A particular issues with pet lovebirds can occur  when a hen decides she absolutely must breed. Without a mate, one of its owners will become the primary target of this behavior. You may notice your lovebird dipping its feathers down as if exposing the rump area. That is exactly what she is doing. This is the position hens take when they want the male to mate with them. The male would climb onto her lower back, sometimes holding the flight feathers for grip. This is how the hen's eggs are fertilized. When you have a single pet hen, this can be amusing at first. However, if she starts protecting her cage and laying egg after egg, you could end up with a problem. It is best to avoid triggering this behavior and remove anything from the cage that might encourage nesting.

The first behaviors you might notice are nest-seeking behaviors. This might include the shredding of paper on the bottom of the cage, a tendency to want to hide in your shirt, or sometimes crouching under an elevated seed dish. Remember that in the wild, most lovebird species use holes in tress, rocks or buildings to build their nests. So they crave dark, cavelike places when the instinct to breed kicks in. The next behavior you might notice will be how protective the hen becomes of this area. For example, you might reach into your shirt to retrieve her and suddenly you get a nasty bite. This is typical behavior for a broody hen who has a strong instinct to reproduce.

The most important thing to do when you first notice these behaviors is to avoid triggering them. A hen exhibiting such signs should not have hiding places in the cage such as sleeping huts. Do not let the hen climb into your shirt. Having a cage with a grated bottom that separates the lovebird from the paper liner is best. This way, the hen is not constantly building nests on the bottom of the cage by shredding this paper. Do not encourage any kid of nest-building behavior. This will only result in a hen settling in to lay dud eggs. It needlessly wastes her energy and can make for a very nasty, unreasonable pet. The hen will think of you to act accordingly. Obviously, this is impossible, so she may take out her frustration on you by biting.

Invariably, a hen exhibiting these behaviors will at some some point lay an egg. Even if you take steps to avoid triggering this, it is a very strong instinct and there is not much you can do about it. However, you should take great care to make sure your hen does not damage her health by laying egg after infertile egg. Make sure she has a cuttlebone available for calcium supplementation. You should also do what you can to redirect her energies.

You can do two things with these eggs. What works can vary from lovebird to lovebird. The first method is to let the egg sit for a day or two and then remove it. Many people feel guilty about removing the egg. However, if you leave the egg in the cage, the hen may start to lay more eggs to fill out the clutch. She will waste an enormous amount of energy sitting on eggs that will never hatch. The second method is simply to leave the eggs, let the hen finish out the clutch (five or six eggs), and let her sit on them for the usual in incubation period for that species. People who do this have found that by removing the eggs, it triggers more egg-laying behavior.

If your hen is persistent, laying numerous eggs and challenging your patience, take her to an avian veterinarian. In extreme cases where the hen could be compromising her health, veterinarians can give a shot that reduces the hormones that trigger the breeding cycle. If she has laid an enormous number of eggs (ten or more) in a short period of time, you may want to ask about a liquid calcium supplement. This is given orally twice a day and is intended for hens who have had a problem passing eggs. It helps to bring up their calcium levels more quickly than ordinary dietary supplements.

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