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My finch laid an egg

FinchORI

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This morning one of my zebra finches laid an egg in her chop bowl, I have two females so it is unfertilized. What should I do to discourage this? I removed the egg, but now I’m not sure if that was the right thing to do, any advice is appreciated!
 
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finchly

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If you remove eggs, they may lay more to replace it. I say “may” because sometimes there’s the one and done.

So I usually leave the eggs and let them sit on them until they’re tired of it.

That means they need another dish to eat from. Oh it’s your chop bowl… just put the egg in a clean bowl.

If you leave an egg and they don’t lay more and don’t sit on it just toss it out.

To discourage egg laying, honestly it’s just one and can happen but you need to make changes:
Rearrange the cage
Change the light hours (reduce by an hour)
Reduce the amount of mushy foods
 

FinchORI

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If you remove eggs, they may lay more to replace it. I say “may” because sometimes there’s the one and done.

So I usually leave the eggs and let them sit on them until they’re tired of it.

That means they need another dish to eat from. Oh it’s your chop bowl… just put the egg in a clean bowl.

If you leave an egg and they don’t lay more and don’t sit on it just toss it out.

To discourage egg laying, honestly it’s just one and can happen but you need to make changes:
Rearrange the cage
Change the light hours (reduce by an hour)
Reduce the amount of mushy foods
Thank you so much!
 

RatKave

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FinchORI

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Hi! They (I say they as both are female and I don’t know which) have laid 4 eggs now, I took out the chop bowl and put the eggs in a dish on the floor, but two of the eggs they laid off of a perch and cracked on the bottom of the cage. They are not sitting on the eggs, but they lay one almost every day. I’m concerned, what should I do? Should I take out the cuttlebone cause they have too much calcium?
 

RatKave

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If they cannot nest they will normally stop. They lay in clutches of 2-7 eggs, when the clutch is complete and they realize they are not able to nest they should stop.
 

finchly

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? Should I take out the cuttlebone cause they have too much calcium?
No, on the contrary they need more calcium now. Cuttlebone isn’t a good source because they can’t process it well. Best get a calcium powder from one of the bird stores.
You can cover the cage a few hours a day. Did you try the things I suggested?
 

Bloop'sMom

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This morning one of my zebra finches laid an egg in her chop bowl, I have two females so it is unfertilized. What should I do to discourage this? I removed the egg, but now I’m not sure if that was the right thing to do, any advice is appreciated!
i see people more educated on the subject than i am have commented below, but i just had to pitch in that when i lived with my parents, we had an umbrella cockatoo :umbrella2: named Poppy. We always referred to Poppy as "he", and one day, after having Poppy for about 8 years, *he* laid an egg out of nowhere! :hilarious: it seemed like *she* cracked it open and ate some of it. :scared2: my mom took it away and kept it as a souveneer. :laugh:

anyway. FinchORI i think finches are so cute and pretty. i hope you and all your pets are doing well and have a wonderful holiday!! :unopenedpresent:
 

Bloop'sMom

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No, on the contrary they need more calcium now. Cuttlebone isn’t a good source because they can’t process it well. Best get a calcium powder from one of the bird stores.
You can cover the cage a few hours a day. Did you try the things I suggested?



speaking of cuttlebones - i'm glad i read your reply to this post, finchly. :) my budgie does not touch his cuttlebone. he has one of those cages that have rungs on the bottom, so i wouldn't be able to sprinkle the calcium powder on the floor. should i put it in his food dish? he's very picky and i bet he would avoid it, but maybe he would accidentally get some into his system? :smuggrin: i thank you in advance for any advice you could give me! happy holidays!!
 

FinchORI

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No, on the contrary they need more calcium now. Cuttlebone isn’t a good source because they can’t process it well. Best get a calcium powder from one of the bird stores.
You can cover the cage a few hours a day. Did you try the things I suggested?
Yes, I did try the things you suggested. I will go to the bird store and buy calcium powder. Thanks so much for the advice!
 

AussieBird

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speaking of cuttlebones - i'm glad i read your reply to this post, finchly. :) my budgie does not touch his cuttlebone. he has one of those cages that have rungs on the bottom, so i wouldn't be able to sprinkle the calcium powder on the floor. should i put it in his food dish? he's very picky and i bet he would avoid it, but maybe he would accidentally get some into his system? :smuggrin: i thank you in advance for any advice you could give me! happy holidays!!
Is your budgie eating any pellets? Supplementing calcium is only necessary for laying hens or when prescribed by your vet. If he is eating pellets he should be getting plenty of calcium.
If he doesn't eat pellets and you want to offer more calcium try feeding some calcium rich veggies. You really don't want to overdo calcium as it can damage his kidneys.
 

Bloop'sMom

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Is your budgie eating any pellets? Supplementing calcium is only necessary for laying hens or when prescribed by your vet. If he is eating pellets he should be getting plenty of calcium.
If he doesn't eat pellets and you want to offer more calcium try feeding some calcium rich veggies. You really don't want to overdo calcium as it can damage his kidneys.



thank you so much for responding! well, he's definitely not laying eggs lol but that makes perfect sense about the calcium. i had to google "pellets" and i believe those are the colored things i see in his food, but i'm not sure if he eats them. he could be, but it's hard to tell. he's verrry picky. he does seem very healthy, though! i used to get this dried veggie stuff to sprinkle into my Birdy's :budgieyf::heart: (r.i.p. he lived a long, happy life) food, and also oat groats. i'm planning on getting some of those for him and i wanted to look up what kinds of fresh herbs and things i can give him. he's a sweetie bird! :budgie: :heart: i didn't get to raise him, so i'm trying to work with him to try new things and come out of his cage and stuff like that. by the way, you've got some adorable budgies there!!
 

finchly

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speaking of cuttlebones - i'm glad i read your reply to this post, finchly. :) my budgie does not touch his cuttlebone. he has one of those cages that have rungs on the bottom, so i wouldn't be able to sprinkle the calcium powder on the floor. should i put it in his food dish? he's very picky and i bet he would avoid it, but maybe he would accidentally get some into his system? :smuggrin: i thank you in advance for any advice you could give me! happy holidays!!
Hi, yes you can mix it with his food. Or offer it in a separate dish.
 
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