Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 10/30/2006

Question
Thanks much for your helpful suggestions - Joe, our male parakeet, had
suffered from lead poisoning which left him unable to use his claws to clamp
onto perchs or female birds.  We have observed for the past couple of years
that he and Bella flirt like crazy but she is too "pushy" with him and he flies
off before being able to mount her.  We don't keep a cage for the birds so he
can always leave when he is being knocked off balance by her, and she has
been dropping her eggs on the floor from where she perches.  At the
beginning of 2006 Bella started laying eggs (dropping them to break) so we
gave her a nesting box in hopes she would settle on the batch she was
producing.  After 14d were checked by candlelight for evidence of fertility
and confirmed their sterility by breaking open.  Now we keep the nesting box
in the closet.  Do you think we should let her have another batch in the box
and then remove it in hopes of stopping the 'flow'?  thanks again.


Answer
Hi again, Laura.

It would probably be a good idea to put the nesting box out (somewhere since you don't have a cage for your birds) and let her lay inside the box until she has a full clutch that she can sit on until she abandons the infertile eggs on her own.  This will at least stop her from continual laying, which can be detrimental for her health.  You can also take her to an avian vet for a hormone shot that will stop her from laying for 9-12 months.

Was your male keet getting into something that resulted in his lead poisoning?  There are many things in our homes that contain lead and if a bird gets into these things, can result in lead poisoning.  This is one reason why it can be a good idea to cage birds versus allowing them to free-fly.

Chrys