# Uh-oh. Kiwi just laid an egg.



## budgielyfe (Dec 25, 2018)

Unwanted. I had a bag of fake budgie eggs just in case that ever happened thankfully. I replaced it and made a little dot on the fake one in case she lays more.

She's 5 years old and that's her first ever egg. I need to prevent this from happening again! Especially at her age.

Question. She started preparing a nest area in a cozy place a couple weeks ago but I didn't stop her because I figured if she's going to lay eggs then I'd better just let her have her nest to prevent issues.

But, did she start making the nest BECAUSE she knew she was going to lay, or other way around? She makes a nest, then starts making the eggs after that??

Here's the egg. Poor girl. Thank God there were no issues with egg binding. It seemed pretty uneventful. No straining, it just came right out. I expect a few more until this is over...


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

When they start getting hormonal they may begin to look for a nesting spot so it is best to prevent that from the start. Do not have a nest box or any other thing that could be used as a nest, no huts or coconut shells etc. Where did she lay the egg, did she have a spot that she considered her nesting spot, or did the egg just fall to the cage bottom?


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## budgielyfe (Dec 25, 2018)

Hey Cody, no nothing in the cage that would be good for nesting.

So we've got this big round mirror hanging above the fireplace. It leans forward at the top. A few weeks ago she starting being really interested in it, so I stuffed some rags back there because I was worried she'd fall deep in the crevice and get stuck. I guess that was a mistake. I didn't realize until about a week later that she was trying to rearrange the rags into a nest lol.

Anyway, yeah at that point I didn't want to disturb it, thinking if she's going to lay eggs, I'd better let her just do it where she wants.

I've just been checking every day for eggs now, and today there finally was one.

After this is all over, I'm going to stick one of those Tattle Tale alarms behind it that go off when there's movement, and watch out for similar behaviors anywhere else.

(BTW, we NEVER use the fireplace and it always remains completely closed so no danger to the birds there)


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Is she sitting on the egg?


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## budgielyfe (Dec 25, 2018)

Cody said:


> Is she sitting on the egg?


Not constantly. She comes down and spends a couple hours to socialize with us and eat in the evening.

She's off the egg now, just hanging out on the cage.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Do you think that it is fertile, have you caught her and Charlie mating? I would probably take down the mirror and remove everything.


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## budgielyfe (Dec 25, 2018)

Have never seen them mate, no. I've seen Charlie make advances once or twice but she always chases him away. Didn't seem interested.

Maybe the mirror will need to come down though. Might try to keep her away from it with other means first but if she insists in the future remove it.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

If she is going to lay more it will probably be every other day.


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## budgielyfe (Dec 25, 2018)

Thanks Cody


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## budgielyfe (Dec 25, 2018)

Second one laid today. I've read that adding extra fake eggs could get her to stop producing more eggs earlier. True? Good idea?


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Some birds are determinate layers and some are not, meaning that if determinate, they will lay a certain number number no matter what, but indeterminate layers may be influenced by just seeing multiple eggs real or fake and stop laying, no harm in trying the fake eggs.


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Great advice by Cody above. How is she doing now?


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## budgielyfe (Dec 25, 2018)

StarlingWings said:


> Great advice by Cody above. How is she doing now?


She's doing great! She laid her last egg about a week ago. Five altogether. Then she sat on them for a few days and then seemed to get bored. She ended up hiding the fake eggs under a rag after they didn't hatch. 😆

She's back to her normal self, hanging out with us all the time. Thankfully, she had no egg binding issues!

I'll be doing everything I can to discourage laying in the future. She's five years old and this had never been an issue before, so it really took me by surprise.

I've been giving her some eggfood the last few weeks for added nutrition, and she has been going for the cuttlebone quite a bit for the extra calcium.

She appears to be nice and healthy still. I think everything is fine!


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

That’s a relief to hear! Keep us posted on how she’s doing!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm glad to hear she's back to normal. 

I'm closing the thread at this time. If you need it reopened in the future, simply send me the thread link in a Private Message and request that it be reopened.*


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