EXCESSIVE EGG LAYING AND HOW TO PREVENT TOO MANY EGGS IN BUDGIES

The birds that are highly prone to chronic or excessive egg laying are Budgerigars. Treatment techniques will help budgie and stop excessive ovulation.

Budgies indeed are the cutest, we love them so much, and want to have as many of them as we can. And that is why we get so excited when our budgie starts laying excessive egg, but little do we know that it is not good at all and can create serious problems for our bird. In that case, we should take our birds to a good avian veterinarian, but some techniques can be done at home to provide some relief to our birds. But before getting to the treatment and medication we must know what excessive egg laying is and why is it a serious problem.

What is Excessive Egg Laying?

Excessive egg laying is the phenomenon in which a budgie starts laying more eggs than it normally does. And another surprising thing is that they can lay the eggs without mating with a male budgie. The term is also referred to as chronic egg laying.

Normally, a budgie can lay up to 6 eggs in a clutch within a period of 1-2 weeks. And if it crosses that value then you need to start worrying about the health of your pet. Excessive egg laying is not a rare issue and is treatable 90% of the time.

BIRDS THAT ARE PRONE TO BECOME EXCESSIVE EGG LAYING

We have been hearing from our childhoods that Ostriches lay the most eggs in their lifetime compared to any other bird. And you might think that they can be the excessive eggs laying birds as well but that is not a true story.

The birds that are highly prone to chronic or excessive egg-laying are Budgerigars, Cockatiels, Love Birds, Hens, and some other parakeets. Budgies however are sadly the most prone birds to excessive egg-laying.

SYMPTOMS OF EXCESSIVE EGG LAYING IN BUDGIES

You must be thinking that what are the symptoms that can help you conclude that your budgie is laying more eggs than usual. The easiest is to count the eggs after the clutch period that is one to two weeks. And if they are more than 6 then you can start your treatment techniques.

But sometimes it is hard to keep track of that so here are the most common symptoms that can be seen in budgies who are laying excessive eggs.

• Sad and depressed
• Weak, lazy, and fragile
• Feather loss
• Thinning and loss of weight
• Dry patches on their skin
• Variant egg sizes
• Weird egg color
• Stop singing or whistling
• Seizures and loss of appetite
• Issues with cloaca
• Excessive screaming

CAUSES OF CHRONIC EGG LAYING IN BUDGIES

Now let’s talk about the certain causes that promote chronic egg laying in budgies. First of all, you need to know the sex of your budgie and you also need to know that only female budgies are prone to this. Also, female budgies can lay eggs in the presence or absence of the conspecific that is the male budgie or their mating partner.

This might be new for you but that is true. The reason is that the laying of an egg is not bound to the fertilization process done by the male budgie. Fertilization can happen even after the laying of eggs. Anyway, here are certain factors that initiate excessive egg-laying in budgies.

Environment

Budgies are very easily distracted by the things and sounds around them. And they start perceiving things as a stimulus to reproduce. And they will find something to grab and masturbate on and that is why we often see our Budgies masturbating on toys and the cage walls when they have urges. So, this is where you need to work on. And it is better if you find your budgie a mating partner and remove any possible nesting site in their cage.

Malnutrition and Improper diet

Sometimes we get so busy in our lives that we forget to take care of our birds. And this is not acceptable. Because when we are not aware of the diet, we are giving our Budgies, it can fire back on us.

Budgies are very sensitive and if they are eating only one food every day it may create certain deficiencies in them which can further upset the reproduction cycles.

Imbalanced Hormones in the absence of a mate

When you raise a bird in your home and it reaches the age of maturity or puberty, it will start looking for a mating partner. And if they are unable to find one, they will think of you as their mating partner and this whole situation can stimulate egg production in them.

The hormonal imbalance will make your Budgies masturbate on toys and cages when they have urges. So, this is where you need to work on.

And sometimes the case is the opposite where your budgie will not let you even touch their cage. In that case, you need to help your budgie instead of getting upset with them because they are going to hormonal imbalance.

Genes

There are several endocrine and genetic factors involved that can affect the reproductive cycle of your budgies. You might not be able to find out the problem because it is oriented internally. So, take help from the vet when everything else is fine and your budgie is still laying excessive eggs.

Increase in daylight

Longer periods of exposure to daylight also promote excessive egg layering in birds because nature has made them with a reproductive system that works with the light. In wild, they reproduce only during the day. And at night they do not lay eggs. But in our home, because they are exposed to the light during the day as well as the night because we keep our lights usually turned on. So, their reproduction cycle is affected.

Competition

Most of the time when you have more than one pair of budgies, a sense of competition is created in them to produce more eggs than the other pair. And that leads to excessive mating and excessive egg production as well.

So, if you see that please separate the pairs and keep them in different cages. It will be hard for your birds and they will make noises more than usual, but you will have to bear with that because ultimately it is for the better future of your Budgies.

HEALTH ISSUES RELATED TO EXCESSIVE EGG LAYING

Hypocalcemia

Excessive egg-laying in female budgie results in sucking of calcium because the process of laying the egg sucks calcium from the body. And your budgie will become calcium deficient. This condition is termed hypocalcemia that will further cause several nutrition-related problems.

Dystocia

Dystocia is also known as egg binding that is simple defined as obstructive or extremely difficult labor. And you definitely don’t want to see your budgie to go through that painful experience. This is more often a result of hypocalcemia that is further caused by excessive egg-laying.

Fragile bones

The bones of your budgie will start getting weak and it won’t be able to do the simplest of activities like walking or flying. You will see the changes when your budgies will start to prefer sitting for long periods.

That is again a result of calcium and magnesium deficiency in your budgie. Because your bird is utilizing excessive energy in laying the eggs and in return, the regular food is not sufficient to compensate for that energy and nutrient loss.

Repetitive seizures

Seizures are common in budgies when they are laying an extreme number of eggs and sitting on them even when they are not fertilized. And it can get worse and can cause neurotic problems in budgies if not treated on time.

Cystic ovarian diseases

In budgerigars, ovarian cysts are quite common because it is a result of excessive egg-laying and these birds are highly prone to that. These cysts will disturb the hormones and reproduction and cause abnormal belly swelling in budgies. And in extreme cases, it can also cause Dyspnea, which is difficulty in breathing.

Ovarian cysts are also able to cause tumors and other abnormalities in budgies.

DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF EXCESSIVE EGG LAYING IN BUDGIES

Seeing your budgie go through this sad episode might be a little overwhelming for you. So, consult an avian vet immediately and they will diagnose the underlying issue by testing your bird. The test involves several steps.

First, the doctor will give your budgie any anesthetic to calm the bird and make the examining process easy. Next, they will start checking different body parts including the eyes, beak, feathers, wings, legs, oral cavity, and cloaca. There are high chances that the vet might diagnose the cause of excessive egg-laying right after the primary examination but if the case is complex, he will suggest your bird go through an X-ray exam or a complete body profile via a blood test.

X-ray Exams and Blood tests

X-rays and blood tests are conducted to know the deep internal problems that are not showing on the outside in your budgies. These tests provide information like total blood count, nutrients level in the body of your bird, and any possible infection or disease residing inside.

TREATMENT METHODS OF CHRONIC EGG LAYING

Hormonal injections

The avian veterinary doctor might suggest certain hormonal injections for your bird to balance out the hormones and that can help in balancing out the reproduction cycle as well. B every proper and regular about these injections because they save your budgie from a bigger problem or health risk. And your negligence might result in something disastrous.

You might have to regularly take your budgie every weekend and along with other medications, you will be able to help in curing your budgie’s internal system.

Supplements and Vitamins

To compensate for the nutritional deficiencies the doctor might prescribe some supplements and vitamins to your budgie. And along with that, he will also ask you to do some diet changes. A good proper diet is very important to stop the unnecessary ovulation in your budgies so be very cautious and particular about that. Adding fibrous food, millets, and important seeds can be extremely helpful in treating the excessive egg-laying in your budgies.

Cutting off daylight period

Another thing you can do is to cut off the daylight period your budgie is exposed to. The daylight period stimulates ovulation so you can put your budgie in a separate room with the lights turned off even during the day. And eventually, it will help stop the ovulation and regulate the reproduction cycle in budgies because you are cutting down the source of ovulation stimulus.

Removing nesting sites

The last thing you need to do is to make sure that there are no nesting sites in the place where you have kept your budgie and the environment is clean. If your budgie does not have a mating partner, it is easy to stop them from ovulating by just removing the nesting sites. But if you have another Budgie that is the mating partner of your female budgie you need to separate their cages. If you won’t do that the ovulation will never stop.

EXTREME CASE SCENARIOS

By doing all the above-mentioned treatment techniques you will easily help your budgie and stop the excessive ovulation in them as it is dangerous for them. But there are cases where nothing helps with the imbalanced hormones and reproduction in your budgies.

If you have tried everything your budgie’s doctor asked you to do and it is still not helping then you need to hurry and consult that avian vet again because excessive weight loss and nutrient loss may lead to the death of your Budgie in the worst-case scenario. And then you will be able to do nothing. Instead of panicking always opt for the complete body profile of your pet budgie to know the hidden circumstances that are causing your budgie to act abnormally.

But more than 95% of the people are successful in treating their budgies with the described treatment methods.