Do lovebirds "nesting" ever subside?

[IlovemyLouia]

*Sigh* something I thought was cute in the beginning has gotten ridiculous. She had toys that she thought could be used for nesting materiel I had to take away. Lay down poster board at the bottom of the cage so she could stop tearing up the paper I had there instead. She had gone from sweet to just nasty mean to want to take off every ones fingers but me. I can't handle her with out her lifting her butt and wings. She still has all these other toys in her cage but as I type this now she is still looking for nesting material. Will this finally stop her from thinking "nesting" now that I have taken it all away?

[thebubbleking]

As someone who has a hen who is in constant nesty mode and loves nothing better to draw blood (yes baby boo landshark iverson i'm talking about you!) theres a couple of things you can do help, rearrange her cage and remove anthing dark and secluded, make sure she has things to knaw on instead of you like nutri berrys or treat sticks, have a squirt bottle handy they learn real quick what it means when its in your hand and saves on bites etc, also if you have to do a fast grab or change someting deep in the cage wear cotton diveing gloves saves on the wounds.
Um... also some of my hens are brought to nestyness in certain seasons so changeing the "daylight" hours will help...uh....look on the brightside she loves you and looks at you like her mate and hens tend to be smarter then the boy lovies :D

[Flapjack]

I have a hen who really never stops wanting to nest and lay eggs.

Luckily she isn't a biter. Well, I take that back... she doesn't bite ME.

She'll be 3 in December. I have tried lots of techniques to get her to stop, but she has her mind made up.

If you find anything, let me know. :)

[linda040899]

I've had lovebird hens retain their "nestiness" well past the point where they've stopped laying eggs. They are hens and you simply love them for what they are and learn to deal with the strong wills that they have. I love the spunk of many of my hens and once we understand each other, we have great relationships! :)

If you don't want to be bitten when you pick her up (at least initially), teach her to step up onto a dowel/perch. If she doesn't like hands/fingers, wear long sleeves so that you can draw your hands inside the sleeve so they are protected.

Move her cage and re-arrange it. Having a second cage is even better, as it's totally strange to her. She will, of course, go back to being nesty once she's comfortable again. At that point, repeat the exercise from step 1..........:omg:

Gotta luv them hens!

[IlovemyLouia]

Oh my goodness thank you all for your responses. I am lucky though because she doesn't bite. She bites every one else though. :) If you all have any other tips please do share.

[jk1944]

Thank you everyone! More help for Ethel-Bite!

[FuzzyAga]

Thank you, Linda, for that nugget of information about the "nestiness" beyond the egg-laying years. I shall tuck that away for future references. The things I learn here! :)

I have learned that Juanita's cycle starts around mid-September and she is now sitting on three plastic eggs. To show you how driven she is, I had to change all of her three perches while she was sitting on one egg and changed her water bowl and food bowl around, but she sat through all the fussing and went on to lay eggs two and three. When it's her time, re-arranging her environment does not work with her.

If I put her in a new, different cage, and moved that into a new home--not gonna happen!--then, she might stop laying.

A female lovie is hardwired to do certain things--you might have better luck trying to stop the Terminator.

BTW, I have learned that it's best to limit your touching to Juanita's head and neck. Anything else is too stimulating.

[bbslovie]

Hi, you just never know what to expect with a hen! So I thought Bea was finally coming out of being nesty this last week. Seems like she'd been this way all summer but no egg laying. I came home last night to find her camped out in one of her food dishes! Seriously, she was sitting in it and she's never done that before. Now what???!!! Do I take the food dish out at night? I'm going to try the second cage thing and see what happens. Argh!

Barb :confused: