Need hormone help please

[Debra]

My Lucy seems to perpetually be in a hormonal state. She's always on the lookout for a dark place to get in to and when she does find one she starts clawing/digging as if to make a nest. Whenever my hubby holds her, she lowers her head and raises her rear as if she is wanting to mate with him. The only place he's touching her is where her feet are on his chest. She's plucked because of this. We've taken away the spots where we had noticed her going and taken out anything in her cage that she could make into a nesty area but she keeps finding places in the house to go to that we cannot block off. This results in her being locked in her cage most of the time when my hubby is home. She does not like this nor do we. Does anyone have any recommendations as to what we could do for her? Should we take her to the vet? She's in very good health otherwise.

[coltfire]

unfortunately this is one area im not accustom to as ive always paired my birds up,due to all the story's i heard about hormonal eckkies, and from what i understand there is no way of stopping the behavior, i know with my birds even if i take the box out they will lay on the floor.

[Debra]

Huh. The interesting thing is that she's 18, I've had her 5 years, and she's never laid an egg. She has sat on a little ball as though it was an egg, but that's as close as she's come to an egg. I've thought about getting her a male companion, but am afraid that we will lose her as a companion bird. I don't want to breed her, just help her hormonally. Poor baby.

[coltfire]

well she should be past all that, one would think,i dont know why people think if they get a mate for the bird they will lose the companionship, if you give your birds the same time and love as if he/ she was on her own you will never lose it, as i said i pair all my birds up i dont think its fair them being on there own ,( just my opinion ) and all of my birds are just as affectionate as if they were on there own, they all love cuddles, play time,and just hanging out, today i had my guitar out play in the bird room as its the best room to be in , and i had them flying over top landing on head, shoulders, and guitar, Jerry thinks he wants to learn as he keeps strumming the strings with his beak, so cute

[spiritbird]

If you could afford Lupron injections it may knock her out of the cycle.

[Debra]

I'm leaning toward that although I kind of hate the thought of it. I just know she's miserable most of the time. I'm debating a visit to the vet.

[Turquoise]

I don't have any suggestions, sorry. But you do give me a look into the future of what to look forward to with my Leyla Belle. She is just coming up 1 1/2 yrs so it will be awhile. She has such a tenacious attitude already that I think she will be a bear when she does get to that stage.

Not having boxes in with my budgies didn't stop one pair from lsying, but she never tried to sit on the eggs. I really did not want them to either. Budgies are not easy to find homes for around here. Both pet shops sell lots of them & then you see ads looking for nee homes for them. I was already given a pair by relatives recently.

[JLcribber]

Just some thoughts.

Ekkies have a very long hormonal period. I've heard them lasting as long as 9 months in some cases. The fact that she is like that and never laid an egg all this time is surprising.

Getting her a companion does not mean breeding or losing the relationship. Should they "do the deed" and lay eggs they are easily replaced with fakes (birdy birth control).

A companion IMO won't lessen the situation any. The presence of a mate only provides incentive.

Lupron does not always work. The way it works is it actually increases the hormones to a high level which hopefully triggers the production of hormones to shut down which doesn't always happen. In any case it's a very temporary solution because there's alway next season. The treatment is usually only considered when the hen is a prolific layer and her health depends on stopping those eggs. Your bird has never even laid an egg. Just some undesired behaviour.

If your bird was hand-fed/heavily imprinted and has a strong human bond, there's a good chance she will not view the new bird as even a bird or mate worthy.

Part of the reason I think your bird seems to be like this all the time is that she "hasn't" laid an egg and hasn't really had a chance to complete the cycle allowing those hormones to subside naturally.

There is no easy answer. The behaviour can't be stopped. I find it easier to just go with the flow and work with/around it.

[spiritbird]

[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] These people are wonderful to deal with. You can invest in dummy eggs and just let her go through the cycle. Make sure and feed her calcium rich foods.

[Debra]

Thank you John. I've decided to not go the Lupron route as it's expensive and she's not laying eggs anymore. She seems to be hormonal year round, but like you said she probably doesn't go out of cycle because of not being able to produce eggs. She has tried sitting on a ball like it was an egg, but that didn't last long so I don't think fake eggs would help at this point. It's been suggested to me to try Avicalm from Avitech on her. I'm seriously thinking of trying a small bottle to see if it will help her. It's just sad to see her going all hormonal over my hubby and then turning in anger towards me. She's so hormonal she is miserable. I hate seeing her like this. I figure it won't hurt to try this stuff. If it doesn't work then ok, we've tried that route. It's also been suggested to use some herbs and see if that would help. We'll see. Fresh herbs that were suggested aren't readily available around here. I'll try one route and if that doesn't work, I'll try another.

Thanks again for all your suggestions/help!

Oh, and Dianne -- I needed that link for dummy eggs for my tiels! They have somehow lost a few of mine and I need more to keep them from having babies. lol

[Blancaej]

I can't really help you with your Ekkie hormone issue but wanted to wish you luck in getting that worked out. That must be really hard on you. Keep us posted how it goes. Looks like you got some really good advice here!

[spiritbird]

The link for the dummy egg people is just before this posting. They really were not expensive. There is a video on their web page with educational tib bits. The actually do not recommend a nest box. Watch the vid and please let me know what you think.

Link again [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]