My little Peach laid an egg this morning. It was on the bottom of her cage. It makes me feel sad because I am not going to let her breed. It would make me crazed to find homes for the babies. I'd want to do home inspections every week for the rest of their lives.

The egg isn't going to hatch since it wasn't fertilized by a male

Since she doesn't have a mate the egg can't be fertile, so laying eggs is a pointless strain on her body. There are simple hormone control techniques that can help get her out of breeding mode and prevent or reduce egg laying. Our article about it here: http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... mones.html will tell you how to deal with the egg that has already been laid. Once egg laying has already begun it's hard to stop the process, but these techniques will help prevent her from starting new clutches in the future.

I know it wasn't fertile I am worried though because I had read that, like you say, it's a strain on her system. However, now,I need to get some input about her behavior. She has turned into a little savage!! She loves to go exploring and a few days ago, she started spending time in a basket I keep her things in under her cage. I have been keeping an eye out because I knew it could become a problem. Then she laid the egg..not in the basket but on the floor of her cage. If I go near where the basket is she attacks me... flying at my face and trying to bite me. I got her in her cage and removed the basket but I don't know what to expect next.
I had made the decision not to get her a mate...but now I am torn again. Can anyone please share about successfully finding homes for the babies and feeling relaxed with it?

I just read the article about hormone control and I have a new concern. The egg was stuck to the bottom of the cage and it cracked when I tried to move it. Now I wish I had not touched it at all. I had to remove it and now I fear she might go into full fledged egg laying. Also, are there any toys that won't become a problem with her masturbating under them? It seems that everything I hang in her cage takes on that role for her.

Honestly, if you don't want babies, I wouldn't get her a mate. Selling the babies is a very hard thing to do, as you can see, I keep all of mine.

It was pretty hard for me to freeze Marshmallow's egg she laid yesterday, but it had to be done.

Having baby chicks is a lot of work! Take a look at me and Hannah (ilovemypetbirds) our birds rejected the babies because they wanted another clutch. I had to assist parent the babies until they were old enough to leave the nest and Hannah is going through a lot right now. Just take a look at her thread, I can hardly sleep because I keep thinking about the little chick but I know he is in good hands.

It's a normal instinct for a hen to lay eggs when she is hormonal. Just stick with the long nights and she will quite on the eggs. You can also order dummy eggs and give that to her when you see nesty behavior.

Good luck!

Yes, as Baruch said, I have 2 babies. I already have one sold. He is going to a friend of mine. If you consider breeding, do you know anyone who would want them? The person I have already sold one of my babies to has even asked me to bird sit in the summer! So, its not like your babies would be going away and youd never see them again. If you know the person who you are selling the bird to, it will make it a lot easier to sell it.

Like Baruch also said, breeding is VERY hard work. I'm sure it would be much easier if my babies' parents would just do what they were intended to do. But, I just found out that my baby has yeast on top of hand feeding it. I now have to get up 3-4 times per night to feed it because its crop won't hold much food at a time. I'm just glad I'm homeschooled so I have the time to properly care for it. I kinda wish I knew more about breeding birds before I even tried it. When my cockatiel, Gracie, laid her first egg, I really didn't know what I was going to do. My mom said absoloutly not, when I asked about raising chicks. So my brother threw the egg outside. After she laid another, my mom finally gave in, after I started crying about throwing the egg out. With breeding, you also have to be prepared to except whenever a egg or chick doesn't make it, cause I lost 1 out of 3. I never would have made it on this journey if I didn't have great advice from people like Baruch. Thank you Baruch! What ever you decide, just know you'll have a great forum with people who know what you are going through to support you.

Steph, I don't think you'd be comfortable selling/donating your babies to people you don't know well, so unless you already have someone interested I'd suggest you to avoid.
There are way too many neglected tiels in the world anyway, so bringing new ones on the market is something that has to be looked at from many aspects if you don't have prospective buyers lined for them.

My Trilly and Frank had four babies last year, and I couldn't possibly keep them. At the time I had 13 birds and it was madness here, in this small apartment.
I sold three and donated one, and three of them have found very good homes, but I still think of them at least once a day, wondering how they are and whether they are happy and well treated... If you are anything like me, avoid.

She can be quite happy without a mate especially since she's used to being a "only child", and with hormone control and elimination of any possible nesty places she's gonna be fine!

Birds can live very happy lives without ever breeding, and I've heard that hens who don't breed live longer than those who do. So don't feel guilty if you decide to not let her breed, and if you manage her hormone levels she won't even be interested in it.

Breeding is complicated. Even if you got her a mate, there's no guarantee that they would be compatible, and you could end up with two birds who want to breed but not with each other. If they DID like each other, don't imagine for a moment that they would have one clutch and be satisfied to stop there. Cockatiels are eager breeders who will keep going nonstop if we let them, and it's not always possible to keep the hormones under control as much as we want to.

The 'savage' behavior is just Peach defending her nest. It sounds like the basket is her preferred location, but maybe she was shut up in the cage when it was time to deliver the egg so she had to lay it there. Don't feel bad about removing the egg; if it was stuck to the bottom, that means it was already broken before you touched it, and broken leaking eggs are a bacteria hazard.

Her preferred nest is gone now so maybe that will be enough of a disruption that she'll stop laying eggs. But time will tell. Make sure she has plenty of calcium and high-nutrition foods available, and keep an eye on her to make sure she's not having any physical problems. Good luck with the hormone control!

Thanks so much to everyone for the support! Barbara, I imagine I am quite like you. (about the same age too..64):)
Peach is much better today. The basket is gone and I trimmed all the toys that had sisal hanging. I also closed the drape in her room so she'll only have 10 hours daylight. I was feeling very guilty about depriving her. I really appreciated your input Carolyn.