Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 2/4/2007

Question
Mom has had a pair of keets for 4-5 years; suddenly, yesterday while cleaning the cage, we noticed a very obvious egg shaped swelling in her abdomen! Is there anything we need to do besides provide a nesting box, etc as prescribed by the "Bird Lady" at the pet store? How common is this and since we do not know how long the egg has been in there, is it viable?

Answer
Hi, Kathy.  Thanks for posting!

Your bird could be eggbound, which is a very serious emergency medical condition for a female parrot.  Is this bird sitting on the cage bottom, having any difficulty breathing, or otherwise showing any signs of being in distress or ill?  Do you see any part of an egg partially protruding from the bird's vent?  When a bird is eggbound and the situation is to the emergency point, she will usually stay on the cage bottom, wings droopy, feet/legs spread apart, have difficulty breathing, and there will usually be a partial egg visible.  You may see blood.  At this point, it is extremely critical the bird be treated by an avian veterinarian immediately or the bird will die within hours.  You need to be looking for advance signs that this might be occurring.  

Eggs aren't supposed to just sit in the cloaca, i.e., bird's don't get pregnant in the sense that we know.  A fertilized embryo flows through the reproductive system and at the end of the journey, the egg shell is formed just prior to the egg being laid.  It could be that the keet's lower reproductive system is swollen just prior to laying this egg...depends on how long she's been this way.
Can you tell me how long her lower abdomen has been swollen like this?  If more than a few days and no egg has been produced, she could be in trouble.  Birds who don't have enough calcium in their bodies become eggbound...what kind of diet have these birds been on and do you provide a cuttlebone for them (or some type of supplemental calcium)?

On the otherhand, keets who have been on all-seed diets sometimes get fatty liver tumors in/around the lower abdomonal area when they are about the ages of these birds.  I'd recommend gently feeling the area to see if it's soft, hard, mushy, however, since we don't know if this could be an egg, you don't want to touch the area for fear of breaking an egg inside the bird.  If this were to happen, the bird would also die.  

If you can get back to me with some more details, particularly now since you have a better idea of what might be going on, I'll see what I can do to help.  Otherwise, you might want to get in touch with an avian veterinarian, depending on the current situation.

Chrys