Howdy from Texas!

[Carol]

Howdy, Ya'll, from Texas! I am the happy owner of a 6 month old female Pacific Parrotlet named Kiwi. She is my second Parrotlet. I've also had numerous cockatiels in the past. But I love these little birds so much more! I found this website while in a search for some answers to some subjects which weren't addressed very often on other sites. To my complete surprise, two days ago, Kiwi presented us with an egg at the bottom of her cage. I can only think that it was perhaps because of a coconut hut I had placed in her cage some days ago. I put some shredded paper in it to entice her to play with it and all she did was proceed to pull the shreds out of it. Not once did I actually see her in it, so it didn't occur to me she might mistake it for a nesting place. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why she's laying eggs? (She laid her second one this morning!) I removed the coconut hut in hopes that this will stop the egg-laying. Help! I'm looking forward to visiting with you all in the days ahead.

[AndreaFahy]

Aspects that can lead a bird to being hormonal:

overfeeding
too many daylight hours ( in excess of 12)
potential nest (coconut!!)
pereived mate (many hand reared birds perceive their person as "mate"

Just a few starting thoughts...

[Dave]

Hey Carol! Welcome to the site :) .

[Carol]

Thanks, Andrea. Gosh, it could be all of those ideas you mentioned! I'll back off of alll of them to see if she'll stop laying!

[Pado]

Hello Carol – glad you found your way here :)

I’ll second what Andrea said. –

Make sure Kiwi gets a minimum of 12 hours sleep – Dark, uninterrupted sleep – a separate room if you can manage would be ideal.

Also cut any extra protein out of her diet – nuts etc

Let us know how she does – the 12hr sleep routine really should help.

[ArtS]

Hi Carol,

Welcome aboard!

Egg laying may not a bad thing in my opinion, I believe it should reduce the possibility of egg binding later in life. Our local bird shop had a pair of young femails that layed regularly - they ended up laying 22 in a season if I recall.

By the way, the eggs make pretty small 3 egg omlettes ;) .

Regards,

Art S.

[Pado]

Six months is a bit young to be laying – its recommended the female be at least a year old –

[AndreaFahy]

There are number of issues that could harm a hen laying eggs
egg peritonitis, egg bound, calcium deficiencies, along with quite a few other reproductive disorders. I prefer to deter a hen from laying unless she is actually breeding. No reason to strain the body and possibly cause a health complication.