love birds laying eggs

Question
I have two lovebirds who have been living together for about a year. This week for the first time, one is laying eggs. I took the first egg out as it was cracked and now a day later there is another one. I haven't put in a nest and don't want to breed. Is the second bird necessarily a male (in other words, are these fertilized eggs) and what should I do. I don't want the female to get depressed but I don't want to encourage egg laying. They eat Harrison's bird food and get carrots regularly. The female's bottom is showing obvious signs of birth but she appears to be active and healthy.

Answer
Hi, Linda.  Thanks for posting!

I don't know if these eggs are fertile or not (I don't know the sex of either of these birds), but you definitely have at least 1 female!  Lovebirds have to be DNA sexed (you can't tell sex visually).  Female birds can lay infertile eggs without a male.

I imagine they will continue to lay eggs until they have about 5 or 6.  Just leave the eggs where they have been laid until the pair abandons them on their own, then you can destroy them.  If you remove eggs as they are laid, the bird will continue to lay and lay, which can be detrimental to her health.  They will lay an egg every other day until they reach 5 or 6 eggs.

To discourage egg laying, limit their available light to about 8 hours per day.  Keep their room warm, but not overly so.  

I'd like to recommend you get your birds on a healthier diet.  They need more than just Harrison's and carrots.  See my website for more information on this:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Come back with any questions.

Chrys