FINCHforum

I had a female die recently. I'm thinking she was eggbound.
She had laid 8 eggs that were all empty even though she was with a male. It was her 1st time.

I have a new female that wants to nest with this male. I don't want the same thing happening.
I'd like to give them a nest as the male is always carrying hay around the house. If she starts laying her 1st clutch, should I put the empty eggs of the 1st female (as dummy eggs) along with her own eggs?

Will it keep her from laying as high a number as 8?

Any help is appreciated. My birds fly free by the way & will not nest inside a cage.

First, how old is your new hen? She shouldn't be bred until she is old enough...between 9-12 months is best. Then, if your hen became egg bound then she probably didn't have enough calcium intake. This is very important. Make sure there is enough available and have liquid calcium on hand in case this happens again, in an emergency situation. You can do that with the dud eggs but most birds won't lay 8 eggs so chances are it won't happen again. If you wanted to limit the clutch to say 4 eggs...realize also that there may only be 1 or 2 that are fertilized...or even none. They may be...but they may not be. Be ready for any scenario. Provide a lot of protein, eggs, and good vegetables for optimal health at laying time.