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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 11, 2014 16:12:15 GMT
When I first joined the forum, we were mid-clutch. I ended up letting Santino sit on her eggs for two weeks and removed them after confirming that we had two females (and nothing was happening in the eggs).
Fast forward. .. egg production ceased ... for a short time. We had the birds together in one cage off and on. I have the two hens separated most of the time now because Santino is very aggressive towards Mondo when she is about close to laying an egg. Nothing in the cage resembles nesting material - just newspaper on the floor, no boxes, nothing except food, water, cuttle bones, mineral block and toys. I changed their diets to include Roudybush Crumbles. They do still have some seed mixed in only because I still had a bag of it but it is only about 1/4 or less of seed. They do eat the crumbles too. I've added diced veggies to their diet but seems like it's not a big hit. Most is dried up and I can't tell if pieces are really gone from being eaten or dried up and shifted from wings flapping. I cover their cages with a couple of layers of fabric remnants starting around 5 or 6 PM and uncover after 8 AM. We have a busy household with middle school aged kids eating at 6 AM and the TV is on low at night after kids are in bed. The cages are on a big shelf in a room adjacent to both my kitchen and family room. There shelf is on a low wall between family room and the "bird room". I can't really move it to another room because they wouldn't be near the family at all.
Mondo the green budgie has never laid an egg. She has no interest in the mineral block. Santino is on her third clutch - 6 so far but I've been taking them out. When I uncover the cages in the morning, she is on the floor of the cage (resting? faking nesting??) She only does this when she is alone and not when they are together.
Any ideas as to what is happening? I tried to shorten the daylight hours and diet without success . Not sure what is still stimulating egg production. I don't want the poor thing to die from exhaustion.
Cherry
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Post by Pammy on Feb 11, 2014 20:32:34 GMT
Oh Cherry, your little girl certainly seems to want to be a mother. Just thinking out loud -- I don't know if this is even a good idea at all -- have you considered getting a male mate for Santino, to live in her cage with her? I wonder if she were allowed to have and raise a clutch of babies if she would cool it with all that laying all the time. Of course her body is already depleted of egg-producing nutrients, so this may be horrendous advice.
You did a great job converting your girls to pellet crumbles. Yay, you!! Remember that it's okay for them to have some seeds, too. Optimally, they should eat mostly veggies, then fruits, then pellets, then seeds. If you want to buy another bag of seeds when this one is finished off, and continue giving your girls 1/4 seeds to 3/4 pellets like you are doing, I see no harm in that. After all, we all enjoy a little variety in our food and we want our littles to be happy, as well as healthy.
I'm unsure what more you can do for Santino, to get her out of breeding condition and stop the egg laying. It sounds to me as though you are doing everything right. Keep pushing those veggies! Maybe offer veggies only during the morning hours and then give up the pellets and seeds in the afternoon & evening? Poor girl.
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 12, 2014 0:21:52 GMT
I'd be afraid of how much more work it would be if we got a male. She would potentially have fertilized eggs - non-stop! I think my husband would kill me. My kids would love the idea! I have two friends who would gladly give me their solo male birds (each had mates who died). She tried to be a good mommy during her last clutch of eggs. She sat on them to no avail for 2 weeks, leaving only to eat or drink. Most of the time she remembers to lay the eggs on the bottom of the cage. Last week, we watched her drop an egg from up high. My son and I thought she was wiggling her butt to poop a big one but an egg dropped out instead and bounced off another perch. Needless to say, it got dented.
Will keep pushing the veggies. Trying to vary the size and type. I've been sprinkling seeds on top of the veggies and putting them on a plate. Have tried just dumping bits into their food bowls too. Will try to remember removing the crumble/seed mix in the mornings and offer only later.
Other than the unusually high egg production, she seems very healthy! Both make a lot of noise for hens, singing, flock calling and squawking.
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Post by Pammy on Feb 12, 2014 2:15:18 GMT
Oh wow, if I had friends wanting to hand off their males on me, I would be terribly tempted!
Oh!! I just thought of something! Have you tried rearranging the perches and toys and food and water dishes in Santino's cage? I've read different times that a female may feel less like laying eggs if she feels her environment isn't stable.
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 12, 2014 2:31:23 GMT
We switch toys and move perches every week when we clean their cage(s). My son believes that it keeps the birds smarter by challenging them so he spends extra time creating their new arrangements .
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Post by saif on Feb 12, 2014 11:10:39 GMT
She seem to be a determined layer. Have u tried covering her cage for longer hours ?
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 12, 2014 19:17:14 GMT
Hi Saif, The cage is covered 12-14 hours right now with 2-3 pieces of dark fabric and sometimes pillows on the sides depending on whether it gets bitterly cold at night. I cover around 6 PM and uncover around 8 AM or later. But like I posted earlier, it's not completely silent in the house but it's fairly quiet after 8 PM. Do you think I have to cover even longer? I can hear the birds moving around and warbling in the morning even before I remove the fabric but I keep it dark as long as I can.
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Post by saif on Feb 12, 2014 19:50:01 GMT
Hhmm well im no expert /: i've seen on other forums people covering their budgies for 15 hours in some cases of egg laying. Are u sure u've removed every stuff that looks like a nest ? Try not to touch her on the back. Feed her veggies and fruits and keep covering her cage for long hours.
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Post by saif on Feb 12, 2014 20:00:00 GMT
+ birds only lay egg when they feel the place is safe for them to lay . Try changing her cage or chaning the location of the cage
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Post by Pammy on Feb 13, 2014 0:35:04 GMT
How old is your son? He has endeared himself to me by taking such care with weekly rearranging of the cage. He must be a special young man.
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 15, 2014 5:29:57 GMT
Saif, she and the other hen are separated or together in the same cage. When separated, she can be in either of two cages so the cage itself and the contents of the cage changes every few days. The is nothing at the bottom of either cage except newspaper or paper towels. There is some minor accumulation of gnawed up chewing toys but she lays in various spots, not favoring any cage or any corner or type of surface. I don't know if my kids touch her back. Not sure if she is slowing down but it was nearly a week between her last two eggs. Pam, my son just turned 13 . He really enjoys creating their habitats. I will occasionally refine a location of a perch or toy if I find that it gets pooped on too much. Haha. We have a red backed salamander "Dude" that we have had in captivity for over 2 years. Dude has a nice terrarium that gets a nice re-decorating every 3 months or so. I do the special mealworms feedings to Dude... I wonder if parakeets can eat mealworms??
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Post by saif on Feb 15, 2014 12:44:53 GMT
Has she layed more eggs ? Is she sitting on them ?
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 15, 2014 18:57:42 GMT
No, the last one was a couple of days ago. She is not sitting on them because we take the eggs away. She did sit on the last clutch but we took them away after 2 weeks after we found out that both birds are hens. She was tired from spending all her time attending to the eggs and leaving only to eat and drink. There is no point to having her sit on eggs that are not fertilized.
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Post by Sarah on Feb 15, 2014 19:00:22 GMT
Where is she laying these eggs?
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 15, 2014 19:34:04 GMT
On the bottom of the cage directly onto the newspaper or paper towels depending on the cage she is in. She gets very agitated towards the other hen (that's why we have to separate them occasionally). When she spends time sitting on the bottom, we know she's getting ready to lay one. No nesting materials at all, no basket or box.
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