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My Birds Wont Stop Breeding!


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Hi all

 

I have posted a couple of times, but am on the site almost daily ( a little addiction and time where the kids have to do something for themselves!!!). I have found some great information on this site - probably the best forum on topics I have seen - void of all the nasty comments that others seem to have!

 

I do have a couple of questions - some fit in this category, some probably don't! Hopefully someone can help!

 

I am not a planned breeder - just someone with an aviary in their backyard who has taken an interest in the world of budgies. I love watching them and seeing their personalities. I do have nesting boxes in there - so i guess it is called colony breeding. I do not intentionally pair my birds up - some came to me that way!

 

Do any people with aviary birds handle them? I can't catch the buggers, nor have any interest in causing them stress - they seem happy on their own.

 

Also, I have a couple of pairs who have bred - the only real adults in the aviary. Problem is, before babies are out of the nest, they are mating again! Both pairs are on their second back to back babies. They have started mating again, despite the oldest baby only being 4 weeks old. Should I remove the nesting boxes as soon as the babies are out - even if she has eggs on board?

 

As most of my birds are under 12 months, should i remove nesting boxes anyway?

 

Is there any other advice for colony birds, or should they just be left alone to play with each other?

 

They certainly know my voice - a couple of the father birds come right up to me and appear to be giving me a mouthful for encroaching on their space!!!! Funny buggers - they also seem to swoop at me sometimes!!!!

 

I have noticed in some pictures of nesting boxes, people have thick shavings of some form. My nesting boxes have the bottoms carved out to form a crevass sort of thing. Is there something else I should be adding?

 

I also have a little bit of sand on the bottom of the aviary, which gets scraped and cleaned out each week. Is there something else that could go on the bottom of the aviary?

 

Anyway, hope someone can help with my queries.

 

Thanks in advance

Vanessa :P

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Hi all

 

I have posted a couple of times, but am on the site almost daily ( a little addiction and time where the kids have to do something for themselves!!!). I have found some great information on this site - probably the best forum on topics I have seen - void of all the nasty comments that others seem to have!

 

I do have a couple of questions - some fit in this category, some probably don't! Hopefully someone can help!

 

I am not a planned breeder - just someone with an aviary in their backyard who has taken an interest in the world of budgies. I love watching them and seeing their personalities. I do have nesting boxes in there - so i guess it is called colony breeding. I do not intentionally pair my birds up - some came to me that way!

 

Do any people with aviary birds handle them? I can't catch the buggers, nor have any interest in causing them stress - they seem happy on their own.

 

Also, I have a couple of pairs who have bred - the only real adults in the aviary. Problem is, before babies are out of the nest, they are mating again! Both pairs are on their second back to back babies. They have started mating again, despite the oldest baby only being 4 weeks old. Should I remove the nesting boxes as soon as the babies are out - even if she has eggs on board?

YES

 

As most of my birds are under 12 months, should i remove nesting boxes anyway? THERE SHOULD NEVER BE ANY UNDERAGED BIRDS IN WITH NESTINGBOXES OR YOU WILL FORCE THEM TO BREED UNDERAGED.

Is there any other advice for colony birds, or should they just be left alone to play with each other?

 

They certainly know my voice - a couple of the father birds come right up to me and appear to be giving me a mouthful for encroaching on their space!!!! Funny buggers - they also seem to swoop at me sometimes!!!!

 

I have noticed in some pictures of nesting boxes, people have thick shavings of some form. My nesting boxes have the bottoms carved out to form a crevass sort of thing. Is there something else I should be adding? CONCAVES ARE FINE

 

I also have a little bit of sand on the bottom of the aviary, which gets scraped and cleaned out each week. Is there something else that could go on the bottom of the aviary?

 

Anyway, hope someone can help with my queries.

 

Thanks in advance

Vanessa :P

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also i would consider at least keeping track of what birds are breed by whom as you will end up with your birds interbreeding big time

brother sister of full blood is never recomended but then ive always told anyone whom wants to collany breed that i would start with all unrelated birds and leaving only the hens and selling the cocks as so your stock stays safe from becomming to inter breed

and you dont really need to worry about brother sister matings then

you will only ever get father daughter

grandfather grand daughter so on

nothing to worry about their

when you need new cocks again bring in new blood

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Thanks for that. All my birds came from my father-in-law who has kept details of all birds - parents etc. I have done the same. The babies we got out of each nest so far have either been kept by us (all cock birds) or passed on to my father in law or sister in law. Some have been sold to contacts of my father in law. It means there is no interbreeding.

 

Unfortunately we do not have the space or means to separate young from old, but I also do not want lots of birds. We have a big aviary, but want a limit of 14 birds.

 

Do the adults still mate even without a nesting box?

 

If the current pairs have successfully mated, will she lay the eggs on the ground once i remove the nesting boxes? I have kept the birthdates of all my babies, so I know the minimum time that they need to be in the nesting boxes.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Vanessa

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budgies have recreational sex, meaning they mate without producing eggs, so if you see them mating in the aviary, do not worry, you will not get eggs.

 

In saying, young hens will often lay an egg or two off the perch. Do not worry, it is perfectly normal.

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The presence of a nesting box turns a budgies recreational sex into a determined effort to breed. Even a 12 week old baby budgie will breed if they get the idea into their head by the presence of a nesting box in the aviary.....the future plan must be that you have somewhere that there is NO NESTINGBOXES for the under 12 month olds to be.

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NEVER expose you budgies to Nest Boxes unless you want them to breed! ;)

 

It is your responsibility to ensure that you choose when and who breeds - and you choose appropriately. ^_^

 

There is no such thing as "my budgies won't stop breeding" - they do not decide, you do - so it is more realistic to say "I have not taken the appropriate steps to stop my budgies breeding". :lol:

Edited by renee
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by sounds you dont have many birds anyhow so whats to stop u getting a small cage say 16 inch by 90 and keeping babys their untill breeding age or you could do a meter by a meter square in the aviry to seperate them till older

or just half the flight ^_^

 

ps as harsh as ren sounds she means not to come across nasty shes just very blunt in her turms of wording ;) and she is corect in saying what she did you are their carer their in your hands :lol:

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NEVER expose you budgies to Nest Boxes unless you want them to breed! :(

 

It is your responsibility to ensure that you choose when and who breeds - and you choose appropriately. ;)

 

There is no such thing as "my budgies won't stop breeding" - they do not decide, you do - so it is more realistic to say "I have not taken the appropriate steps to stop my budgies breeding". ^_^

 

 

I also am known for calling a spade s spade.

Its true what Renee says.....when you say "My Birds Wont Stop Breeding" AND you still have nestboxes in the aviary, its not the birds that wont stop breeding, its you as an owner that is kind of dictating how it should be. Birds will breed when conditions are right...that is when food and water is plentiful and there is somewhere to raise that family. The nestboxes are a main incentive for continual breeding. AND it surely is taking a HUGE risk also to have youngsters in that environment. They shouldnt be where nestboxes are...pure and simple. :lol:

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Thanks to all for the tips. I am not offended by any comments. I appreciate the answers and I know that I am a responsible bird owner looking for the best outcome for my flock.

 

I got my aviary and birds in July, with 10 adults birds given to me by my father in law. He gave us three pairs (who had already paired up) as well as two other 'hopeful' adults pairs. The three pairs have produced babies so far. The hopefuls stayed as hopefuls for a while. Since the babies have happened, there have been some movements to my flock. I prefer the larger looking birds rather than the fine featured birds. As a result, I gave back some of my adult birds and acquired some baby birds. I am overloaded with boys at the moment - of the 12 birds I now have - 8 are boys and 4 are girls. Two of the girls are the mothers. 3 of the boys are the babies we kept from the last nest. We have not kept any other babies as we do not want or plan to interbreed. The young ones we have acquired have not paired up with any others as yet, so there is no risk of young mating occuring.

 

I was worried about removing the nesting boxes as the adults have already mated again. The only reason the nesting boxes stayed in the aviary is after the first hatching of babies occured, both mothers mated again and laid eggs while the youngest chicks were still in the nesting box. I didn't think it was right to remove the boxes as the process had started again. Even if this happens again, I will remove the nesting boxes as soon as the youngest chick can leave the nest. I do have a 'shoebox' on floor of the aviary for those who are fully feathered, poking their heads out and ready to fly. I simply put them back in the boxes at night if they are not up on the branches with the others.

 

Hope this clears up some more! Once again, thanks for your advice.

 

Vanessa

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Hi Vanessa,timing as far as removing nestboxes is key to stop a third clutch. When an aviary is used for the birds playground and no breeding, you dont have so many worries. You just choose pairs from the aviary that are of age and put them in breeder cabinets elsewhere to breed with. If you are already worried about removing a nestbox once eggs have been laid then you may well face that hard decision again. What would you do if you have to remove a nestbox because of one pair going for a third round and then that female fights for possession of a nestbox that already has chicks and eggs in it. It happens a lot. Many times on here members have said they have NO PROBLEMS with colony breeding and a few weeks later are back on upset due to slaughter going on in the aviary. A female will throw out eggs and kill babies in a nestbox she wishes to claim for herself. You have chosen the hardest way to breed budgies. been there, done that and wont do it again.

The young ones we have acquired have not paired up with any others as yet, so there is no risk of young mating occuring.
This can change OVERNIGHT Edited by KAZ
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I am planning on removing all nesting boxes. As of today, the first couple of birds are out of the nesting boxes. All boxes will be out by the weekend - I only had two in there. The plan wasn't necessarily to breed budgies. I simply love looking at my birds as they are outside in a lovely spot in the yard. As I work from home, I find the birds a great (and sometimes not so great!!) distraction from working from home. It also means they are watched - counting down the days to take away the nesting boxes. As a newbie to keeping birds, I simply put in the aviary what my father in law had made - including the nesting boxes. At least this forum has allowed me to be more informed. My sister in law has already had troubles with her aviary and birds being hurt. She has many nesting boxes, but they do all fight for the one box.

 

Perhaps when either our yard changes in size (due to moving) or my interests and time make it possible to breed, I can do so later with breeding cages. We also have an 11 year old dog who is not keen on bird cages. She is fine with the aviary, but not fine with one on one. She has been dive-bombed by too many maggies or plovers. Until she moves onto another life, the aviary is the best we can do!

 

Thanks for the advice.

Vanessa

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I am planning on removing all nesting boxes. As of today, the first couple of birds are out of the nesting boxes. All boxes will be out by the weekend - I only had two in there. The plan wasn't necessarily to breed budgies. I simply love looking at my birds as they are outside in a lovely spot in the yard. As I work from home, I find the birds a great (and sometimes not so great!!) distraction from working from home. It also means they are watched - counting down the days to take away the nesting boxes. As a newbie to keeping birds, I simply put in the aviary what my father in law had made - including the nesting boxes. At least this forum has allowed me to be more informed. My sister in law has already had troubles with her aviary and birds being hurt. She has many nesting boxes, but they do all fight for the one box.

 

Perhaps when either our yard changes in size (due to moving) or my interests and time make it possible to breed, I can do so later with breeding cages. We also have an 11 year old dog who is not keen on bird cages. She is fine with the aviary, but not fine with one on one. She has been dive-bombed by too many maggies or plovers. Until she moves onto another life, the aviary is the best we can do!

 

Thanks for the advice.

Vanessa

Vanessa you sound like you are approaching this in the best way with forethought and consideration ~ Well done! :doh:

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Can anyone help. I have a new out of the box chick in a aviary with 12 other birds and 1 keeps picking on it . Any suggestions please 

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