Female refuses to lay eggs!

[finchman]

I have a pair of gouldians I have had for several months now (since July) that have been displaying breeding behavior since I got them. But, the female won't lay eggs. They court, bow heads, get frisky in the nest, and spend at least 2-3 hours in the nest box daily. They have done this for months! Her beak doesn't change to black, although it is a little black on top and red on the sides. I can't figure it out. There is plenty of natural light and they have a huge flight cage. I even tried to put a plastic finch egg in to stimulate her to lay but that didn't work either. They did spend more time in the box though, as if they were guarding it. I hate to break the pair up because they really like each other, but I am baffled at what the problem is. I have another pair I got at the same time that didn't even like each other at first that have had 2 clutches. (1st clutch 1 hatched and was tossed, and second is being fostered, 1 blue baby hatched and doing well ). Anyway, has anyone else experienced this? It's driving me crazy!

[debbie276]

They may be too young yet or not fully in breeding mode. Not sure where you live but it also may be the wrong time of year.

[Sam007]

Seems like your female is not in breeding mode yet as her beak is not black.

[lovezebs]

finchman

Your girl is not in breeding mode by the sound of things.
How old is she? Ideally, your female should be around a year old, before you'll want to breed her (although some will breed around nine to ten months old).

I would offer more protein in their diet. Lots of hard boiled eggs. I add pulverized freeze dried mealworms to my eggs, along with spray millet crumbles.

Also don't forget the cuttle bone, and crushed egg shells, for calcium.

I also offer a large variety of greens along with their deed diet.

[MariusStegmann]

She won't lay if she is not in breeding mode. If she is not molting, and is healthy, you have to feed her to get her in breeding mode.

I have a yellow hen that is laying eggs at the moment and she has so much red on her beak that it looks like she savaged another bird and has a bloody beak.