Boy or girl ....

[chip&dale]

Two parts

1. One (or both) have laid eggs but are not sitting on them. Is it normal for them to just lay an egg? They have been ripping paper and putting it at bottom of cage and are very protective of their paper... This makes me think they are female...

2. Dale has been humping his happy house constantly. Gyrating on it as I would imagine a male would. But I took a peek at the tail part and it looks like a female vagina - no penis type thingy. Is gyrating normal for a female? We have never seen chip doing it - only dale.

So my question is - what do I do with the egg laying and are they both females or one of each?

They're only 1 year old.

[linda040899]

How many eggs have been laid so far on the current clutch? Some hens don't get serious about incubating until the clutch reaches 3. Some will wait until the clutch is complete.

Self-satisfaction is usually, and I repeat usually, male behavior, but I've had known, proven hens do it, too. You could have 2 hens but there's nothing to say you don't have 1 of each, either. Fertile eggs would tell you for sure. If not, you can DNA sex the non-laying lovie and find out that way. Leave the eggs right where they are. Even if you have 2 hens, they need to complete the breeding cycle or you could see the hen/hens laying eggs to replace the ones that are removed. Count 23 days from the day the very last egg is laid, add maybe a day or so to that and that's about when you can expect to see the clutch abandoned if there's nothing going on. At that point, you can take away everything.

Do they have a nest box?

[chip&dale]

No nest box but what theyve done is built a nest under layers of newspaper at the bottom of their cage. They've ripped strips of paper and built a a nest and everyday they rip paper or cardboard and add to it (leaving a fun mess for me to clean).

In may one (or both) laid 3 mentos sized eggs but nothing happened to them and we threw them out. This time I only saw one but haven't been able to put my hands in to check. I have no clue which one laid it but I felt like one was fatter than the other (chip the one who doesn't gyrate).

So do I just leave the eggs and wait to see I a third bird appears?

[linda040899]

If they are actually both hens, with a clutch of 3 eggs, it sounds like only 1 is laying. To find out which one is fairly easy if you can handle them. Gently feel between the pelvic bones. A female in laying condition will have pelvics spread about the width of your index or middle finger tip (to allow the egg to pass through) and the area will feel soft/swollen.

Hatching chicks without a nest is not an easy task for a hen. The box serves a couple of major purposes, including helping her maintain proper incubating temperature without having outside temperature constantly trying to cool off her body. It also provides a safe place for her eggs and the chicks, should any hatch.

I would leave everything just like it is, unless you want to hang a nest on the outside of the cage.

[chip&dale]

Went to clean the cage after 2 weeks and found 6 eggs so I'm guessing they're both female (name change time). They're still ripping paper like crazy and taking it in their cage.

if these eggs were fertile, how long would it take to hatch? Though I'm pretty sure they're not fertile. So now i'm just waiting for 30 days before tossing the eggs.

Anyone else's birds do this?

[linda040899]

Let a lovie hen find something she can turn into a nest and the next thing you are going to find is a clutch of eggs! Fertile eggs will begin hatching 23 days after the first one was laid and will hatch every other day. If your hen doesn't abandon them sooner, you should be able to dismantle everything about 24 days after the last egg appeared.