roosting vs nesting

[jusdeb]

My older Lutino Red Rump whom I accidently let her mate escape , has been put in with a nice young split boy .
It all looked good with him chasing her but she wasnt going to be in it and was a tad assertive towards him .

Anyhoo days pass and I notice she has gone into the nest box so happily assume she is on eggs . This was about 3 weeks ago and I thought it time to do a nest inspection and to my surprise I find no eggs and the girl looking like crap .

She has gone light and is missing some feathers from around her neck .

To me it seems she has gone into the nest to escape the boys advances and as such isn't eating .
There are not outward signs of disease , she isn't fluffed up , no discharges etc .
I chased her out of the nest when I checked for eggs or signs of eggs and she flew fine and looked better outside the nest which makes me think she is not sick .

Has any one seen this before ? She is an older girl and has always been a very shy girl and has been with her last fella since dot .

Is she pining for him too is another train of thought ? I dont know ...any suggestions on what is going on or what I can do . I kinda need a plan before I go adding stress by catching her up and moving her.

[Lukec]

Sounds like the cock bird is driving her a bit hard and if she is out of condition its making the situation worse.

She may need a break seperate from the cock bird to come back into condition.

[Tintola]

I agree with Lucec, I have seen it happen with Kakarikis as well.

[jusdeb]

Ok good advice . I will catch her up shortly and bring her up to the verandah for a while .


Next question ...will she be OK with the little Scarlet hen who is now alone ?

[jusdeb]

She is now on the verandah and if she settles she can stay there as a pet . Didn't like the feel of her breastbone , she needs feeding up I think .