URGENT Female bird terratorial about eggs and injuring male bird

[mgaencju]

Hi,

I’m a relatively new bird owner and today my female bird has laid her first egg, which we aren’t planning to let hatch and has been more of an accident. Later today my two birds got in a fight, probably after my male bird tried to get into her coconut (which by the way I knew was way too big, and comfortable for nesting, but I’m dealing with parents who thought it wouldn’t matter anyways…), and my male bird was injured and bleeding on his toe. I don’t think the injury is that bad, and even though you could see he was hurt in the beginning, now he acts normal again.

After that I tried to get them back in the cage and gave him his own coconut. It wasn’t successful: my female would literally come out of hers to attack him if he only came a little too close. I’ve decided to let him spend the night outside of his cage but normally they’re really attached to each other (he still is), sharing food, doing each others feathers (and also mating a lot), and my heart really is in pieces seeing them apart, him alone and searching for her. I’ll probably buy a new cage for him tomorrow.

The situation really confuses me and is making me incredibly sad, so I have ton of questions.

- What should I do with my female’s eggs to stop her from being terratorial, if that’s possible?
- What should I do to prevent her from laying eggs in the future?
- What should I do about my birds injury? Is it worse than I think? Should a vet be involved?
- What should I do to prevent him from getting depressed and eventually plucking his feathers or something like that?
- Is there a chance my birds can ever be together again? If so, when? And how should I deal with it?

Thank you in advance!!

 

[Shezbug]

What kind of birds do you have?

Remove the coconut. They do not need a nesting area unless you are planning to breed, offering a nesting area is only increasing the chances your bird will lay.
If the injury is still bleeding then you need to stop the bleeding by gently but firmly applying plain flour. Depending on how bad the injury is a vet may need to be consulted but no one here can say without even seeing the injury.

 

[mgaencju]

What kind of birds do you have?

Remove the coconut. They do not need a nesting area unless you are planning to breed, offering a nesting area is only increasing the chances your bird will lay.
If the injury is still bleeding then you need to stop the bleeding by gently but firmly applying plain flour. Depending on how bad the injury is a vet may need to be consulted but no one here can say without even seeing the injury.

Oops! I completely forgot to mention that they are lovebirds. So they don’t need a sleeping area at all? And what am I supposed to with the eggs that she already laid/is going to lay?

 

[Shezbug]

@Zara is a world of knowledge regarding lovebirds so hopefully she will pop in soon and give you some tips.

Birds need good comfy perches for sleeping not nests They only need nests when we have prepared them properly and we have planned to breed.

You can boil and cool the egg and then place the egg on the floor of the cage or in a quiet spot of the cage and hopefully she will abandon it soon enough but wait and see what Zara suggests if you like as she will be the member who will give you the best advice in this situation with your lovies.

 

[Zara]

- What should I do with my female’s eggs to stop her from being terratorial, if that’s possible?

She will guard the eggs with her life, it is her instinct.

- What should I do to prevent her from laying eggs in the future?

You can't stop it per se. Most hens do lay eggs at some point or another.
We can deter her from laying, by frequent cage rearranging, not providing a nest, eliminating access to any nooks and small spaces, moving the cage (I have even found a simple rotation of the cage to be successful).
When eggs do eventually come, boiling them like Shez said is often the best thing to do. I invested in some dummy eggs, some of my hens are unbearable with eggs around so I want to do the swap quickly in one go! I highly recommend them, you would need about 5-7.

- What should I do about my birds injury? Is it worse than I think? Should a vet be involved?

Hard to say. If the bleeding hasn' stopped, then yes. If the wound is deep, then yes. If he is not putting his weight on it then yes. If his appetite lessens, yes.

- What should I do to prevent him from getting depressed and eventually plucking his feathers or something like that?

Get him set up in a cage next to hers, put in some fun toys for him to play with. Foraging activities are the best, he can forage to play or forage for food and keep him mind entertained. If he is friendly with you, some extra one on one time with him could be helpful also.

- Is there a chance my birds can ever be together again? If so, when? And how should I deal with it?

Yes of course. I have had to split two different pairs of my bonded birds and both were reunited shortly after. Once the eggs are gone and the nest is gone, give it a few days to avoid her taking her frustration out on him before allowing them back in the same cage.

Shez gave some good suggestions for sleeping. Natural brances are the best. Bumpy ones so there is choice of where to perch.

The coconut is the worst nest you can give. No alternative access except the front door which, good luck getting into. To get your hen away so you can get in there is a difficult task.
With lovebirds, an external nestbox for breeding birds is used so we can access the nest and chicks without having the hen attacking us. When the hen attacks, she is stressed.

When the eggs eventually come, just let them lay them on the cage floor. Switch the egg for a dummy or boil the egg. Monitor.
Make a note of the day she starts to brood the egg. The rule is not to allow to sit on the egg longer than the incubation period. So 22 days after brooding the eggs, you must remove the nest she made on the cage floor, the eggs, everything. Rearrange the cage. Add in some new foraging activities.

For the eggs this time, Personally, as it is only day one, I would just take the egg, boil it and cool, and put it on the cage floor in the corner and then get rid of the coconut. If you leave the coconut, you will struggle to get in to boil the eggs, and if they end up hatching, the conditions in there will be disgusting for chicks to be raised in leaving them at risk of illness and even death.

I have quite a few different things that happen with my girls. One is a run of the mill, lays in on place on the cage floor. Another lays and then plays football with the eggs with no interest of brooding or nesting. And the last is the most complicated because she lays and often can start changing the laying place. So one egg in one corner, another in another. Which runs the risk of excessive laying. She recently laid one on her platform after laying one in her bowl, which breaks the cycle. I have given her a large food bowl that I hang low and she will stay in one place with that. Once her 22 days are up, if she hasn't abandoned the nest of her own accord, I remove it , and shuffle the cage around, turn it and all is well again.

Please post any questions you have

 

[Zara]

@mgaencju Do you have a photo of your cage? Maybe we can give some better tips on cage set up if we can see.

 

[soundsfun]

Another lays and then plays football with the eggs with no interest of brooding or nesting.

@Zara I always learn so much from your posts. You’re a walking encyclopedia of lovebird knowledge. And the quote above made me LOL - I’m visualizing an adorable little lovebird kicking around her egg.

 

[Zara]

I always learn so much from your posts

I am glad you find my posts interesting.
I also learn stuff on here from other members about other species, not that that information is useful to me at all, but it is fun to learn and think of the differences between species

I’m visualizing an adorable little lovebird kicking around her egg.

It only lasts a few minutes because the egg will break and then there is slimey egg everywhere