LoveBird Laying

Question
Hi, I have a female lovebird that more than a month ago encountered one of my friends male lovebird.  We just wanted them to interact for a short while my friend visited, then he took the male lovebird away. My female lovebird layed an egg about three weeks ago.  Then she layed a second egg, I forget when, and it is broken.  I think less than a week ago, a third egg appeared.  Should I leave her alone? Are these eggs going to hatch or never? I've heard rumors that laying eggs are harmful when they do not hatch.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi, Thomas.  Thanks for posting your question.

Do you have any idea if the 2 lovebirds mated?  Even though parrots usually have to be pair-bonded before they will mate, sometimes if parrots don't see other parrots for a long time and they all of a sudden are thrown together, a male may get excited and mate with the female (if the female accepts him).  

Are you both sure, with 100% accuracy (you have DNA sexing certificates), of the sexes of your lovebirds?

Female parrots can lay eggs even though they have not mated with a male.  What may have happened is that the female's hormones started running rampent when she was with this male for the visit, which is causing her to lay eggs.  Whether they are fertile/will hatch depends on whether they mated/mated successfully.  These eggs are old enough that you should be able to shine a light (penlight, flashlight) through them to see if you can see anything inside the eggs.  Don't handle the eggs with your bare skin...use a sock or latex gloves or something of the like (oil from skin can clog up pores of eggs).  If they are infertile (which I suspect they are), you should be able to see  through the egg.  If they are fertile, they will be a dark color, and you will not be able to see through them.  This is called candling.  If an egg is fertile, they can be candled as early as 7/8 days after being laid to see if an embryo is starting to develop inside.  As a matter of fact, the first 2 eggs should have already hatched if they were going to (takes ~18 days, give/take a day, from start of incubation to hatching).  The broken egg will not hatch.

I'd leave the eggs alone until the female abandons them on her own...then remove them.  Otherwise, if you remove them before she wants them to be removed, she might start laying another clutch of infertile eggs.  She already knows if they are fertile or not (and has known for some time).  

This type of egg laying can be harmful if the female continues to lay and lay, clutch after clutch (remove a nestbox if you have one attached to her cage).  It is not any more harmful for a female to lay infertile eggs than it is for her to lay fertile eggs, except that infertile eggs can be laid more often (there isn't the period of time in between when the parent birds are caring for the hatchlings).  Egg laying (continuous or not) can deplete the female of calcium and other vitamins/minerals she needs for her own health (depending on the overall health of the bird to begin with).  This is why it can be harmful to the female.  However, supplemental calcium/vitamins/minerals can be given to help out in this situation.  You may want to put a cuttlebone and/or mineral block in your lovebird's cage in case she needs to replenish her calcium, etc.

If you have further questions, please come back.

Chrys