We have a seven-month-old female Lutino named "Sunny." We hand-fed her from a young age, and she is very people-friendly (she has no mate.) A week ago, Sunny began laying eggs, and now has three that she is sitting on, and being the dutiful and protective mother.
Our main concern is that Sunny does not seem to be eating much at all. She has eaten an unusual amount of her Cuttlebone, and when out, she will try to eat the grout around the tiles in our kitchen. We purchased some new seed that is supposed to provide more of what is needed for laying moms. When she does eat, she acts as though she is starved. we are wondering if there is anything we can do to make sure she stays healthy during this time, and we also wonder how to go about removing the eggs after a suitable length of time (we do not want to destroy the bond we have built up with Sunny.) Any suggestions?
Sincerely,
Skip L. in Idaho
Dear Skip,
Birds alter their eating habits when they are sitting on eggs. Apparently their parenting instincts or desires take precedence during this stage. They tend to eat less fresh veggies and more seed and cuttlebone. Cuttlebone and mineral blocks are vital to egg laying hens because they replenish the calcium that is depleted while forming the egg.
We'd continue to offer Sunny the same nutritional diet you normally do, just be sure to keep cuttlebone available.
Keep an eye on her, especially her food intake, and hopefully she'll stop wanting to be a Mommy soon. Bird's can't count, so when you get ready to remove those eggs, take one away each day.