilized egg - At what point should I be concerned about binding?

[krosetort]

Hello everyone. I have been a parent to cockatiels and lovebirds all my life. I currently have a 3 year old cockatiel (William - but she's a girl) and a 5 year old lovebird (Moonshine - also a girl.)

Moonshine laid a clutch of 3 eggs a few years ago, so I'm well studied on how to handle eggs once laid. William has laid eggs once before, with her previous owner who had her for the first year of her life. She is definitely with-egg right now. She's showing a lot of signs and has been for at least a week. Territorial of a certain corner of her cage, hanging out there on the floor, venting quite a bit, huge poops. Nothing she's doing seems to necessarily be signs of egg binding, but I'm wondering what the typical timeline is for a cockatiel to lay eggs once she starts showing signs that she is going to. The aggressive behavior near her "nest" has been happening for around a week, the large poops have been happening for a couple of days. She's been fluffy and venting very often for nearly a week as well.

Thinking about calling a vet today but thought I'd check here in case someone could let me know about typical timeline. Was having trouble finding answers online.

Thanks so much!

 

[JLcribber]

A good week is about right. When a hen starts to produce an egg first there is some fluid buildup so even though it puffs up a bit there is no egg in there yet. Once the first egg is laid it takes 2-5 days for the next egg. The second egg is already in the building stage before the first one is laid. I wouldn't panic yet but she should lay an egg right away.

What is your birds diet and fitness level? Those are the biggest factors in egg laying.

 

[krosetort]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply. She's healthy otherwise. She eats zupreem pellets and the occasional leafy green. Not sure how to answer about her fitness level. She moves around her cage a lot and is out flying a couple of times a day.

If she doesn't lay an egg in the next 2 days or so would you recommend taking her to a vet? I'm worried about taking her in too early because I know a vet visit would cause her stress which obviously wouldn't be ideal while she's trying to lay an egg.

 

[sunnysmom]

 

[krosetort]

Willy laid the first egg of her clutch last night. Feeling relieved! Waiting on that second egg now.

 

[Monica]

Does she eat seeds at all?

If she eats a healthy diet and gets flighted exercise, then there's less chance of egg binding to occur. A pellet based diet isn't exactly a healthy diet for a cockatiel, however... it's good that she has passed one egg.

 

[clyderiver77]

Once they start to lay, it is important to let them safely get through the clutch. Do you have a nestbox? I would say the best practice is to attach a nestbox, and add 4-6 dummy eggs to it. She may lay another 2-3 of her own and then she will stop and start to incubate. They won't hatch, and after 21-28 days, she should abandon them.

Key is to prevent her from starting another clutch.

3 main things trigger birds to lay: 1. temperature 2. light (anything over 10 hours) 3. feeding (soft foods, sprouted foods, and protein rich feed is a trigger)

Most birds in good health have no issues with laying safely. After 4 eggs, the body will rob from the bones to form the shell if you don't use supplemental calcium. I love calcivet by Vetafarm.

Don't worry, its natural to lay eggs.... not desirable in our pet birds, so watch for the triggers.

If she becomes fluffed, lethargic, or you see her in distressed at the bottom of the cage, get her into a brooder with heat and phone the vet. Be careful when handling as you can burst the egg inside of her and that has a very bad prognosis.

Best of luck!

 

[Tara81]

Someone told me that flooding ( adding extra dummy eggs ) is not a good idea and will cause the bird to lay even more. I think it was on this forum somewhere. Just pointin this out

 

[JLcribber]

Someone told me that flooding ( adding extra dummy eggs ) is not a good idea and will cause the bird to lay even more. I think it was on this forum somewhere. Just pointin this out

Exactly the opposite.

 

[Tara81]

Flooding a hen with dummy eggs works? If so, I would delete my post but here's no delete button now. I don't want to misinform anyone

 

[JLcribber]

Flooding a hen with dummy eggs works? If so, I would delete my post but here's no delete button now. I don't want to misinform anyone

I doesn’t always work but many times it does. It certainly doesn't hurt.

 

[Tara81]

Phew I thought I bought the dummy eggs for nothing when someone told me otherwise!

Hey Jl you are always so helpful!

Do you or anyone know if I should be feeding Alsing cooked soft veges and sprouts every day, because I recently read that can make hens become hormonal... I don't want her to lay eggs until she's big and strong ( or never works too! ) she is just 5 months old.

 

[JLcribber]

Veggies of any kind are fine. Keep an eye on protein intake. It can be a contributer but that's only one thing.

 

[JLcribber]

You want your bird to have a healthy nutrient rich diet. If a hen is going to lay eggs, it's going to lay eggs. There are many things you can do to help discourage laying but a bird needs a healthy diet first and always. Fitness is second (flying).

 

[Tara81]

Great so her diet is perfect then! She is weight lifting some straws ATM does that count ? Haha. Thanks JL, she gets lots of time out of cage and flies laps around the living room sometimes , usually in the morning and evening . She also flies from her play area to her food area about 20 times a day.