Lemons egg

[KiwiandLemony]

Hi all. Lemon has layed an egg. Because this is inbreeding we are prepared to boil it. Can we simply remove the egg? Do we need a dummy egg?

 

[sunnysmom]

I believe it's better to replace an egg so the tiel doesn't keep laying more but I'll tag some more knowledgeable people. @Ripshod ? @Birdbabe ?

 

[Birdbabe]

Yes, dummies or biol it..if you take it away, she will just replace it, do mark it with a sharpie though, so you know it between the others she may lay.

 

[Ripshod]

Yes, dummies or biol it..if you take it away, she will just replace it, do mark it with a sharpie though, so you know it between the others she may lay.

 

[KiwiandLemony]

She also seems to think that a rock is another egg, she is dragging it into her nest, is this just a coincidence with her playing with the rock? On a separate note won’t the egg rot if we boil it and give it back?

 

[KiwiandLemony]

Can we put her in the cage? Or does she need to stay in her nest? Her nest is in a piece of furniture on a different floor, so i don’t know if this would stress her out too much.

 

[KiwiandLemony]

Update: lemon remains under the desk in her nest, however kiwi is calling for her and looking for her elsewhere in the house, should we get lemon out of the nest for kiwi, or leave her there?

 

[Ripshod]

Personally I'd encourage her out of the nest. While she's distracted remove the nest and block access to that area. From then on every time she gets nesty in an area block that off. It'll not be easy but it's doable.
But the nest is only one trigger. Increasing the dark period to 14hrs will help.
An abundance of food is another trigger. You may need to work out how much they need just for themselves and minimal leftovers. Food in the cage only, other than a few treats in your pocket.
I could go into it a lot deeper but I just want to give you something to think about.

 

[KiwiandLemony]

Thank you @Ripshod we have tried all of those things in the past, but to no avail. We don’t have another room on that floor that they could go in for 14 hours of dark, but we are turning out the lights and covering them, but there is still lots of natural light which simply doesn’t go away. We also can’t do the food because their diet is a mix, where they pick out their favourites, so reducing the amount by subtracting or just giving less and adjusting simply isn’t viable, we are working on converting them to another diet, but as of right now there isn’t much else can do about that. We are blocking off the nest. Hopefully it will help

 

[Zara]

Her nest is in a piece of furniture on a different floor,

Has she put some nesting material there?
If so, take that and make her a little nest in her cage in the corner and put her boiled egg and the stone in it.

On a separate note won’t the egg rot if we boil it and give it back?

Boiling it will harden the shell and it is very unlikely to break. Once she has gone through the motions and abandoned the eggs, just bin them.

 

[KiwiandLemony]

@Zara she has not placed bedding, should I offer her some and then let her take it in? Then should I move the nest to her cage?

 

[KiwiandLemony]

On a separate note is swaying low to the ground typical behaviour?

 

[KiwiandLemony]

We have boiled the egg. We then moved it, added some nesting material, it and the stone into a cardboard tray. Lemon did not notice at first, but when she saw it she jumped down and began moving it towards her with her beak, when we put it in her tray she insisted on going back to her cage to sleep, it is now in her cage, but she is not giving it much attention, has she abandoned it? Is this typical behaviour?

 

[Peachfaced]

Birds won't typically sit on their nests actively until the whole clutch is laid.

 

[Zara]

On a separate note is swaying low to the ground typical behaviour?

Staying on the cage floor is typical in hens when laying/brooding.

We have boiled the egg. We then moved it, added some nesting material, it and the stone into a cardboard tray. Lemon did not notice at first, but when she saw it she jumped down and began moving it towards her with her beak, when we put it in her tray she insisted on going back to her cage to sleep, it is now in her cage, but she is not giving it much attention, has she abandoned it? Is this typical behaviour?

Good
Now just leave the setup like that. Block off any nooks and cavities before the next out of cage time. Give her chance to lay more eggs if there are more on the way. When it has been a week since the last egg and she is not tending to the ¨nest¨, then remove the lot.

 

[KiwiandLemony]

@Peachfaced she is currently in her nest outside the cage (we had not read the other messages until now, she did not care about the egg in the cage, but does in her little hole, she seemed distressed a little so we moved her back to her original nest) she is actively sitting on it and has been all day, we will move her and the egg back soon, but does that mean that she had the clutch of just the one?

 

[KiwiandLemony]

Lemon is looking for an entrance to her nest and calling for the egg, she doesn’t seem to realize that the egg in her cage, and is very distressed. What should we do?

 

[KiwiandLemony]

We moved the egg again, she doesn’t respond to it in the cage, when out she is very distressed, as a a result we have moved it into a better place outside of the cage, kiwi is also trying to help with the egg now, so lemon is much less distressed, overall much better. Is this current setup of a little box outside the cage okay?

 

[KiwiandLemony]

she laid another egg. She is also standing oddly, attached is an image, @Zara sorry I don’t know if you know anything about this, it just started after her 2nd egg.

 

[KiwiandLemony]

upon closer inspection her second egg has a spot of blood on it, it is also tinted red, is this normal? I read that chickens may have this happen when they first begin laying because their vents haven’t stretched yet, but I would like confirmation that this is normal first.
Thank you.
KiwiandLemony