What to do if my hen lays too many eggs?

[zenriamoon]

Ok, Terry (hen) is bonded to Toby (cock). I have recently seen them mating, frequently, i think it is inevitable that she will lay eggs since before i introduced her to Toby she was laying infertile eggs over the cage floor during breeding season, but i only have room for a maximum of 2 more budgies, as i currently have 6 budgies, 1 cockatiel, and 1 scarlet-chested parakeet.
What can i do if she lays more than 2 eggs, i have been to all the local pet shops and they have told me they have their own professional suppliers and wont take any birds from me. I was considering if she lays more than 2 eggs, just taking away any more that she lays? if they are fertile is this a bad thing to do?

[grimcoll]

If you take them away she will probably just lay more .

She is likely to lay between 4 and 6 eggs , sometimes they lay more than this .

If you dont have the room to keep the babys you shouldnt really be breeding from them in the first place .
It would be better to just buy 2 more budgies if you want two more and cant accomodate anymore than another 2

[BudgiesBuddy]

If you replace the other eggs with dummy ones, there is an outside chance that she will accept them and won't lay more.

But then again there is no surety that the two you leave will hatch 100%.

[BudgiesBuddy]

If you decide to go for dummy eggs, make sure you buy white ones like THESE and not the colored ones.

[Bonesy]

My birds lay between 5 and 11 eggs on average (smallest and biggest clutches of one bird)

You can use marbles or dummies as above to fool her into laying less, or you can let so many that you want go fertile then any more produced after that just move them out, replace with a dummy and either shake them to addle them so they don't start to develop, or leave them on a cool or chilled area/surface. Both methods will stop development before it really begins. Once you see vein fronds inside the egg you can usually see a heart beating in the middle, this is the point of no return and you are pretty much guaranteed a chick (unless it goes dry or dead in shell etc)

Strange as most pet shops will take birds, try a couple more further afield, but your best bet is to get them used to being held and handled and sell them as pets for between £5-£15. (Lower price bracket = untame, higher = more tame) You can train them heavily like I do and you're going to get plenty of interested parties.

If the future looks bleak for chicks selling don't breed any. If you do or some result, Just keep your sentimental chicks from this batch and leave it at that.

Soph.

[zenriamoon]

Im not breeding them, i tried putting her in with females, but she just attacked them until there were pulled out feathers and lots of blood. i dont have a nest box in the cage and im keeping them away from sunlight and trying to make the cage darker throughout the day. I put her with the male because he is the only bird she wont try to kill, and if she is on her own she gets depressed and she starts laying lots of infertile eggs which recently made her very ill. all my birds are very tame but for terry my contact isn't enough, ill let her out of the cage daily to interact with my other birds, but then she doesnt want to go back to her cage, and when i put her there, she squawks as if someone is attacking her. so leaving her with the male is my only option to keep her happy, but i havent got the room for more budgies if she keeps breeding with him.
Ill try buying some good dummy eggs and hopefully she wont lay any.

[barrieshutt]

BB i use coloured marbles as dummy eggs , the birds accept

[BudgiesBuddy]

Apr 25, 2012 7:09:18 GMT barrieshutt said:

BB i use coloured marbles as dummy eggs , the birds accept

That's a first for me Barrie but good to know. What color were the eggs?

[barrieshutt]

I use a glass marble of a blue and yellow colour under the chicks when they hatch , they retain the heat better than plastic dummy eggs, they are also used when i remove a clutch of eggs but want to keep the hen sitting for a while.

[Bonesy]

I can vouch for marbles. Excellent dummy eggs and cheaper too, lol.

[skysmum]

Hi zenriamoon, you say you haven't got a nest box in the cage, then you wont get any babies, she wont sit on the eggs unless she has a box, if she is just laying them on the floor of the cage just discard them, they wont come to anything if she is not sitting on them.