Egg laying? Help please

[apachetear]

How long should it take for zebra finch to lay an egg? Ours has been trying for the last 15 mins. We fear she may be eggbound, any help please?

[Sally]

The only time I've actually seen one of my hens lay an egg, I just happened to be looking up at a cage that is above my head at the very moment the hen laid an egg while sitting on the perch. I saw a bit of white appear under her tail, and poof, it came right on out and fell on the floor--very fast.

What is your hen doing? Is she sitting on the floor straining? Is she sitting with fluffed feathers and her wings drooping down? Does she look really off, with eyes half-closed? Why do you think she is trying to lay an egg?

If she is truly eggbound, she needs to go in a hospital cage, or small separate cage, with a heat lamp directed at one end of the cage. You can wet a small towel and drape it over the cage to provide humidity. Warmth and moisture are the best things you can do, plus if you have any liquid calcium, give her a drop or two directly in the beak.

[apachetear]

Thankyou very much for your swift response last night, sorry i didn't get time to reply i totally forgot i came on here last night. My female was sat very fluffed up, eyes completely closed and seemed a bit panicked, she has been eggbound before so we recognised the symptoms. She has regular access to cuttlebone and millet spray and vegetables, i think she got like this as she probably a little of condition as she's also taking care of a just fledged baby. Last night we gave her a warm bath much to her disgust, it worked last time, then we tried to take her to a different cage however she refused to leave her baby and went in her nest. We decided to leave her to it as taking her away from her friend and baby might have distressed her further. Awoke this morning and she seemed fine, however she did this last time and then laid her egg in the afternoon, so we'll probably get an egg later, she's a tough little bird but am keeping a very close eye on her today. Thanks for your reply. The advice of this forum is great. =)

[Finch Fry]

If you cant move her to the hospital cage, move the hospital to her. Throw a heat lamp on her cage and set up a shot glass with water in it just near the lamp or moisten a towel and lay it over the cage. If she wants it, she will go right to it for the heat. The wet towel will help retain a pocket of heat in the cage.

I wish your hen the best of luck and please consider having the calcium supplement on hand since this is a recurring problem with her.

[Meagan83]

I have had this happen to a silverbill hen twice and once to my society hen. I found a rather quick way to fix this seems to be vegtable oil. I put it heavily on a Qtip and gently massage the vent. Then they go back into the cage and always seem to pass the egg within about an hour. No ill side effects and it seems to stress them alot less than warm water running on their behind. lol
I do provide my birds with a cuttle bone in each cage as well as a bowl mixed with grit and ground up oyster shell. I think it just seems to happen sometimes no matter what you do.

[apachetear]

thankyou all so much for your replies, thankfully the panic is over, she laid her egg a few hours ago and seems absolutley fine now, she's a tough little bird. i really dont understand how she managed to lay 4 eggs a few months ago without a problem? we were very suprised, we knew she had had problems before, however we assumed it was because she was quite young at the time, we werent aware of her age but think she cant have been older than 4-5 months. She seems happy now resting with her little one by her side, we are removing the nest tomorrow, we feel she just wants to rest now, and the little one still doesn't like to be out of the nest for more than 5 mins. we shall be investing in a hospital cage for any problems in the future, we do give her multi vitamins in her water, but shall get calcium supplement as soon as we can.

also is there such thing as high or low quality cuttlebone? it seems a bizzare question but our cuttlebone is quite cheap, about 30p, but i see some being sold in other places for about 1.50, (in pounds, my pound symbol on my computer isnt working!), i was wondering if there was a logical reason for this? is the more expensive better quality, this has only just occured to me today, hope it isnt a silly question!

btw you'd think she would lay more eggs but the last time she had this problem she just laid one, however i shall keep an eye on her. we're just so glad she is ok now, i sat up most of the night worrying, but she's tough so i should have known she'd be ok. thanks again. =)


meagan83, i will bear this in mind for future, you just put your message up just before mine =)

[Sally]

If this hen has been eggbound several times, she needs to be rested. She is a tough little girl, but she can't keep beating these odds forever. Once you pull the nest, that will help, but is she in with the male still? He needs to be moved to another cage. Either parent would be able to feed the fledgling by themselves, so leave the baby with which ever parent you think would be less upset.

There is a lot of discussion about the role of calcium and how it is used. Many feel that the birds need adequate vitamin D3 in order to use the calcium they take in. Make sure that she is getting D3 in her vitamins or liquid calcium. An excellent source of D3 is cod liver oil! You could put some cod liver oil on her eggfood, or on some of her seeds, or veggies--whatever works for you and her.