New to the group, question about egg laying

[denicetx]

Hi all. I'm new to the group. I have a 22 year old Congo Grey. Dorian has been in my family since he was a baby but recently moved into my home. My issue is that on 9/14 I discovered that Dorian is a she and not a he. Dorian layed her first egg. We never got Dorian sexed because we never intended to breed her, so it wasn't important to us. We just assumed that after 5-10 years we were right to refer to her as a "he" since "he'd" never layed an egg. I'm just wondering if anyone knows how common this is for this to happen to such a mature bird. I'm also wondering if I should expect more eggs in the coming days or if she may just lay the one. All the information I've found online so far are from breeding sites which don't really fit this situation since Dorian doesn't have a mate. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

 

Denice

[judygram]

Hello Denise and welcome to the family, so glad you have decided to join us and we look forward to hearing more about you and Dorian.

 

Oh my, you thought Dorian was a he and surprise, surprise, he is a she, laying an egg proves beyond a shadow of a doubt she is female.

 

It is my understanding that this is common even if they don't have a mate, the egg of course is infertile but her body is telling her to do it anyway.

 

We have some members who have more experience with this sort of thing so I will let one of them answer that question.

 

Please read thru the many threads for lots of useful information and do ask any and all questions you may have and we will help you in any way we can.

 

If you have some pictures of Dorian you would like to share with us we would love to see her.

[Suzzique]

Hello and welcome!

 

My only experence with egg laying was with my tiel. She was a very prolific egg layer. She never had a mate but we would get anywhere from 3 to 10 eggs a season. I just made sure she got lots of calcum because they use a LOT of calcum to lay an egg. She liked to nest sometimes too even though she didn't have any eggs.

 

Other members may have better and more advice for you.

[Abernathy]

Hi and welcome Denise and Dorian! I have no experience with egg laying. All of my birds are male. Just wanted to welcome you aboard. Looking forward to hearing more about you and your late bloomer Dorian.

[bbrew5]

Welcome Denise and Dorian!

Sorry I can't answer, I've only had my bird a couple weeks. Someone with ,more knowledge will come along.

Looking forward to hearing more from you and seeing pictures. We love pictures here.

[danmcq]

Welcome Denice and Dorian!!

 

It's GreYt having you here.

 

It sounds like Dorianna ;-)has decided someone is sexing enough in your household that she produced an Egg for you letting you know she wants to have a baby with one of you. :-)

 

Depending on her actions with the Egg such as sitting on it and guarding it, it is normally recommended to let the Egg be for upto 28 days or shorter if she quits pampering it.

 

Looking forward to hearing more from you. :-)

[Lyric]

Hello Denice! Dorian sure threw you for a loop with that one didn't she?

Well, greys remain able to produce young throughout their very long lives from what I understand, so although 22 may seem old to you, she's actually just entering her mid-life years. Something must have stimulated her to make her want to lay an egg after all this time- has something changed in her environment? As Dan mentions, she should be allowed to sit on her egg for about a month's time (she may lay 3-4 eggs, this is normal for a grey). Hopefully this will get nesting out of her system and she can get back to being your companion.

[kittykittykitty]

Well, Denice. Precious just laid her first egg, but she is only 61/2 so I don't know about the age!:ohmy:

Welcome to the forum.