Why is my budgie throwing out cracked eggs from her second clutch?

Laying so many clutches of eggs and raising that many chicks can be taxing on a bird. Ideally, a breeding hen should have no more than two clutches per calendar year. Remove the remaining chicks from the cage if they are eating on their own. Remove the nesting box as well. Separate the male and female. Drop room temperature by a few degrees and gradually limit her amount of daylight she is getting. This may get her out of "breeding mode" and stop her egg laying. She should be seen by an experienced avian veterinarian to make sure the inflammation around her vent is not infection.

If a "matki" is her nest, try a nesting box with a lip or edge that will prevent her from rolling or tossing eggs out. These may be infertile eggs that she is removing. As I understand, matki can also be a food dish. In this case, she may have a preference for the matki over cooked eggs. Omit the eggs from the recipe for a few days then slowly reintroduce them to see if she will eat them.

Thanks for your question about your budgies. It isn’t typical for the pair to start fighting, but it wouldn’t be unheard of either. I didn’t see if this was their first clutch together, but sometimes that can make a difference. I would recommend ensuring that there is a great deal of space for them to get away from each other, and lots of resources available. Multiple food dishes, numerous hiding spaces, etc. Also, keeping any additional stress to a minimum would be important - things like new people coming over, loud sounds, etc. I hope this gives you a place to start, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

If the aviary is too small to handle multiple breeding pairs it may be that they are competing for nesting space, even if there are multiple nests. One nest may be seen as "ideal" and thus everyone is fighting over it. Usually, birds are separated into individual breeding groups per cage to avoid competition and ruining of eggs, as well as reduce overall stress for the breeding pair.

Expect more eggs. Budgies will lay one egg every 24-48 hours until they have a clutch of 4-8 eggs. A hen does not need a male in order to lay eggs. Discourage breeding by removing any nesting boxes or bowls that she can lay eggs in. Move her away from windows and decrease the amount of light she is exposed to during the day. Do not remove any eggs until she is done laying. Removing them early may cause her to lay more eggs. You do not need to do anything to "take care" of the clutch. If you do not want chicks, wait until the clutch is laid then remove and discard them. Replace them with dummy (fake) eggs. These can be purchased in most pet stores. Leave the dummy eggs in place until the hen loses interest then remove the.

It is not unusual for all eggs from a clutch to not hatch. However, if your budgie actually broke the egg in order to eat it, then it may develop that habit and never raise a clutch again - instead eating all her future eggs. The egg itself is not bad for her and will not hurt her, but it is an undesirable trait for her to eat her eggs. Thank you for using pet coach.

Thanks for your question about Bibi. Budgies typically only form one egg at a time inside their bodies, so if Bibi just laid an egg, she hopefully doesn’t have another present yet. With that said, they can form and lay an egg in about 24 hours, so she may be making another one currently that you could see in another day or two. Usually budgies will lay around 3-5 eggs. I didn’t see if this was the first egg of her clutch or not, but if it is, she is likely to lay more. I would recommend keeping a close eye on her to make sure she isn’t having difficulty laying her additional eggs and that her appetite is normal. Providing her with extra calcium will be important while she is laying as well. I hope that helps to answer your question, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.