princess tobey in her castleMy little princess Tobey was busy these last couple weeks being "Mother". Once or twice a year, she will lay a bunch of eggs which remain unfertilized...as she does not have a mate.
tobey's babies...the size of a nickel
Tobey's little brood
who goes there?!?Her doctor said to let her go thru this natural cycle. After she's been sitting on the eggs for a couple weeks or so, then when she's off somewhere else, slowly remove them a couple eggs at a time each day until they're all gone. You don't want her to sit too long on them b/c she starts getting weary. You don't want her to be around when you remove them b/c it would be so traumatic on her.
tobey, the mommy birdTobey has been going thru this life cycle ever since she was about 1 years old. It never ceases to amaze me. My little princess is a Mother...if only for a short while.
3 comments:
Although amazing, why do I find this so sad? (sniff). I love your pictures. Really captures the moment.
It is kind of sad...it makes you a good bird mommy though that you take the eggs out gradually. Having a bunch of little ones can be overwhelming to animals too - I saw this with the 11 little puppies our dog had. Taking care of 4 demanding little babies would have been stressful as well for Tobey. The eggs being unfertilized saves her from the stress of dealing with that. That's really amazing that birds in captivity have eggs though - I had no idea!
I know, it's always amazing when this life cycle happens. I time the removal of eggs in a gradual process. I take her to another part of the house or hold onto paper which she tears off. Then Jimmy uses tongs and takes a couple out of her box when she's preoccupied.
Yesterday, we removed her bird house and she's "back to normal". Right now, she's perched on my shoulder watching my every move.
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