New mates

[beauderek]

Hi all, I have a hen called Derek (long story) and a cock called Beau. She is around 5 and he is 1.

Some background: Derek has been cage bound and alone her whole life. She came to me 3 months ago when her elderly owner passed away. I introduced her to Beau about 6 weeks ago, placing them in adjacent cages for a couple of weeks before allowing Beau to go into Derek's cage. Since then they have been very amorous, lots of beaking, feeding each other, some attempts at mating.

Last Friday I attached a nest box to the cage, which Derek immediately took possession of. Since then she's been preparing it, chewing up a wooden cross section to fill it with sawdust. Beau doesn't go in, he just stands outside and guards the entrance.

Do we think they are going to mate/ have mated? His cere is bright blue, hers is dark tan but not crusty. Is she still fertile at 5 and is he capable at 1?

Opinions greatly received. Here's a pic... Derek is blue on left, Beau is white and violet on right 😊

[Marianne Marlow]

She is too old to start laying eggs, I'd take the nest box away.

[beauderek]

Thanks for the advice. It was never my intention to breed them, I assumed she was probably a bit mature, but when she started getting broody I thought may be I was mistaken. I admit I was getting a bit hopeful at the prospect lol.

[Marianne Marlow]

What I mean is it could be dangerous for her to lay at her age. Breeders don't let them breed past three years old.

[beauderek]

Thank you, why is that?

[beauderek]

Will removing the nest box suffice or should I separate them?

[Marianne Marlow]

Assuming she has not laid any eggs, just take the box away. Hopefully it wont be necessary to separate them.

[suesbird]

My 5 years old Jo has just passed away two weeks ago, she was egg bound. I tried everything for 3 weeks to try and snap her out of it, favourite toys removed, no paper on the floor as she was shredding it. Nothing in the cage she could shred but she was so obsessed with laying. I never noticed she was egg bound until it was too late, she showed no signs and had no bulge on her back. She was just 5 years old.

[beauderek]

I'm so sorry to hear that suesbird, you must be really sad. Did she have a mate or was it an infertile egg? I certainly wouldn't want to see Derek go through anything similar x

[suesbird]

It was infertile, she had been split up from Pip for two weeks. She had laid one about 2 years ago and it fell on the floor and broke. There was only the one and she was not in nesting mode. It happened so quickly and really upsetting. I hope this helps.

[Hezz]

As has been pointed out, and my first reaction to reading that Derek is five years old, it is dangerous to her health to encourage her to breed. Even though she has had the nest box for only a short time, she still may start displaying nesting behaviour - chewing up the bottom of her cage and every other thing she can get hold of, nesting under her paper if you have paper on the bottom of the cage, trying to find hiding places etc. If she shows any sign of anything like this, I would immediately separate her away from the male, into another room. Even for just a day can make all the difference.

[beauderek]

Thank you all, your advice is noted. I appreciate this great resource of info

[Hezz]

You're welcome.