elusive winger

Thanks for responding but no one really answered my question. I have had budgies before so only provided the basic details. I don;t think double the nest boxes is really required in colony breeding. They tend to sort it themselves. Maybe some initial arguing sorting out the pecking order but nothing unnatural. Colony breeding is the only option for me. I don't have time or room for pairing up in breeding boxes etc. All my birds are from show breeders so they are all tagged. Ages easy enough to determine. ( didn';t look at them when buying LOL) Anyhow, they are starting to pair up and some of the hens are going into the nest boxes now. I'm still a few short on hens I think, about 3 of the hens I obtained might be old duds I think. They look old. Anyhow, I will update my profile to reflect the amount of birds i now have. cheers E.W

Hi As the header suggests I have built a new aviary and obtained a few birds that didn't make the grade from show breeders. I've had budgies before but had to let them go ( sell) due to moving for work. I let the budgies loose in the new aviary with nest boxes in place etc. At this point, about 1 1/2 weeks down the track none of the birds seem to have paired up. I have about 11 males and 7 females. 3 of the females appear reasonably old ( they do have tags on their legs so I can confirm the ages if I need to) I'm still chasing some females obviously. Coudl anyone advise when the birds might start pairing up and maybe checking out the nest boxes?? cheers E.W Taree