laying eggs with no mate

[spunky]

:confused:My little peachfaced lovie layed an egg last week. She has no mate so I took it out of her cage. Now she has 2 eggs and is sitting. What should I do?

[linda040899]

Single hens are quite capable of laying/incubating eggs without a male present. Those eggs will be, of course, infertile but she will be very protective of those eggs, as they belong to her and she will protect them with her very life if need be.

Once a lovie hen begins a breeding cycle (Chances are that she considers you to be her "mate."), allow her to keep and incubate her eggs so she can complete the cycle. Approximately 25-26 days after the last egg has been laid, she will abandon them. At that point, remove eggs, nesting material and anything else she may have accumulated around the eggs and throw it all away. Re-arrange the cage completely and even move it to a different location so she doesn't feel comfortable doing a second clutch back to back with the first one.