Oh my goodness! An egg!!!!

[Gene]

My Bekkie gave me quite a surprise. When I took out her sleep box today and opened it to see what she's been up to with her bedding, a small white surprise lay under the shredded paper... :omg:
It was so unexpected, I almost dropped the box!
Now I searched for photos showing a hen with torpedo butt and after looking at her I can see that she's got another one...
What should i do, should I leave the box there during the day so that she can finish and then take it away permanently?
I hadn't any idea that she would do this, lol, this is my first hen so I didn't know what torpedo butt looked like. I've been a bit worried about her since she's been eating a lot but her poop is very watery the last few days. When I took out the box on Sunday for a thorough cleaning I found that she had shred all the paper bedding and that she's been carrying food (pieces of corn, pellets) to it during the night... :x
Any advice?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9907135@N07/?saved=1

[Janie]

Gene, read up in the breeding section. I don't have hens but know that they need to sit the entire cycle, about 23 days after all eggs are laid, and you don't want to stop that cycle or she'll continue to keep laying, trying to replace the eggs you've taken away too soon.

[Kathryn]

Gene,
Does Bekkie have a male mate or is Luna a female also?

Leave the box with Bekkie. She needs to go thru the process of laying and tending her eggs. If they are infertile due to no male, then there is no harm letting her proceed.

If the eggs are fertile and you want no offspring, then each newly laid egg should be boiled, cooled and returned to the nest. The first egg is too old to boil. So you will have at least one baby for Bekkie to raise.

Read the information in the Breeding section of the Resource library.

Keep us posted...we can offer help and advice.

[linda040899]

Hi Gene,
Not sure whether to say congrats on the egg or just welcome to the world of lovie hens! :)

Since the egg has already arrived, there's not much you can do except make Bekkie comfortable while she lays the remainder of her clutch (4-8 eggs)! Leave her box with her, as she's going to lay the eggs even if it's not there. She will continue to seek out and shred anything she views as nesting material, so you may want to offer things that she can shred rather than leaving that choice to her! You may not like her choices....:rolleyes:

Make sure she has a good supply of food/fresh water, especially food that is high in calcium (collard greens, kale, broccoli, figs, cuttle bone). Adding egg will give her the Vit D she needs to utilize the calcium she consumes.

Once she completes her clutch, she will incubate it just as if the eggs were fertile (they're not). She will protect those eggs with her very life so don't be upset with her if you are not welcome near her nest!

One last thing to keep in mind is that you may want to DNA sex Luna. Personally, I think you have a male.

[Gene]

I also think Luna's a male (I still have to think of a more, well, masculine name :confused: ).
OK, I'll leave the box in her cage and give her shreddables. Unfortunately she's not big on egg and hasn't decided to like veggies either. I do get a severe "telling off" if she doesn't get her daily apple and pear though! :lol
When I took out her box she didn't have any problem with me, she didn't even climb off my shoulder when I put it on the table. Weird, I also thought I'd definitely get a bite or 2 (or 3!), I guess I was lucky!

PS: She does have a cuttle bone and a iodium block in her cage, I've seen her nibbling on the block lately, but I don't know about the cuttle bone. Maybe I should move it somewhere she sits a lot...

[Sweetpeaches]

gene, thanks for sharing the pictures. i haven't done much reading on hens yet but think i'll get to the resource library just in case my "peaches" is a girl.
she hasn't been dna'd but by her behavior i'm leaning that way. i'm glad to know what it looks like when they do have an egg.

[carrier]

I must admit, I LOVE these posts....:omg:

Especially when it's one of us finding out, definitively, that our lovie is a she! :D

It makes me want to wait for an eggie present.:clap

I am, however, pretty convinced that Fenway is a BOY. (Famous last words :rolleyes: )

[beckyg]

This has nothing to do with your post... but that's never stopped me before :D! I am in love with your Luna, don't tell my Luna,though ;). I just love her/his colors, what is she/he, I am fairly new to the birdie world and am just wondering. Good luck with the egg situation, though.

[mjm8321]

Psssst, guess what Gene? Bekkie's a hen! :rofl: :rofl: I'm sorry to laugh, but lovebirds have a way of giving us a good surprise now and again, don't they?!!??

Hopefully she will stay her sweet self during the whole nesting process.

[Gene]

Becky: the breeder told me (s)he's a yellow masked. I haven't seen one before either so the last week has held one or 2 surprises for me, lol!
He's adorable and is a very cuddly bird (opposite of Bekkie!), I hope this lasts!

[beckyg]

Becky: the breeder told me (s)he's a yellow masked. I haven't seen one before either so the last week has held one or 2 surprises for me, lol!
He's adorable and is a very cuddly bird (opposite of Bekkie!), I hope this lasts!

Well, he is beautiful! I want one!! But alas, I can only handle one bird at a time for right now :D.

[Gene]

OK, well I haven't found another egg (there's only 2) in the box and her body feels a lot cooler by now. She doesn't look like she's keen to "hatch" her eggs, she just wants to come out to me the whole time. :x
The only thing that worries me is that she still looks a bit torpedo butted, and I'm scared of infection? :(

[Jessica]

Congratulations on your eggs! There are probably more eggs since they can lay 4-6 in a clutch but I would wait until some one who knows more to confirm this.

Do lovebirds wait to incubate until all the eggs are hatched? This is what my pigeons and doves do so the eggs hatch at the same time. Once they start to sit then it's defend the nest big time. Thankfully they don't bite as hard as lovebirds but wing slaps can take you by surprise

[Kathryn]

Bekkie will start to stick to her nest probably with the third egg since she hasn't stuck yet.
Each egg is laid every other day. Once she starts to stay on her nest, you will see change in her attitude.
23 days is normal. She may or may not abandon her eggs early since there is no mate.

[Gene]

OK , it's been 21 days since the first egg and Bekkie has layed only 2. I'm thinking of removing the box on Saturday, all that worries me is that she's been sticking to her nest the past week or so.
Now I'm wondering whether I should leave it a while longer, but she doesn't look as if she's planning on leaving it in the near future... :roll:
Thanks guys, have a nice day!

[mjm8321]

Gene, it might be another week or two until she decides to abandon her nest. Usually it's 25-30 days before the nest gets abandoned.