Pegggggg
Meeting neighbors
- Joined
- 8/8/20
- Messages
- 36
My mated pair, Buddy and Bella seem to REALLY enjoy mating... so much so that my younger bird has learned to imitate the sound quite often... so it took me awhile to realize that the sound I was hearing was not Ducky's imitation, or the sound of them feeding their chicks (which is actually a pretty similar sound)
I thought this was probably unusual... why would they be mating while they still have chicks that are NOT EVEN WEENED YET??? but its not like I could separate them... since they both took turns sitting on the young... and they take turns feeding them also... So I just tried to discourage them by making sure they had longer hours of darkness... this was the only thing i could think of to try to stop their desire to breed... since i know the triggers for breeding are usually longer periods of daylight....an abundance of food (necessary since they are also feeding young right now)... and warm temperatures (also necessary for the eggs/young)
but then we had another issue... Bella began to lay eggs... This is her THIRD clutch THIS YEAR... and I got immediately worried about egg binding... but since they were still using the nesting box, it was not really possible to remove it.. removing the eggs may have encouraged her to lay even more to replace them.... and didnt make any sense to boil/replace the eggs... since letting the babies live is not the danger (they have become great parents)... so I just increased the amount of Kale and broccoli in their chop... so she had enough calcium...
she laid a total of 5 before stopping (same # as previous clutches... that seems to be her number lol) ...and LUCKILY she didnt seem to have any problems with egg binding or anything... YAYYYY.... and she is now brooding them full-time...I candled them today... and the eggs ARE fertile... and growing well... and should hatch by the end of the month.... (the 2 young they have now are 8 weeks old and will be re-homed once fully weened (eating well now...but still taking occasional meal from parents) so they should be rehomed by the time this clutch hatches... but they timed it pretty closely
has anyone else seen this? mating while they still have young? and actually laying ANOTHER clutch before the others are even weened?
As much as I truly hope this was a one-time occurrence.. since it never happened any other time... I want to be responsible so she will not lay again until at least spring... how can i prevent this from happening again?????? the thought of keeping them in separate cages sounds horrible... it would break their little hearts...they sleep cuddled together.... they are very attached to each other (obviously) and will again be co-parenting for the next few months anyway.... I have decided that as soon as the young are feathered... and dont REQUIRE brooding.... I will remove the nesting box quickly... HOPEFULLY before Bella gets any ideas about laying eggs!!! Any suggestions on other things I can try? The idea of her getting egg bound scares me enough to keep me up at night. (note: she does not otherwise lay random eggs year-round)
I thought this was probably unusual... why would they be mating while they still have chicks that are NOT EVEN WEENED YET??? but its not like I could separate them... since they both took turns sitting on the young... and they take turns feeding them also... So I just tried to discourage them by making sure they had longer hours of darkness... this was the only thing i could think of to try to stop their desire to breed... since i know the triggers for breeding are usually longer periods of daylight....an abundance of food (necessary since they are also feeding young right now)... and warm temperatures (also necessary for the eggs/young)
but then we had another issue... Bella began to lay eggs... This is her THIRD clutch THIS YEAR... and I got immediately worried about egg binding... but since they were still using the nesting box, it was not really possible to remove it.. removing the eggs may have encouraged her to lay even more to replace them.... and didnt make any sense to boil/replace the eggs... since letting the babies live is not the danger (they have become great parents)... so I just increased the amount of Kale and broccoli in their chop... so she had enough calcium...
she laid a total of 5 before stopping (same # as previous clutches... that seems to be her number lol) ...and LUCKILY she didnt seem to have any problems with egg binding or anything... YAYYYY.... and she is now brooding them full-time...I candled them today... and the eggs ARE fertile... and growing well... and should hatch by the end of the month.... (the 2 young they have now are 8 weeks old and will be re-homed once fully weened (eating well now...but still taking occasional meal from parents) so they should be rehomed by the time this clutch hatches... but they timed it pretty closely
has anyone else seen this? mating while they still have young? and actually laying ANOTHER clutch before the others are even weened?
As much as I truly hope this was a one-time occurrence.. since it never happened any other time... I want to be responsible so she will not lay again until at least spring... how can i prevent this from happening again?????? the thought of keeping them in separate cages sounds horrible... it would break their little hearts...they sleep cuddled together.... they are very attached to each other (obviously) and will again be co-parenting for the next few months anyway.... I have decided that as soon as the young are feathered... and dont REQUIRE brooding.... I will remove the nesting box quickly... HOPEFULLY before Bella gets any ideas about laying eggs!!! Any suggestions on other things I can try? The idea of her getting egg bound scares me enough to keep me up at night. (note: she does not otherwise lay random eggs year-round)