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Our peach faced lovebird (approx 20 months old, but not sure) laid 5 eggs for the first time that we know of early last Nov. (2009). She has no mate and after a week, she seemed bored with them and we took them away. She had ignored them all until the 4th was laid and then she turned into a good little mother. Well, she spent all last month busy as a bee whittling little sticks from pieces of wooden scewers and strips of paper in an effort to build a nest. None of her massive amount of building material stuck, but she laid 5 eggs again this week (the last was last night) and looks utterly exhausted and is doing her very best to keep them all underneath her tiny body. What should we do for her now to keep her healthy and how long should we leave the eggs in the cage (she is sitting on a little felt pad on the bottom of her cage with eggs under her)? She seemed to be still eating her pellets yesterday evening, but this morning she seemed too weak to get up to her food dish, her nares were a little damp this morning, and she made a valiant effort to charge my hand when I reached in the cage to give her some fresh apple slice and remove a dirty toy, but she was clearly tired. She rejected the hard boiled egg I tried to give her a few days ago, but she ate some millet that I gave her this morning while still sitting on her creations. I know the millet is like French fries, but I wanted her to eat something for a little energy and I knew she would not be able to resist the millet. She then tries to add the stem to her "nest." How do I prevent her from laying again in another couple months? I have removed the object of her physical affections from the cage --her boing--which she really has a high old time with, but will it make any difference if she has nothing to stimulate herself with? Also, her droppings seem rather large, mushy, and light green. Like guacamole. Is this normal egg laying results?

Actually millet is quite good for them - especially the little guys. Most of us use some form of millet (spray or seeds) in the weaning process with chicks as it gives them energy, fat, and is easy to digest as well. I always gave my breeding pairs of lovies a spray of millet when they had chicks and 1/2 spray when nesting. I also fed seeds as little birds really do need them and not just the pellets IME. Does she eat fruits or veggies? If not, try defrosting some frozen mixed veggies, adding a little chopped apple and offering it to her in a small bowl or lid. I don't know a lovie who has turned down veggies.

Do you have a cuttlebone in her cage for calcium? If not, I recommend you get one for her. While it may be a little late now that the eggs are laid, the extra "boost" from the calcium can help give her some energy.

I would leave the eggs with her for at least 2 weeks or a little longer. Then I would remove the eggs, remove her, and clean the cage. I would also move it to a new location and even replace perches, etc. so that everything smelled "new" Sometimes this will stop the laying. Also, I found with my lovebirds I needed to use cages with grates so they were unable to shred any paper as that seemed to trigger the nesting/laying mode also.

Good luck!

Sally

Forgot to mention - yes, the droppings are normal for an egg laying hen.

Thank you for your advice and reassurance. Update: 3 days after the 5th egg was laid, Peaches seemed to have lost interest entirely. I left the eggs on her little cushioned mat where she had been tending to them, but she was jumping around on her perches as though they didn't exist, so I removed them all and took out the pad, and cleaned the grate and the tray. I also removed her spiral perch (the object of her affections) while she was still nesting. She loves climbing that thing, twirling on it and molesting it, but it seems to get her in the mood, too, so I think we'll leave it out for a while and see if we can eliminate the egg laying for a while. She loves making strips of paper, but if that puts her in the nesting mood, I won't give her anymore to work with. So now what is a good toy for her that will keep her little brain occupied? I feel as tho I have taken away all her favorite things. She has a little round mirror with a bell at the bottom hanging from the top of her cage near one of her upper perches and she was flinging it around so furiously yesterday that I was afraid it would swing back and hit her and knock her off her perch. Lovebirds don't seem as aware of us or as bonded to us as my Quaker, but they are amusing to watch and if she would hang out for more than 10 seconds, we'd be happy to play with her. As soon as she is let out, she zips over to the Quaker's cage and harrasses him. I have to stand guard to prevent her from getting into a beak duel with him. Peaches is afraid of nothing and has even backed our Eclectus down. Pam

I've never had a lovie, but I do have a quaker girl who can't be allowed access to paper. Really gets her clucking And I've often read what problems mirrors cause for some small birds. My quaker enjoys jingling and twining the chains on several stainless steel toys at GreyFeather: http://www.greyfeathertoys.com/cgi-bin/ ... iliate_id= Look also at the Birdy Bella toy in the bottom left corner of pg 1 of the same site. Look at 2 of the bucket toys on pg 2 -- the Tweedle and the Baby Birdy SS Bucket. And check out the Tinkerbell at the top of pg 3. My quaker really likes all of these.

Hi Pam:

Glad she is back to being a silly lovebird. As far as toys go, remove the one with the mirror. I know it seems like she will have no toys, but mirrors can also trigger the mating thing. My lovies all adored swings - rope swings or wooden swings. Also acrylic toys were a big hit. And, wooden toys that they can destroy or attack. Plus alot of my lovies chased whiffle balls over the bottoms of their cages or played dunk-the-ball in their water cups. Bells they could ring were also great fun - just be sure to watch the size of the clappers as you don't want her to tear it out and ingest it accidentally....

Again, glad she is doing well!!

Sally