my budgie is laying eggs

Question
My Budgie has started laying eggs in the last few months. I know this is normal, but how long does it take? For the past two and a half hours she has had a red looking egg that is half out of her. I have never seen her lay an egg and I'm kind of worried. She is looking very tired and exhausted. All of her other eggs are obviously white and I'm not sure why this one is red and why its taking her so long to lay.

Answer
If she's having trouble with the egg, there are some things you can do to help her.  The easiest thing to do is to put the cage in the bathroom and run a hot shower nearby and let the room steam up.  The heat and humidity will help her relax and help the egg pass easier.  If she's very tame and will let you, try putting baby oil or something like that on her vent (its best to do this before the shower method).  If the egg doesn't pass after that, call a vet.  They may need to break open the egg (do not do this yourself or you could hurt her).  

As for why its red, there are several possibilities.  Its possible that you're not seeing the egg, but you're actually seeing her internal muscles bearing down.  Another is that the egg is extremely thin, a condition which sometimes happens if she isn't getting enough calcium.  These softer eggs are harder for them to pass.  Make sure that she has plenty of calcium, either from cuttlebones or mash up eggshells and put them in the food.  Its also possible that it is red from blood.  If this seems to be the case, take her to a vet immediately.

Budgies normally lay 3-6 eggs, every other day.  They start incubating once they have two or three, and the eggs hatch about 18 days after she starts incubating.

Keep an eye on her and keep me posted!  I hope this helps, best of luck!
-Leah