Lois, it was NOT by far an easy decision for us to make, but it was a necessary decision.
We went through a lot of contemplating, discussion, googling for info, testing other options, as explained in earlier posts, like giving our hen access to a less rich food selection (Vet's advice) to hopefully turn her away from her non-stop laying, by having her thinking that with food scarcity it would be useless, but I must admit that my heart just couldn't bear not giving both Sally and Tequila the seeds and veggies they are used to, I felt as though I was intentionally starving them. We also tried the 16-hour darkness for Sally, but if you read my previous post, you'll see that 16 hours of darkness is somewhat difficult to pull off in Scandinavia between March and October. And Sally acted scared ••••less everytime we tried to cover her cage.
So the hormonal manipulation really WAS a last resort for us. She spent some 10 months straight in her next box, sitting on clutch upon clutch of unfertilized eggs, coming out rarely, looking more and more unhappy, no lustre to her feathers, she looked thinner, disinterested, non-communicative, ate a bit, and when back into her box. So we felt we had to do something quickly or she would simply waste away for lack of love and social interaction.
Remember that she and Tequila isn't a love pair, they do mate, but otherwise, she don't want him near her or the nestbox. So she was, literally, alone.
She may live 15 years untreated, and we do understand that hormonal manipulation messes with her behaviour, as well as with her lifespan. But we'd just rather have a happy, cuddly, communicating, playful, fun lovebird out of the nest box for most of her 8 or 10 years, than a sad, unhappy and lonesome bird sitting IN the nestbox for most of her 12 or 14 years. It's really that simple. It's a calculated risk, and we've accepted it with our eyes open.
We are blessed with a wonderful pair of lovebirds, even though they have not as we hoped formed a bond between them. But they bond with us and also accept each other as members of the same flock, because they don't like to be separated either. They're healthy, in good shape, beautiful full feathers (full plumage, is that the word?) Vet says she's never seen lovebirds in such super condition, so I just rest happy knowing that even if we manipulate Sally's hormonal balance, her quality of life is just a lot better this way. It's really the main thing here!
I won't regret for a sec that we chose this option. She will not, of course, go from one implant and straight onto the next one, she will have a break of a year or so, depending on how she reacts, and she will lay a few clutches of eggs, hopefull get a few chicks too and then - another implant.