Lorikeets and eggs

[ningbi]

hello friends,
recently, my pair of lorikeets have mated and laid eggs.

This really wasn’t my intention as I never expected them to breed as ones a rainbow and ones a musk but they did.

I have already purchased a nest box and the birds seem content with it, with the female spending majority of her time inside, but i was wondering if there’s a specific amount of time a female should spend sitting on eggs per day?

Also throughout the night, my birds make strange squawking noises from inside their nest box and im not quite sure what’s happening, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the birds so is it a normal thing?

Thanks for the help <3

 

[Zara]

This really wasn’t my intention as I never expected them to breed as ones a rainbow and ones a musk but they did.

If these eggs were laid recently (within the last few days) you can boil, allow to cool and put back in their box.


Hopefully a Lorikeet owner can help you with the noises

 

[oddyssea]

I’m not a bird breeder, but yes the unusual squeaky, chirpy sounds are normal in nesting birds, I think it’s just them engaging in some “pillow talk” between themselves.

You can expect the female to sit on her eggs pretty much full time. My lorikeet Lilly recently laid some infertile eggs (she doesn’t have a boyfriend but she laid eggs anyway!) and really only came up for air when she needed a feed or to have a poop. Your male bird will probably feed your female while she is sitting on the eggs so you may not see much of her at all. My Lilly Pilly sat on her (boiled) egg for almost 2 weeks before she realised nothing was going to hatch and lost interest.

Rainbow, scaly breasted and musk lorikeets will interbreed in the wild so here in Australia we do see a fair few hybrids getting around. So you may indeed have viable eggs there if you haven’t boiled them already. Unfortunately just because they’ve bred doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be great parents and hand-raising is no easy job, hence why I’ve never done it. In terms of how you may prevent this from happening again, now there’s the 64 million dollar question! My Lilly doesn’t have access to a nestbox but she will try to burrow into any tiny crack or crevice and make a nest out of that - the last egg she laid was behind a cushion on my couch! It’s not a great idea to let your female keep laying as it’s quite depleting on her body and can result in egg-binding and other health complications, but so far I haven’t found a fail safe way to prevent it. If anybody else has, please tell me, I’m all ears!

 

[Zara]

In terms of how you may prevent this from happening again, now there’s the 64 million dollar question!

I haven’t found a fail safe way to prevent it. If anybody else has, please tell me, I’m all ears!

I just want to point out tha a hen will lay at some point or another, it is natural. There´s no way to 100% stop it. We can do things to control it to make sure they don´t go overboard laying copious amounts of eggs.

First important thing is if a hen lays a clutch of eggs, to let her sit - that is when she rests, recovers and regains all the nutrients lost. Plus when a hen is sitting, she is not laying more (this can happen on rare occassion, but it is not normal).

Here´s a few things you can try to reduce laying:
Good diet paired with plenty of flight really helps a hen have less chance of complications laying.
Light control can play a huge part in laying. You need her to have bright light for limited amount of time per day. For example; I like to start at 13-11 (13 darkness/bedtime - 11 daylight), and then increase bedtime an hour should I need to. It´s important that during the day, the light is not dim or it won´t work. It must also be silent during darkness hours.
Rearranging the cage is another idea. This will create a little insecurity. So move the perches, toys and food all around. You can even move the cage.
Increasing foraging opportunities can also work well.
When your hen is out of her cage, don´t allow her into any nooks or small enclosed spaces, behind the settee cushion being a perfect example. In gaps on a bookshelf, and in other little corners.

If your hen is a chronic layer and you are trying every trick in the book and it´s not working to reduce the eggs, consult with your avian vet.