My Conure laid an egg...

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I am writing because my blue crown conure has laid an egg.  In and of itself, no problem, but she is a lone bird and the egg can not possibly be fertilized.  The problem is this.... the egg was laid sometime within the last 24 hours and is on the bottom of the cage.  I love my baby girl and she is very defensive about anyone getting near the egg.  I just wanted to make sure I handled it as properly as possible.  I don't want to upset my bird, but I am concerned about her become even more attached and the egg rotting....help!   She is 10 years old and this is the first egg I have ever seen from her.   What is the best way to take care of it?  Thanks for your patience and help.
Lisa

ANSWER: Hi Lisa,

You're right, there's no way for the egg to be fertilized since she doesn't have a mate.  

The best thing to do is to leave the eggs in the cage and allow her to carry on brooding them if she will.  Usually, Blue crowns lay clutches of 2 - 4 eggs so it's likely she will lay another one on about the third day following the first one.  Allow her to finish laying any more possible eggs and sitting on them.  Just keep a very close eye on her during this period to make sure she doesn't become egg bound.  Also, try not to handle her too much as the egg can easily break inside of her just before laying.  If you suspect either of these scenarios, rush her to an avian vet immediately as they are both life threatening.  

If you remove any of the eggs now, it may cause her to double clutch (start laying even more eggs).  Egg production and laying are extremely taxing on the body and it's a good idea to try to deter it in the future.  If you don't already, add a cuttlebone to the cage to provide a little extra calcium.  

Leave them in the cage until she looses interest in them.  At that point you want to start taking steps to deter both mating/sexual behavior and egg laying.  Below is a link you can read to tell you how to do this.  Be sure to start deterring the behavior as soon as she becomes disinterested in the eggs.  Don't worry about them rotting as there's not a whole lot of material inside the egg since it's not fertilized.  I left my lovebird's first clutch in her cage for nearly a month (she then lost interest) and there was never any foul odor or anything.

http://www.forthebirdsdvm.com/breedingbehavior.htm

The first point says to put your bird to bed by 5 or 6pm.  That's going to depend on what time she gets up in the morning.  The normal recommended sleep time for parrots is at least 10 - 12 hours of dark, quiet, uninterrupted sleep every night.  In this case, you'll want to increase it to 12 - 14 hours if you can.  Daylight plays a rather large trigger in the hormonal/breeding cycle.

If you want to research this even more, do a google search for "stop conure egg laying" or "deter egg laying", or something like that.  

I wish you both the very best!

Jenn

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks so much....One last question... How can I tell if she is becoming "Egg Bound"?  Should her weight be taken daily?

Answer
Hi there,

Usually, she'll lay an egg every 2 - 3 days.  If it seems to be taking longer for her to lay one... you see the bulge near the vent and she becomes listless, lethargic fluffed up constantly, that's usually a good indication something has gone wrong.  

I am so sorry for any delay in answering your question.  I've suffered a horrific loss in my home... I've lost my male Lovebird, Cupid.  It's a long, painful story on how we lost him but he passed away yesterday and left behind his mate, Valentine and two 2 week old babies.  :-(  

We are grieving tremdously right now and I can barely see through the tears to type this message.  If you can wait a few days for me to answer your question, I'd be happy to do so when the dust settles here.  Otherwise, I would completely understand if you'd like to ask another expert.  

Again, I am so sorry.
Sincerely,
Jennifer