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How to remove eggs?

Art Wich

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Mindy, my Sun Conure, just laid 4 eggs last month. The 1st egg came on Oct 22 and the 4th came on Oct 30. It was a big surprise for me because I wasn't even sure if Mindy was female. I am still not sure if her mate, Mork, is male or female, but he acts like he is a male.

Anyway, I have sneaked out the eggs for inspection (one at a time) with a flash light and found that the eggs are unfertilized. It's been 3-4 weeks and I don't see anything inside. No veins, no baby bird.

Mindy is still incubating all the time and is still very possessive.
Should I remove one egg at a time? How many days apart? I am worried that she will be very upset and shocked if I remove them too fast.

_________________
P.S. By the way, I wasn't prepared for this. So I am still not quite sure if I would want her to have babies in the future. I wouldn't know what to do with the babies. I know that other people in the house will not be able to cope with more than two Sun Conures -- because of the noise.
 

Monica

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You can either leave the eggs until she stops brooding them, or take them all and anything that may be encouraging her to lay eggs.

Removing them one at a time may encourage her to lay more eggs. She is likely to end up stressed. Most birds usually do, although I have a female cockatiel that seems like she could care less. 18 years old, never figured out how to incubate her infertile eggs so she's perfectly fine going off to do something else, doesn't care if they are handled or just disappear.
 

Art Wich

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What I care most is her feeling. I wish she would abandon the eggs but so far there is no sign that she will. She only briefly comes out to eat and poop a few times a day -- eating a lot but very quickly then a quick big poop -- and literally runs back into the nest. Very strange behavior. No playing / relaxing at all. But she is very calm in her nest (just a box with little sawdust) and happily incubating the eggs.

I am afraid of taking the eggs out because she will know right away. And I think she will panic and get very angry.
 

Zara

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Give her a few more days with them. If she doesn´t lose interest in a week, switch the cage around, move the foodbowl, add in a new toy, move the cage to a new spot in the house, be sure there are no shredable things in the cage etc.
Remember, It´s really important she is still exercising something and not just sat down on eggs all day long. She needs to be encouraged to fly.

Also, you say,
By the way, I wasn't prepared for this. So I am still not quite sure if I would want her to have babies in the future.
If you are not prepared then you should be removing the eggs within the first couple of days and switching them with fake eggs (or boiling the eggs, allowing to cool and replacing). Breeding birds is no easy task and you should really do your research before attempting it as chicks lives will depend on it.

Good luck with your hen :)
 

Art Wich

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Thank you very much Monica and Zara.
 

Art Wich

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Update -- yesterday I took Zara's advice. I moved the cage to another room during the day and found that she came out of her nest more often. Today is the second day in the new room (daytime) and she spent longer time out side. I also put her in a smaller cage and took her outside for about 15 minutes and she enjoyed it. When she got back she ran back into the nest for a few minutes then came out to play again -- something I haven't seen in the past four weeks.

This evening when I cover her cage both of them started settling down outside the nest the way they used to do before she got the eggs.

So I think tomorrow I will start removing the eggs. Probably one at a time and watch her reaction.

I think it is going to work well. Many thanks again Zara !!
 

Zara

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I tend to find when my hen starts losing interest a little, she will completely abandon them soon after.
Hopefully the same happens for you :)
 

Art Wich

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Latest update -- This morning Mindy was happily playing outside her cage and didn't seem to pay any attention to the nest. So I sneaked out a second egg. In the evening when I return from work she was again outside her cage having a good time. So I decided to take out the two remaining eggs. A few hours passed without any issue. So I think everything is back to normal now.
 

Art Wich

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Mindy just laid a new egg today !!!
:wideyed:

Why so soon? (It's been only six weeks.)
What should I do?
 

Love My Zons

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Oh my! Eggs R us over there lol. I would honestly say, offer less nesty places and more things to play with.

I get an egg now and then with my Cockatoo, but its singular and isn't paid attention too. So I remove it right away.

In your case, you have a pair of birds. You can't stop nature from happening as they think they need to do what they've been doing. Maybe someone with more experience can chime in as to curbing their behavior from less noogie time lol!
 

Art Wich

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It has been over three years. I apologize for not having given an update then. But I think I should do it to share my experience with others.

It was Dec 3rd, 2019 when she started her 2nd round of laying eggs. Dec 6th she laid the second egg. Dec 8th she got noticably tired and started limping. Dec 9th she laid the third egg. Then she got really tired and the limping got worse.

Dec 12th I took her to the vet. The x-ray showed that the egg was round and the vet said Mindy needed an operation because the fourth egg was not going to come out. He said it was likely that she didn't have enough calcium. The operation was risky but she would not survive otherwise.

It was a trauma for me. I gave the vet a go ahead. He gave her anesthetic and operated on her. The fourth egg needed to be broken and removed piece by piece. I don't remember how long it took -- maybe almost an hour? It was the longest hour ever.

Mindy came out of the operation okay. She had to be in a warm box for about an hour. I will upload some pictures here later. It took her about a week to fully recover from the operation.

The vet gave me a recommendation that I followed and it's been working fine. I cover their cage with a dark cloth and close all curtains everyday at 4 pm. In the morning they usually wake up (start making noises) around 8 am. The vet said that this would make her body think it is winter time and she will not lay eggs. It works !!

No eggs since then.
 
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