hermes and her eggies

[bookworm0550]

i feel bad but i know what i'm doing is the right thing. hermes has been very hormonal lately and i didn't notice that all her shredding mania was a huge sign something was going on. it wasnt until the other day i noticed her bottom was looking very swollen. then a few hours later, i went to pick up some shredded paper at the bottom of her cage and there was an egg! it was cracked of course cuz i think she laid in her hut and it fell.

so now i gave her nestbox and replaced the two eggs laid w/ dummy ones. i just feel like she's still too young and immature (she just turned 1 years old this week). of course i feel bad too, but i know it's for the best. having babies is fun and i love watching them grow, but i have to be responsible about it too.

apollo and orion are only 14 weeks, still babies really.

i told her to forgive me for replacing her eggies cuz i would have loved to meet her babies and i promised next time, i'll let her and chompers have a family when i feel they are ready. i know, it sounds silly, but i just feel better when i feel like she's listening even she may not know what the heck her mom is saying to her.

[linda040899]

Bookworm,
Owning birds means caring for them in a responsible manner. While a year old is OK to allow a clutch of babies, 18 months is better yet. Not only that, allowing more babies to come into an already troubled society takes planning, as each and every one should have a loving forever home.

My own breeding is almost completely shut down, as there are more than enough birds to go around for the number of available, responsible owners.

[Enko_chan]

You're doing the right thing, though I know it can be hard. Especially with her young age, and the young babies you're raising already.

I never know how much my lovies understand of what I say, but I think its a lot. It makes me feel better to talk to them, too, especially when I'm doing something I know they really couldn't understand without me explaining it.

[bookworm0550]

so i took out all her eggs earlier today. i felt awful!!! i gave them all a little kiss and told them how sorry i was. i'm such a sentimental girl like that though. i have been leaving them in there due to procrastination and the "mmm, well, maybe i might let her have them". she ended up laying a total of 6 eggs so all my dummy eggs are in full use. i love the miracle of life, but i would hate to see these little babies fall into the wrong hands. if i had a bigger place of my own, i wouldn't mind, but til then... if she lays one more egg, i'll let her have that one, but i doubt she will.

one of my coworkers is ukrainian and she makes ukrainian easter eggs so she wanted my lovebird eggs. she gave me a chicken one a few years ago. ever seen one? they are beautiful. anyway, i feel better that the eggs aren't going into the garbage for other animals to eat and instead are being turned into art. she's gonna paint the lovie eggs and let me have one. this is just a google photo of what ukrainian easter eggs look like: http://www.multiculturalarts.com.au/events2007/pysanka.jpg

one of my work friends was so sweet. she was like, "are you ok? you looked like you were gonna cry when you handed those eggs over." i didn't realize i looked that sad!

[CompassionAk]

Wow what a neat idea! Annie is eggnant,I should send your friend her eggs =p

[LauraO]

The realities are NOT letting lovies breed is the BEST AND MOST RESPONSIBLE thing owners can do. I have struggled over the years with these same feelings about my hens and still do at times. However, I've now had a lovie flock for going on ten years and I will tell you they will NOT stop breeding unless you force them to. I really believe that it's better to never let a hen hatch out an egg even once than to let them have just one clutch. I say this because the more success they have breeding the harder it is to get them to stop. I have not let any of my younger lovies hatch out eggs and they lay and brood a lot less than my older ones. Now my older lovies who've had one or more clutches have been the worse. They will double and triple clutch even with none hatching thinking they will be successful. With hard work and consistency, I've gotten them to lay a lot less as the years go by, and part of that is I NEVER give them a box or anything like it. If they manage to start building nest on the bottom of their cage I take it out. Eggs that are laid are ignored unless broken and thrown away, or they're incubating an egg at the bottom of their cage and I have to boil/freeze and return (Lovies can hatch out an egg on the bottom of a cage without nesting material).

I know this may sound heartless, but It's no joke when I say my lovies would hatch out 75 + eggs a year if I let them. To me that is much crueler cause 60 of those 75 will likely suffer much more than a hen who's not allowed to hatch out her eggs. Not counting all the work those babies will be for me and how much they would cost over time.

Just my :2cents:
:)

[CompassionAk]

The realities are NOT letting lovies breed is the BEST AND MOST RESPONSIBLE thing owners can do. I have struggled over the years with these same feelings about my hens and still do at times. However, I've now had a lovie flock for going on ten years and I will tell you they will NOT stop breeding unless you force them to. I really believe that it's better to never let a hen hatch out an egg even once than to let them have just one clutch. I say this because the more success they have breeding the harder it is to get them to stop. I have not let any of my younger lovies hatch out eggs and they lay and brood a lot less than my older ones. Now my older lovies who've had one or more clutches have been the worse. They will double and triple clutch even with none hatching thinking they will be successful. With hard work and consistency, I've gotten them to lay a lot less as the years go by, and part of that is I NEVER give them a box or anything like it. If they manage to start building nest on the bottom of their cage I take it out. Eggs that are laid are ignored unless broken and thrown away, or they're incubating an egg at the bottom of their cage and I have to boil/freeze and return (Lovies can hatch out an egg on the bottom of a cage without nesting material).

I know this may sound heartless, but It's no joke when I say my lovies would hatch out 75 + eggs a year if I let them. To me that is much crueler cause 60 of those 75 will likely suffer much more than a hen who's not allowed to hatch out her eggs. Not counting all the work those babies will be for me and how much they would cost over time.

Just my :2cents:
:)

Easier said than done getting my hen to stop laying eggs! She was already a pro who had been a breeder bird for 5 years when I got her. She has nothing that would promote her to nest and she has has been pretty good and hasn't been nesty since February ,but she has pulled a fast one on me.

I have a lot going on right now that I wasn't planning on and perhaps that's when she took advantage of the opportunity to lay again. She's certainly not going to be raising any of these eggs if I have any say. I have a tub of fake eggs with her name on them!

I don't provide my birds with nesting material or anything that would get them in the mood,I spend a lot of time doing the opposite because I don't want nesty birds. Sometimes they have a mind of their own and it doesn't matter what you do they have babies on the brain and there is no stopping them.

[LauraO]

Yep! You are 100% right when you say it's easier than done. I've always said If I had the will of a little bird (my name for my lovies) I would rule the world:omg:. My lovies want what they want and there's nothing worse than a hen hellbent on nesting. There always seems to be one or two that get by, but that's better than 75:whistle:.

btw, I don't think any of us have enough time in the day to watch a lovie hen enough to stop her from getting nesty:).