2,612. Taking the Mother Bird for a Metzora

Hilchos Shechita 13:18

One may not take the eggs so long as the mother is sitting on them. This is so even in one’s loft or pigeon coop; his property doesn’t acquire them for him. Just like one can’t acquire them for others, his courtyard can’t acquire them for him. Accordingly, he must send the mother away.

Hilchos Shechita 13:19

It is prohibited to take a mother bird with her young, even for the purification process of a metzora. If one took the mother, he must send her away; if he doesn’t, he’s liable to lashes because a positive mitzvah (the purification process) doesn’t override a negative mitzvah (not to take the mother bird) plus a positive mitzvah (to send her away), nor does a positive mitzvah override another positive mitzvah.