Thorpie

[barnesy]

I have a peach face that I love to bits. It comes shopping with me, she has a shower with me and follows me everywhere.
Trouble is shes become aggressive towards me and has started tearing up newpapers which im sure she wants to lay eggs.

How can I stop her biting and attacking me when I feed her and get her out of the cage?

Barnesy

[Mandolin]

How old is your lovie? From my experience if he/she is still young it could be the onset of hormones. I know when my peachface Kameko started becoming hormonal she discovered the joy of shredding paper and could be more bitey. Showers with a lovie are always an experience :lol , that is Kameko's favorite thing to do with me.

[bellarains]

Hi Barnsey,

It sounds like Thorpie has reached sexual maturity. Shredding paper will kick those hormones into high gear, and you can try and keep her from shredding, but I don't know many hens, if any that don't get a bit nippy and territorial when shredding.

How old is Thropie? Hens usually reach maturity around one year of age, some longer is a single hen. It is nature, and can be detered sometimes, but it is their nature, and can not be put off forever. While nesty, you just have to respect their space, and cater to their moods. Sorry, that's the best advice I can give to avoid the bites:rolleyes:

If Thorpie is going into egg laying mode, you will need to be prepared to give her a nestbox, or makeshift nestbox. You can make one out of a Kleenex box, tear out the plastic and modify it a bit so that she can get inside. You can put in some carefresh bedding(you can get this at our local petstore), and then give her some paper to shred, she will make the nest to her liking.

When and if Thropie is in egg laying mode, we can help more to get you through the approximate month that she will sit on the eggs. Let us know how it's going, and when the time comes:)

[barnesy]

Thorpie is just over a year old and here come the eggs. How often does this happen.......Its like having a different bird in the house!

Barnesy

[bellarains]

Normally two to three clutches a year is normal. She may try to lay more, but for health reasons we try deter more than that.

You will need to let Thorpie sit on her eggs until she decides to abandon them, this is approximately 23 days from the last egg laid. If you take them away, she may continue to lay trying to complete her clutch, and this can cause some serious health issues.

In the mean time, make sure she has plenty of cuttlebone and foods high in calcium content such as brocolli, kale, collards, figs, etc.... Watch her to make sure she is eliminating. They will poop less often, but the poops will be larger. The first sign of egg binding is no eliminating, so monitor her closely through the laying process.

Hope all goes well. You will have your little girl back to normal after she abandons her eggs. You will notice her being more active, more vocal and possibly pushing the eggs out of the center or burying the eggs, at this point you can take away the eggs and nest to keep her from going into laying mode again. I don't let Lacey see me take them away though, I take her to another room, clean everything out. She does look for a little bit, but then all is back to normal.