Given your current predicament, can you speak to why a female birb would start egg-laying, and what you can do to prevent it? I'm about to get a female cockatiel and I know theyre especially prone to egg binding. So its something I'm a little paranoid about. Thanks!
The simplest answer is just because they’re horny.
Female birds are fully capable of laying eggs without the presence of a mate just due to increased hormonal influences in their environment. The time of year, temperature, hours of daylight, age of the bird, where/how you touch them, dark spaces, diets, shreddable materials, mirrors, other birds, how much they love certain toys and how much they love you are all very small factors that can cause a bird to go from completely normal to “BABIES, NOW”.
The hormone tag and egg laying tag go over the most detail on why these things happen and what we can do to stop them
Tl;DR of how to prevent it:
Don’t touch their backs, rumps, essentially you want to limit touch to their head and neck area. During breeding seasons you may need to limit touching all together because some birds just get that dang horny
Do not provide bells, mirrors, “happy huts”, cage corner covers, don’t encourage hiding in bed sheets, crawling in shirts (for some species this is a natural play behaviour so it’s important to know your bird), hiding under the bed
Remove ‘love toys’, toys that your bird have begun regurgitating too, masturbating on
Change their daylight hours to winter hours, take note of your specific species usual breeding habits (weather, time of year, etc.) and alter their living conditions so they do not line up with their usual breeding triggers.
Don’t feed them high-fat diets, watch the type of pellets you feed as some are designed with breeding birds in mind. High fat diets are intended egg laying birds as their body will be using up a lot more energy in egg production than they would be for the majority of the year, low-fat diets are a more appropriate alternative.
Do not provide nests or nesting materials - ‘nuff said, adding a nest is going to make them want to nest
Ensure they understand independent play, overly attached birds are more prone to egg laying problems than ones who are more independent. Encourage foraging, set designated alone time, be sure the bird is well socialized so they do not solely want to be around one person
If the bird does start egg production to reduce the risks of egg binding
feed them a diet higher in calcium and plenty of protein (of course with a regular well rounded diet of sprouts, veggies, and pellets) these will help ensure they form a strong healthy egg. Be certain they have access to a UV full spectrum light (not a window) so they can properly synthesize the calcium. You may also be given a vitamin supplement by your veterinarian.
Reduce stressors as much as you can, don’t go adding too many new things to the environment or deliberately doing things you know they don’t like - put off nail trims until after the egg passes for example
be certain your bird is at a good body weight to start with, being over or underweight can make passing an egg quite difficult and strenuous
Be certain you are feeding them a healthy diet, a body lacking in nutrients to begin with will not be able to form a healthy egg (i.e all seed diets)
Recognize the signs of egg binding early on so they can get the proper medical help they need
lack of appetite (and sometimes over eating)
inability to perch/ sitting on the bottom of the cage
heavy breathing/ tail bobbing
visible portion of the egg from the cloaca or a prolapse
leg paralysis (eggs may put pressure on the nerves)
difficulty pooping, poop stuck to the vent
keep track of their weights and behaviours during the process, if you notice any irregularities contact your vet
Egg binding can be treated in most cases, usually they’ll try non-invasive methods such as providing a heating pad, vitamin supplements, fluids, or lubing the cloaca to help the egg pass initially if they don’t work they’ll move on to physically extracting the egg (if it is visible) or using a needle to drain the egg causing the shell to collapse and be removed by the vet or passed by the bird. Surgery is typically the last option they’ll consider as it is a higher risk procedure.
It is quite a scary thing to have to deal with but there are things we can do to prevent it, knowing what to look for is the first and most important thing you can do as a pet owner in order to prevent the issues from the first place!
