The Art of Bird Maintenance

Wouldn't you know it? I'm celebrating Chip's celibacy when she lays another egg!

Come on, we spend $150 on her birth control. I guess it worked for 3 months. But that's freaking expensive for bird birth control! It's more than human birth control.

She's been playing with the paper towel on the bottom of her cage a lot lately. When she starts chewing it up, it means she's nesting. But I wasn't too concerned. She learned a new trick last week - she'd crawl under one end of the paper and come out on the other side.

So tonight I'm enjoying "Annie" (you know you love it too!) when I realize Chip's been under the paper for a while. I call her name a few times hoping to startle her out and she doesn't budge. So I crawl up on the couch and look under the paper where her tail's sticking out and all of a sudden - pop! - an egg appears.

If you don't know birds, or even female birds, you have no idea why it's a big deal. First, she can get really sick from regular egg laying. It uses up the calcium in her body and can make her bones too weak. And she can get so nutritionally deprived that she won't have enough strength to push the egg out. That's serious business. And then after the eggs - usually 4 - it's tough to deal with. Her cage has to be super clean. She won't poop in the cage with the eggs, so she has to be let out at least once a day to do her business. Which means paper lining the carpet around her cage. And she's super quiet, and really, pretty boring. As much as I complain, her chirping is a welcome sound.

I was complaining about her odd behavior to my mom today and she said, "Maybe she's just PMSing." If only she'd known how right she was!