IndianRingNeck.com

Hello,
I have an african ringneck parakeet, she's about 11 years old and this morning I found her on the bottom of the cage with an egg. She's never done this before (I've had her for 8 years) - but she has been very tempermental lately and lunges at me a lot. She's getting to be very weird the last couple of months.

She wants to hide everywhere and is also obsessed with the bottom of the cage - she circles around it and does flips in the corner. She's never been tame - so she's always done her little mating coo with the mirror.

I'm just wondering why all of a sudden she laid an egg, and what do I do about it?

Thanks,
Liz and Phoebe(my african ringneck)

Hi Liz,
Don't think you need to do anything, except keep an eye on her. Not sure if you should take the egg or not, with most birds I would say to leave it (if it is not cracked), but I'm guessing that some of our experienced IRN folks can give you more info on that. Have we seen this lovely lady?

Here is Phoebe, I posted here a few months ago w/pics. I'll post some more under the pictures section while I'm at it

Thanks, what a cutie!

She's a cutie.
Another post in the breeding forum about a lone female who laid an egg.

Must be that time of year.

I have read also it's best to leave the egg for a while. Sometimes if you remove the egg they will just keep laying eggs. Not sure if that is true for every breed of bird though or just specific to finches/cockatiels

I'd be careful of her, bet she bites you if you get to near it.

My female, Pretty Girl (PeeGee) who I've had for 2 1/2 years, surprised me by laying an (infertile) egg about a week ago. She'd been exhibiting nesting behavior for some time, hiding in closets, in the bathtub, etc. I tried to prevent her from doing this, since I'd heard that egg-laying weakens the hen. But I guess nature took its course, and she laid an egg on the bottom of her cage. It was cracked, so I had to remove it. She didn't seem to care, and wasn't trying to sit on the egg.

She seems normal. I just wondered if I need to give her any special foods or vitamins or anything. Anyone have any advice? Thanks all!