Expert: Riley - 3/9/2007

Question
Hello,
My female budgie is about 4 yrs old and her mate died about 2 months ago...it was very sad but she seems to be adjusting now. The problem is that this female constantly lays eggs, with or without her mate. I have tried different things such as removing nest box, putting in false eggs, taking out existing eggs, and she continues to lay eggs. She is now sitting on 5 eggs. While she has access to other birds (her own 4 off spring), they are not sexually mature yet and they only have contact once a day when I let them all out of their cages (the babies and mom are in different cages). My question is whether there is anything that I can do to stop her from laying all these eggs? It seems that there is always eggs in her cage and I know this is not good for her. The other question is, can mom birds recognize their own birds and would this stop them from mating? I ask because I notice one of the babies (who is about 8 months old) constantly kissing her and hanging out with her when they are all out. Could they possibly mate? Can she tell that this is her own baby?

Thanks for all your help...it is much appreciated!

Answer
Hey Agnes, thanks for posting!
You should leave the 5 eggs she is currently incubating right where they are and let her abandon them on her own.  If you remove any eggs before she abandons them on her own, she'll continue to lay and lay and lay until she has a full clutch under her.  You can take your female to an avian veterinarian for a hormone shot to stop her from laying for a period of time (perhaps up to 9 months, depending on the bird).  You can help discourage laying by limiting her available light to 8-10 hours per day.  

No, the mom will not recognize her offspring once they have been removed from the same cage and are housed in separate cages.  You SHOULD NOT allow the mom to mate with any of her offspring.  This would be similar to you mating with your mom or sister (too similar genetically)!  This can result in deformed babies, babies with disabilities, etc., etc.  This is known as inbreeding and should not be allowed to occur.  You need to keep these birds separate from each other.

Riley