my lovebirds have 3 eggs in thier cage! yikes

[trujc]

Wow, I came home and my birds had an egg in the cage. Next day one more... yesterday, one more... I dont know what to do. I have a boy and a girl... ( Now I know) and I feel bad but I don't have the time or efforts to breed birds and raise three eggs if they are fertile. What do I do?

[Lindades264]

Hello, this happened to me as well, and we had 5 baby birds hatch. I was not prepared either. Believe me, it is a very big responsibility especially when you do not wish to be a breeder. I found it was so much work raising the little ones even though mom and dad took care of them until they fledged, I did not feed them at all. They are all hand tame though. Have you decided that you definately do not want the eggs to hatch? If so, this will help others answer your question better.

[Janie]

Having eggs does not mean that you have a male and a female. It does mean that at least one is female for sure. Females can and do lay eggs without mating and a single female, all alone in a cage, can lay eggs.

What to do? Hmmm, I purposely have three males and even paid to have the last two DNA'd before I bought them so that I would not end up with eggs or babies. If these should be fertile and hatch (then you know you've got a pair) hopefully you can find a home for them but in the meantime, you can boil an egg in the first day it is laid and return it to the nest. If you remove an egg, she'll keep laying to replace it so you should return it so that she will feel like her clutch is complete and stop laying. You are going to need to mark the eggs that have been laid so that you'll know when a new one is laid and can boil (and replace) that one. At least that will prevent more than three hatching if they are fertile. After this clutch is done with, you can either separate your two or you can continue to let them mate and boil the eggs every time she lays. The eggs don't contain an embryo for the first day so you would not be destroying a chick, just keeping one from developing. Good luck.

[mjm8321]

Generally hens lay every other day, not everyday, so you very well might have two hens in that cage. You can give them a nestbox or can make a "makeshift" nestbox with an unscented tissue box (with all plastic removed) with paper inside for shredding and padding. You can candle the eggs to see if they are fertile once they are 5-10 days old.