She Killed Him :(

[mousekakat 0]

I've had our male budgie for about 4 months now. Well, had is the right term. About 6 weeks ago we moved in an established male/female pair into the same cage. We did it slowly, letting them get to know each other. All three birds were owner rehomes - the owners couldn't keep them any longer, so we adopted them. They did fine, no problems, the occasional screaming and bickering, but not often at all. We had no idea there was trouble, they ate together, washed together, preened together, so it seemed things were okay. I guess not.

 

My 13 and 6 year old daughters came home to a grisly sight yesterday after school. Unfortunately, I was out with their little brother . Lilly, the lone female and part of the established pair, had killed Anders, the lone male they moved in with. She was covered in his blood all around her beak and on her wings. Poor Anders was in the bottom of the cage barely alive, and my girls found him. Lilly had scalped him. All his head feathers from his cere back to the back of his head were gone, and there was blood everywhere.

 

This was very shocking to us all, as we had NO indication whatsoever there was a problem! They all seemed to get along okay, otherwise I would have split them up before! Lilly has 'gone into season,' for lack of better words, and she is looking to nest, Danne, the male she lived with before has been feeding her, and we've seen them pairing, so I suspect that Anders might have 'overstepped his bounds' somewhere, somehow, but not sure, since we weren't home.

 

My question is, we did separate Lilly and Danne afterwards, and Danne slept in a spare cage we have overnight, they could hear each other, but not see each other. They are together now, but I'm so nervous! I need to leave the house again soon for about 3 hours, and just don't know if I should leave them together, separate them again, put Danne with our cockatiel (they get along fine) or what. If Lilly could snap and kill like that without us having any idea she was upset, will she do it to her mate? If they have a mating box already that she goes in to and 'plays around' in, is it too late to remove it if they have recently mated? I know it takes about a week and a half between mating and first egg, if I remove the box now, what will happen to her eggs if she is going to lay them?

 

Please be easy on me. I'm trying to do the right thing and I am VERY willing to learn and take advice. We love our birds, they are not just the kids' play toys, my girls are very engaged with them and taming them and spending time with them, and it's been a good thing for them, especially my oldest, who has ADHD and sometimes a little social difficulty!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Naomi

[Bird Junky 0]

Hello...

 

I've had our male budgie for about 4 months now. Well, had is the right term. About 6 weeks ago we moved in an established male/female pair into the same cage. We did it slowly, letting them get to know each other. All three birds were owner rehomes - the owners couldn't keep them any longer, so we adopted them. They did fine, no problems, the occasional screaming and bickering, but not often at all. We had no idea there was trouble, they ate together, washed together, preened together, so it seemed things were okay. I guess not.

 

One problem in bird keeping is the that cages are not natural. With any collection of creatures there is bound to be some falling out. In nature there is space to remove oneself to a safe distance. this is normally sufficient to ensure peace. Bickering can only

escalate in the confines of a cage. Like our children they can appear to live in harmony till something sets them off....

 

My 13 and 6 year old daughters came home to a grisly sight yesterday after school. Unfortunately, I was out with their little brother . Lilly, the lone female and part of the established pair, had killed Anders, the lone male they moved in with. She was covered in his blood all around her beak and on her wings. Poor Anders was in the bottom of the cage barely alive, and my girls found him. Lilly had scalped him. All his head feathers from his cere back to the back of his head were gone, and there was blood everywhere.

This was very shocking to us all, as we had NO indication whatsoever there was a problem! They all seemed to get along okay, otherwise I would have split them up before! Lilly has 'gone into season,' for lack of better words, and she is looking to nest, Danne, the male she lived with before has been feeding her, and we've seen them pairing, so I suspect that Anders might have 'overstepped his bounds' somewhere, somehow, but not sure, since we weren't home.

 

As you know all females get a little hormonal when they get broody. (Not just hens).

 

My question is, we did separate Lilly and Danne afterwards, and Danne slept in a spare cage we have overnight, they could hear each other, but not see each other. They are together now, but I'm so nervous! I need to leave the house again soon for about 3 hours, and just don't know if I should leave them together, separate them again, put Danne with our cockatiel (they get along fine) or what. If Lilly could snap and kill like that without us having any idea she was upset, will she do it to her mate? If they have a mating box already that she goes in to and 'plays around' in, is it too late to remove it if they have recently mated? I know it takes about a week and a half between mating and first egg, if I remove the box now, what will happen to her eggs if she is going to lay them?

 

Lilly isn't mental. She wants to start a family with Danne. So you can put them together without a nest box if you don't want chicks.

Either remove her eggs as they are laid & or replace them with dummy eggs. Boil her eggs for 5 nim this will prevent them from hatching if you can't get dummies.

 

Please be easy on me. I'm trying to do the right thing and I am VERY willing to learn and take advice. We love our birds, they are not just the kids' play toys, my girls are very engaged with them and taming them and spending time with them, and it's been a good thing for them, especially my oldest, who has ADHD and sometimes a little social difficulty!

 

Thanks in advance, Naomi

 

If you need an tips on taming & training...Give me a shout......B.J.

 

Edited October 10, 2012 by Bird Junky

[mousekakat 0]

Thanky thanky!!! My husband lives in fear, wife and 2 daughters, one of which is very soon at that 'hormonal' stage...poor man!! They are back together now. I did come upstairs first when we all got home to make sure there were no other casualties, and all seems fine. He's taking care of her, eating like the proverbial pig, feeding her, and singing to her, and the little wench is just eating it up, literally. The smart alec in me wanted to ask if 5 minutes was for hard boiled or soft boiled, and if they were good with salt, by the way!

 

I'm going to let them nest this one time, since she is already preparing it, very broody (you can read that b*tchy if you'd like) and I'm not sure if she is already working on producing the eggs or not, but they have paired. After this, though, I will be removing the nesting box. I have provided her with wood chips (natural) and various other natural straw and straw type materials, is there anything in particular I should give her to help her prepare?

 

Thanks for the help, and TOTALLY understand your nick.... little buggars are terribly addicting!

[robyn 0]

Hi, hens can be vicious and territorial about their nest box. Hence she killed you poor boy. :(

She may toss out all nesting material to clean her nest site, I usually sneak some back in after they have laid, they mostly leave it then.

You will notice as she's close to laying she will develop an "egg bum" for a couple of days, then she should lay every other day.

Good luck and keep us posted with your results.

[Bird Junky 0]

Hi. Budgies don't build nests, so straw ect not needed. just a little sawdust is enough..

Read through the breeding, feeding & keeping posts on this site for good info....B.J.

[mousekakat 0]

Apparently lovebirds get egg bum, too .

 

I've already noticed she doesn't really want nesting materials and read up a bit on it, I did try the oats like someone mentioned elsewhere just to give a little cushion to the bottom of the box and make it so it's not totally flat, and she's keeping that in there a bit better. I haven't looked the past couple of days to see if she has laid anything, I'm just leaving them in peace to do what they do best, being birds. He's still bobbing and feeding her and courting her like mad, though, so we'll see.

 

My lovebirds, however, right on time, exactly 10 days from when I caught them doing the act and was cruelly subjected to uncensored bird **** .... well... we've got our first egg . Boiling an egg per day and sharing it between the lovebirds and budgies, along with crushing the shell finely and mixing it in with their food and sprouting seeds... gotta give them those extra nutrients!

 

Thank you all for your responses! My kid are excited about the prospects of possible bird babies, but I have also warned them that they might have a high mortality rate and not to be disappointed if it happens! Hopefully we'll get healthy chicks, though