egg laying

[nikkiwir]

My 12 year old grey just laid 4 unfertilized eggs in a two week period, for the first time. We thought she was a he and were quite surprised. After talking to the vet, he said not to remove the eggs. I had put a cardboard box for her to chew on as well as newspaper in the bottom of her cage because it kept her busy not knowing what she was about to do.

My problem is she has laid on the eggs for 24 days straight, seems weak and eats little. The eggs are black from the newspaper print. Anyone have any experience with this? I don't want her to get sick and I am afraid if I remove her eggs she will lay more. Any feedback will be appreciated. She also has picked out all of her feathers on he chest completely. The vet said some of that may be hormonal.

[ziggy]

Hello,

Your vet is correct by saying to leave the eggs in the box. Thet will roost the eggs even though they are unfertilized she needs to go through the steps. As for her being week she needs calcium alot of it try getting a cuttle bone. Birds will lay eggs at any mature age and they will lay a egg every 2 to 3 days until they have a clutch of 3 to 5 eggs(normally). There is nothing to worry about except you need to leave the eggs in the box for 21 days and that she needs calcium to replace the calcium she lost in making the eggs. If she has been on them for 24 days remove the eggs now and she should not lay any to replace the ones you removed. She has already passed the eggs and she has roosted them. She has done her job. Her instinks have told her to sit on the eggs to hatch them. Odvisally they are not going to hatch, so remove them so she can get on with her normal eating habits. And the plucking is stress related no dought about it. She is a first time hen and she is a little confused on how to roost them correctly. Has her additude changed since she layed the eggs? I would say yes it has. She is trying to become a mother and she dont relize that the eggs are not fertile.

[nikkiwir]

Ziggy, Thank you so much for the information. She just laid her fifth egg on the Sat. the 22nd and I was unsure of how long to allow her to roost. The vet told us when we saw him on Nov 30th to bring her back after the first of the year. She has been laying eggs since November 21 and now has five. Thank you again, Nikki