Chronic egg-laying in cockatiels

[Rooster2312]

Hi all,

I am posting in the hope that someone can perhaps offer some advice on how to eliminate the above problem.

My cockatiel 'Parsley' who is approx 12years of age is starting to cause concern again re this condition.

I have owned her from about 10 weeks of age and was surprised that she never laid any eggs on reaching maturity unlike her cage buddy Rosie who was a 'normal' egg-layer until she passed away with a wing tumour last year.

Then when Parsley turned about 8 she suddenly started laying eggs but didn't know when to stop. She was laying a clutch of 4-5 eggs, sometimes more, every 1-2 months. I have always let her sit her eggs until she leaves them.

A few years ago, when things were really getting out of hand, I made a trip to an avian vet some distance from home as there are none in my local area. She underwent a full health check up and was passed fit and healthy. I was given recommendations on changing her diet, limiting daylight, changing cage environment etc. but things remained much the same. I was also offered the choice of getting her spayed but I felt this to be too risky a procedure at her age and size. Previous treatment such as hormone therapy was tried by my local vet, but as the drug was not licenced for avian use, it caused other problems such as lethary and increased thirst.

As time went on, I thought I had solved the problem by changing her cage lining from newspaper to environmentally safe wood pellets that are marketed as cat litter. She stopped laying for about 2 years until I stupidly lined her cage again this year with paper as I had run out of pellets. After that clutch, I replaced the paper again with pellets but she ended up laying an egg on top of them some weeks later. I felt sorry for her laying on the uncomfortable flooring so I put in soft padding for her comfort.

I am getting concerned now as she has laid 2 clutches in succession with no break at all inbetween. She had 4 eggs first then a couple of weeks ago there was another one...or so I thought...I found another 2 the other day giving a total of 7. She also has very foul diarrhoea when she lays but this always clears up with no effect on her health during this time, then poops return to normal towards the end of the sitting period until the next time she lays. I think this is because she is storing faecal matter for long periods until she is let out daily. I mentioned this in another post but can't recall which one.

Tonight when I got home from work, I let her out armed with container to catch smelly poop but she got spooked by Jax who was flying around in the same airspace. She is obviously now weakened with this egg-laying business, lost power during flight and lightly crashed to the floor leaving her poop behind. She then flew off and happily preened in the adjacent room for a while as I cleaned her cage.

She is still eating and drinking ok, although I suspect not as much, as she is always on her eggs. She just looks tired a lot of the time, but is bright and flighty when let out of her cage.

I just wish I knew how to stop this never-ending cycle of laying which will inevitaby cause her problems. All her eggs have, and remain hard-shelled and she has access to a calcium block and some crushed oyster-shell. She has also never had leg paralysis or any problems passing an egg at any time.

I think it is time I took her back to the vet to get checked out, but am at a loss as to solving this problem. She is getting on age-wise and it worries me that I will eventually lose her due to this problem. Has anyone else experienced this problem with a tiel or know what I can do to stop it??

Lindi

[TAWhatley]

Hi Lindi,

I can't offer any sound advice to you about this. I think Reti has some experience with using Lupron and has also at least been exposed to spaying of birds at the clinic where she used to work.

I came across this article, and it seemed to me to have some useful information and wasn't "sugar coated" in any way.

http://birdtoyoutlet.com/bird-safety...egg-laying.htm

Terry

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by little bird

By the way....she's only middle-aged you know! One of my male tiels clients passed away recently at the age of 27.

Yes .. that's another consideration, Lindi .. your bird really isn't all that old. Our Samuel P. Cockatiel passed at about 22-23 years of age.

Terry

[TerriB]

Great information, Nona! Good to know what environmental modification can be helpful to curtail egg laying.

[Reti]

From what I've seen this problem is a common one in the clinic. The first thing to do is change the environment and as already mentioned providing an environment in which she cannot nest. That would be the best solution and easiest on the bird.
If it fails we do give Lupron, which works great in parrots (for some reason it does not work in pigeons and ducks).
Hysterectomy is the last resort, when everything else fails and the birds health in in danger.
Now for the Lupron you will need a vet, the injection is given every three months and is quite expensive.

Reti

[Rooster2312]

Thank you all for your informative replies. I just typed a huge detailed reply about the current problems I have re changing Parsley's cage and environment. Gutted that I have lost it because of time out and I don't have time to type it all out again at the moment.

I shall explain further at a later date.

Thanks again for the advice. I really appreciate your thoughts.

Lindi

[jazaroo]

Hi Lindi,

I though I would add a little to what has already been said, all of which is good advice.

We had this problem a number of years back with one of our Budgies and a change of environment did solve it. What we did was take/keep her in a room she had never been in before, a spare bedroom, and slightly rearrange her cage. Meaning, we moved her feed and water dishes from their usual spots and rearranged her perches and this did the trick. We also did not cover her at night. The slight disorientation and new environment seems to turn their comfort level down enough to make them feel it is not safe enough to lay. A week seems to be enough for our little one.

Best of luck with your little one,

Ron

I would also consider adding some liquid calcium supplement, made specifically for birds, to her water dish, being careful to follow manufacturer's dosing instructions.

[Rooster2312]

Thank you too Ron for your advice.

The main problem I have regarding changing Parlsey's environment is the size of my studio appartment. I only have one main room with a very small kitchen and dressing room/bathroom off it. It is so small that I'll bet some of you will have lofts larger than this place lol! There are no other rooms to move my birds to when night falls.

Even if I did have the space, Parsley and the budgies are housed in 2 mini indoor aviary type cages (2-man lift). Parsley's cage is a very large well-made wooden framed cage that could adequately house at least 4 cockatiels or similar sized birds. She used to share it with Rosie, but since she died last year, Parsley looks very lost in such a big cage. She has perches that are mostly dowel rods unfortunately, rope, a number of toys and the usual mandatory items such as feeding bowls, cuttlefish, Calcium and mineral blocks etc.

I used to try and cover the cages which are stacked together, but the budgies just freak out as they have not become tame in the 9 months I've had them (got them together at 6 weeks and they have just bonded with each other and are not keen to accept human interaction). When I have managed to cover the cages, because I live in the same room, they will still be aware of artificial light, sounds, movement and general activity for a while before I go to bed.

I agree that Parsley's cage really does need a makeover and would like to give her natural branches like I did in the past. I know that fruit tree branches are best but I don't know where I can get these. I also don't want to risk picking up just any braches incase they are toxic or unsuitable for pet birds. Are there other safe tree branches that I could use? Identifying trees in the winter will also be a problem as they all look the same without leaves.

The large pet stores do sell special hard wood branches (forgotten the name) but these are outrageously expensive for what you get. Being a student, I am unable to buy these in addition to the overpriced bird toys that she won't play with anyway.

Does anyone have any ideas to do a relatively cheap makeover so that I can give her a fun interesting cage?

I am also thinking of removing her eggs (6 now as one broke) as she really has been sitting these for weeks on end. It has been so long, it could even be a couple of months. Should I remove them?

Thanks again for all your help and advice.

Lindi

[jazaroo]

Hi Lindi,

Thanks for a better description of your situation.

Would it be possible to get a small cage for Parlsey to create the change we have been speaking about. It does not have to be anything fancy, but large enough to stretch her wings would be good. This would most likely have new perches and seed and water dishes to help out.

If you can't change the room, perhaps you can change the location where you keep her in your place. What we want to do is not really make her too uncomfortable, just enough to shift her out of egg laying mode.

With our Budgie what I would do is put any eggs she laid in a small pot add water and bring it up to a simmer and then take it off the heat. This will hard boil them and this way it was hard for her to break them. I would remove the broken one and do as I described with the others. I would not remove the others until you do the change up with her cage to help prevent her from laying another clutch, as she may very well do if she is in the same surroundings.

I see from your location you are in Scotland, I am not really familiar with the type of tress that grow there, but we have many UK members who may be able to help out with natural branch selection. I will PM cyro51 and she if she has any suggestions for you.

All the best,

Ron

[cyro51]

I received Ron's pm but I am totally ignorant about trees I can just about recognise an oak tree but (unless there is fruit hanging on it) that is about it.

I have also stood over the "pet shop" version, flabbergasted at the price that they charge.

I think that some places sell aromatic wood for fires, which includes seasoned applewood. Perhaps asking around wood merchants might lead you a source.

Perhaps you could also introduce different colours to her environment.

Also, don't stroke her back...apparently that stimulates egg laying.

Cynthia

[Rooster2312]

Thank you Cynthia for your advice.

I am going to have to wait till next weekend due to work comittments before I will have time to try and get the cage situation sorted out. In the meantime I shall have a think about how I can change things slightly for now and build on this when I have the time and finances.

If I get the chance, I shall try a few more pet stores to see if I can buy more cage accessories at a more affordable price. I am sure I will be able to work something out.

Thanks again everyone for your helpful advice and suggestions.

Lindi