Egg laying questions pls help!

[Hello there]

my 10 year old (?) indian ringneck parrot just layed an egg for the first (and hopefully last) time
I think her fondness with her blanket caused this to happen because she treated it like a nest

I had no clue what to do I was so worried because she was having trouble laying the egg so I let her use the blanket, after a few mins I checked up on her and she was sitting with a cracked egg (perhaps because the floor was hard or maybe because she was struggling to let it out and it broke?) she didn’t care that i cleaned the egg up

Thankfully she’s okay now and I don’t think she’s going to have another egg today
I will also be making a vet appointment which will hopefully be soon

How do I know if she is going to have another egg?
Do parrots who lay infertile eggs often lay more after their first?
And what can I do to discourage her from laying another egg? I will be removing her blanket since I think it was the cause

Thank you!

 

[Hello there]

Oops this really should’ve been posted in the egg layers expressway forum instead

 

[Mizzely]

It is very independent on if they will lay more or not. I have heard it both ways. There can be a 1-2 days between eggs in a clutch.

Removing the blanket is a good idea, as well as restricting access to anything that may be seen as a nest cavity - huts, tunnels, under the cage, etc.

 

[Hello there]

My parrot layed an egg two days ago and I never knew she was going to have one until the night I heard squeaks and I saw her keep fluffing up really big and pushing
She layed the egg when I gave her her blanket but unfortunately it cracked
I’m pretty sure the blanket was the thing that made her lay an egg as she treated it like a nest and had an attachment to it which is why she only laid the egg when I gave her her blanket back

She went to the vet and they said it was healthy but I forgot to ask how you know if they’re going to have another egg

I took her blanket away from her now and she hasn’t had it since, her behaviour is back to normal but her droppings are smaller than usual

I don’t know whether she’s going to have another egg or not as I’ve heard they come in clutches and I’m worried that if she is going to have another egg she could experience egg binding as she doesn’t have her nest (blanket) which is where she laid her egg in the first place

How do you know if she’s going to have another egg? Are there signs? Physical changes?
How long after one egg does it take for another?
Do they need their nest to lay an egg?

 

[Kiwi's Dad]

If there are more eggs she'll definitely be heavier than before. Her vent area will also be enlarged. I don't know too much about egg layers but @Pixiebeak might be able to help more.

 

[Hello there]

my parrot recently laid her first egg like two days ago and she’s been fine all day but the past two hours i realised she keeps fluffing up and pushing like she was when she was laying her egg but just not as much i don’t know why she keeps doing this
so i gave her her blanket back for like five minutes (which i’ve mentioned in previous posts she treats like a nest) then took it away again and I notices she was doing something weird as she was going down to pick up food from her bowl

these are screenshots from a video where her vent was dilating and contracting and something was coming out of it

please help i’m so worried
is she going to have another egg? i really hope not
is this normal?

her vent looked fine before it was covered with her feathers like normal but now it’s uncovered and you can see it clearly

 

[Hello there]

update!! she just had another egg but it cracked again i’m thinking about buying fake eggs for her so if she has another and it cracks I could maybe replace it I’ve heard of people doing that before

 

[Hello there]

update!! she just had another egg but it cracked again I only gave her blanket back for five minutes but she ended up laying the egg in her cage and it dropped on the floor
i’m thinking about buying fake eggs for her so if she has another and it cracks I could replace it I’ve heard of people doing that before

 

[Pixiebeak]

Hi,
What kind of parrot?
So eggs are usually 24 to 48 hours apart. She already has the egg in the works giving the blanket back didn't make the egg, but made have made her more comfortable relaxed so she laid it. But she would have laid it anyway. If their body decides it time for eggs they will lay them , in a food bowl, in the bottom of the cage or just on a perch and let it fall.

Things can trigger hormones , like providing best like spaces, petting on the back , adding another bird can sometimes trigger them, light dark times. .it's complex and we try to avoid triggers.

Some species and some individuals are more prone to getting hormonal.

It's important they are on a healthy diet, because healthy females on a good diet have less chance of egg bound. Because if they have enough calcium in diet to form the hard shell and calcium plays a role in muscle contraction to pass egg. Plus it is a metabolic drain to make eggs. So veggies are a great source of calcium and pellets too. While sn all seed diet will lead to issues.

If diet isn't be great, then work on that . But don't force a change or with hold food. Instead just start offering good stuff .

 

[Pixiebeak]

Things to watch out for , being fluffed and straining without passing egg, trembling, labored breathing, messy butt, prolapse, sitting in bottom of cage , not eating. Then that would be sign of egg bound and you would want to get them to vet as soon as possible.

 

[Hello there]

Hi,
What kind of parrot?
So eggs are usually 24 to 48 hours apart. She already has the egg in the works giving the blanket back didn't make the egg, but made have made her more comfortable relaxed so she laid it. But she would have laid it anyway. If their body decides it time fur eggs they will lay them , in a good bowl, in the bottom of the cage or just on a perch and keep it fall.

Things can trigger hormones , like providing best like spaces, petting on the back , adding another bird can sometimes trigger them, light dark times. .it's complex and we try to avoid triggers.

Some species and some individuals are more prone to getting hormonal.

It's important they are on a healthy diet, because healthy females on a good diet have less chance of egg bound. Because if they have enough calcium in diet to form the hard shell and calcium plays a role in muscle contraction to pass egg. Plus it is a metabolic drain to make eggs. So veggies are a great source of calcium and pellets too. While sn all seed diet will lead to issues.

If diet isn't be great, then work on that . But don't force a change or with hold food. Instead just start offering good stuff .

Hi! Thanks so much for the reply
she’s an indian ringneck and her diet consists of Harrison’s adult lifetime pellets and she also eats fruit/veg and sometimes an almond/half a peanut (as a treat)

yes she ended up laying the egg while sitting on the door of her cage

I’m very sure the blanket triggered her to lay eggs as she was attached to it for months! I’ve removed the blanket now and will not be giving it to her again to discourage egg laying

I’ve heard a clutch is about 2-4 eggs so maybe my parrot will lay more eggs soon but is there any way to know how or when? My parrot was fine this morning, it’s only at night where she fluffs up and starts pushing

Is it possible to have more than one egg at the same time?

 

[Hello there]

Things to watch out for , being fluffed and straining without passing egg, trembling, labored breathing, messy butt, prolapse, sitting in bottom of cage , not eating. Then that would be sign of egg bound and you would want to get them to vet as soon as possible.

She did experience some of these symptoms such as being fluffed, straining (not as much as the first time) and trembling but she ended up laying a healthy egg anyways

Overall it took about an hour but she wasn’t focused on laying the egg the whole time, during this hour she was fluffing up and straining a bit, then drinking water then she started eating and dilating/contracting her vent then she finally layed the egg when i left her alone on her cage

Is it normal to experience these symptoms when laying an egg?

 

[Shezbug]

Yes definitely an egg on its way as you discovered lol.
Egg laying is normal for healthy hens who have the right conditions to support egg laying and baby raising. Many owners alter things in their birds environment to lessen chances of egg laying.

I honestly would shake things up on her a bit... remove the blanket you mention for good (your bird does not ever need a blanket), totally rearrange the cage, move the cage to a new location or room if needed, remove or block all dark hiding holes and cozy areas she can hide in, make the dark/sleep hours longer than day time hours and make sure no warm or mushy foods are fed- these are all fairly easy things to adjust and may help your bird feel that the conditions are not supportive enough for egg laying.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge of laying IRN's can chime in soon and give you more help. Some birds will lay eggs till they have a certain number of eggs so if one breaks or is removed they re-lay one to take its place, some birds like budgies do not do this.

As she has already laid some eggs you want to make sure she is getting some extra calcium to replace what she's used up and also make sure she gets in enough exercise to help keep her healthy- healthy fit birds have less troubles laying eggs.

 

[Hello there]

I’m sorry! I know I’ve asked so many questions about my first time egg laying parrot but i’m just so stressed and in need of help

Three days ago, like 2am, my indian ringneck parrot laid her first egg (believe me it was a SHOCK) it was unfertilised as she has no mate and I was so worried! Sadly her egg ended up cracking

I’m pretty sure she laid the unfertilised egg because of a blanket that she has an attachment to and treats like a nest. Btw the blanket wasn’t hers it was actually mine but she jumped on it whenever it fell on the floor so I let her play with it (big mistake) she had this attachment to the blanket for a few months.
I removed and hid the blanket as soon as she had her first egg.

The same day she went to the vet and they said it was normal for a parrot her age and said she was healthy and she may/may not have more eggs

Today, around 1am she had her second unfertilised egg, she took longer to lay the egg this time and I think it’s because she didn’t have her blanket with her. I gave it to her for about five minutes but took it when I saw she wasn’t doing anything and placed her back in her cage. Once again her egg cracked because this time she laid it on her cage door and it fell straight to the floor and broke…

I’m so sick of this egg laying business it’s stressing me out so much
I think she’s still trying to find a nest because she keeps walking on the floor and trying to go in small dark places

I have so many questions

Should I still keep the blanket away from her or give it back to her so she can lay her eggs more comfortably?

If I did give her blanket back would it cause her to have more eggs?

I didn’t give her her blanket back so how come she had another egg?

How many more will she have?
I’ve heard they come in clutches of about 3-5 eggs so does that mean she’ll keep laying them until she has completed a clutch?
I’ve bought fake eggs so when she next lays her eggs i will add them to her clutch

Although she lays a healthy egg all in about an hour that consists of her eating, drinking, preparing and then laying the egg, she does experience some egg binding symptoms such as fluffing up, straining, vent winking and slight trembling. Is this normal behaviour for when laying an egg? I don’t think it was excessive it just seemed like her body was preparing to lay the egg

Please reply, thank you!

 

[Pixiebeak]

Hi! Thanks so much for the reply
she’s an indian ringneck and her diet consists of Harrison’s adult lifetime pellets and she also eats fruit/veg and sometimes an almond/half a peanut (as a treat)

yes she ended up laying the egg while sitting on the door of her cage

I’m very sure the blanket triggered her to lay eggs as she was attached to it for months! I’ve removed the blanket now and will not be giving it to her again to discourage egg laying

I’ve heard a clutch is about 2-4 eggs so maybe my parrot will lay more eggs soon but is there any way to know how or when? My parrot was fine this morning, it’s only at night where she fluffs up and starts pushing

Is it possible to have more than one egg at the same time?

Yes blanket could have been original trigger...

Yay great diet !

 

[Pixiebeak]

She did experience some of these symptoms such as being fluffed, straining (not as much as the first time) and trembling but she ended up laying a healthy egg anyways

Overall it took about an hour but she wasn’t focused on laying the egg the whole time, during this hour she was fluffing up and straining a bit, then drinking water then she started eating and dilating/contracting her vent then she finally layed the egg when i left her alone on her cage

Is it normal to experience these symptoms when laying an egg?

Sure there are going to be signs with laying. Mine didn't eat fir a few hours on a day she laid.

It's just ehst to watch out for, especially when no egg cones out.

Hopefully she moves past this soon

 

[Hello there]

Sure there are going to be signs with laying. Mine didn't eat fir a few hours on a day she laid.
Hopefully she moves past this soon

Hopefully!

My parrot didn’t eat many pellets today so I had no choice but to mash a few up and serve it as a porridge but I have heard that giving them soft food like that could encourage them to lay eggs.

Although she did eat a lot of vegetables like lettuce, sweetcorn and melon so I’m sure she has a full tummy!

It's just ehst to watch out for, especially when no egg cones out.

Sorry but what did you mean by ehst

 

[Kiwi's Dad]

@Pixiebeak

 

[Shezbug]

I have merged a few of your threads into one thread so all the questions and answers to this one egg laying issue can be easily found in this one thread.