I have 1 pair thats been successful in mating and laying eggs. Hen is in the process of laying egg #3 as I post this.

 

I have been very keen to watch and learn as much as possible through the whole process. This is my first try at breeding, so it's a learning experience for me. I have noticed something about my breeding pair, that I have not seen discussed on the forum yet.

 

About an hour or so before each egg has been laid, my keets have engaged in a lengthy mating session. I mean like 10 to 15 minutes non stop. Mating then on the non laying days is almost non existent. The male will hop down when he loses his balance, but the hen stays put and lets him right back on. ie: she stays crouched on the perch for the whole time.

 

So, I have wondered.......is this mating session to stimulate the hen to contract and aid is the expulsion of the egg? It seems to me that is a pretty fair deduction. OR.... is this mating to fertilize the next egg coming? I know that the hen can store the sperm for many days.

 

Just wondering if anyone has any information on this or if it has in fact been written about. I would be interested in doing some research on the subject.

 

Thoughts?

I would`nt think.The mateing would have anything to do with the laying of the egg.To be honest,I very seldom see my budgies mateing.Perhaps they do it when the light comes on at 05.30 in the morning in the breeding room.Its 09.00 before I go to the aviary to feed & check the birds. :feedbirds:

I also would doubt that mating has anything to do with aiding egg laying. The fertilization of each egg must occur some days prior to the egg being laid, as fertilisation must occur, I would think when the eggs is minute & then it would start to grow & then have the albumen added, then the shell. I have never watched with such detail as you suggest, but think that mating occurs quite often & for lengthy periods, so I would think it’s just coincidence.

Edited May 16, 200717 yr by Norm

I used to see my birds mate all the time. Mostly you hear about them mating in the wee hours of the morning (dawn) - usually when they are covered up if they are indoor birds. It may depend upon the pair, as mine would mate all throughout the day. Each egg is fertilized (or not) as it is developing. The whole process takes less than 48 hours, hence the every-other-day laying schedule of budgerigars. I think the more they mate successfully the greater the chance of fertilized eggs, not so much just the frequency of mating. If your birds haven't raised young before, there is a learning curve. I think the frequency is partly that and partly nature's way of trying to ensure the clutch is fertile.

Hey Keet... I know what you are saying, I was watching my pair this morning ( 7.30am ) go Full hammer and tongs at it and then 5 min later she laid her FIRST EGG ..... then kicked it out and it went splat.

I was thinking along those lines too.....I guess it is just us 1st time breeders....

 

Good luck with the eggs

Just a quick update to my observations. Egg #6 has arrived a day late. I was expecting it yesterday morning and nothing, so I though she was done.

 

My observation is this. I found it odd that yesterday she was out of the box more than she had been since she started laying. She did not seem distressed at all and looked fine, so again....I thought she was done laying and just getting some needed exercise and some good stretching in. She was even preening a bit. I now wonder was she not trying to indicate she was having trouble passing the egg?..I dunno, she looked fine enough??!!?? ( scratches head)

 

Early this am I was watching television in the bird room and....................They started mating. Which shocked me. She hasn't allowed him *privileges* that I have seen anyway, since last week. Just prior to egg #3 being laid.

 

So this all brings me back to my original thought that mating does in fact aid in the laying of eggs. I believe it to be the contracting that is associated with the mating that helps to stimulate the egg to pass. I have now added this catagory to my breeding journal. I will continue to study this activity in future pairs.

Hi Keet, it's strange that your hen lays in the morning because mine lay about 2 pm every second afternoon and hatch their babies about 7am in the mornings. I thought that was same everywhere, maybe because you live in the States, but Neat says hers layed in the morning too. That'd interesting.

I have a excited cock bird that does it on the wire all the time, his son is the same both birds are very fertile.

Maybe your birds are just extra excited ha! ha!

Edited May 24, 200717 yr by splat

Hi Keet, it's strange that your hen lays in the morning because mine lay about 2 pm every second afternoon and hatch their babies about 7am in the mornings. I thought that was same everywhere, maybe because you live in the States, but Neat says hers layed in the morning too. That'd interesting.

I have a excited cock bird that does it on the wire all the time, his son is the same both birds are very fertile.

Maybe your birds are just extra excited ha! ha!

 

 

Maybe cause they are "first timers"snowwhite only laid 3 2 are in the box - no signs of mating either

but was a morning layer between 730am - 9 am

Skittles used to lay hers sometime in the night. I would always find the new one when I checked them first thing in the morning.