Hi All,

 

Okay so I have added a nest box to the side of pogi and ganda's cage. Ganda has been inside 3 times already and she was eating some millet that I had inside.

 

My question is should I provide any type of nesting material? I have a concave inside the box so that is okay. Also if I need to add any materials, do I put them in the cage so she can build somehting herself or do I put it straight into the box?

 

I have heard some put wood chippings or sawdust in there to help keep the mess down?

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Chris

budgies dont build nests but i do put 2 to 3 inchs of wood shavings in the bottom this keeps the eggs and chicks warmer if the hen is scared of the nest also keeps the chicks cleaner around the legs but do not use sawdust as the chicks will inhale it and it will kill them

Hath would softwood flakes be okay for nesting material.

yea they should be fine i use shavings from the pet store that you get for the bottom of rabbit cages

i use that too. once the babys are born it gets soo messy fast and it just keeps it that tiny bit cleaner but i think it is nicer to keep the eggs on something soft rather than just wood. at first frankie started throwing it out of the box but she stopped it once the first baby hatched and seems perfectly happy with it now.

Thank you all for that. I will get some shavings from the local pet store. I will put some in the nest box itself and see what happens. Im not sure anything will happen for a few months as ganda is not ready - she still has very pale blueish cere but I want everything to be good for when it does finally happen.

 

Thanks,

 

Chris

 

PS .. One more thing When/If chicks were to hatch, how long should I wait before I try and clean the nest box up a little or should I leave it completely until they leave it?

budgies dont build nests but i do put 2 to 3 inchs of wood shavings in the bottom this keeps the eggs and chicks warmer if the hen is scared of the nest also keeps the chicks cleaner around the legs but do not use sawdust as the chicks will inhale it and it will kill them

thats what I use also.

To some extent, it protects from splade legs.

sorry adam, but would you mind explaining what 'splade legs' are?

one or both of the chicks legs stick out sidways instead of being underneath supporting its weight

ooooooo okay thanks. thats what it sounded like, but i wasnt sure.

PS .. One more thing  When/If chicks were to hatch, how long should I wait before I try and clean the nest box up a little or should I leave it completely until they leave it?

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Anyone?

PS .. One more thing  When/If chicks were to hatch, how long should I wait before I try and clean the nest box up a little or should I leave it completely until they leave it?

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Anyone?

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It depends. There are wet nests and dry nests. Skittles had a dry nest, where the babies feces didn't stick everywhere and dried very quickly, like adult droppings. They were very light colored, and desintigrated easily. They could pile up a little, and Rainbow would scratch them away from the babies and kick them out of the hole, so the box stayed fairly clean. They didn't have any bedding, just the bare wood. I didn't clean it out for the first time until the chicks were about 3 weeks old, and then all I had to do was scoop it out with my hand. It was very un-messy. Once I started cleaning it, though, I did it every day, as all those babies make a lot of poop when they get that big. Wet nests obviously will need to be cleaned before then and the chicks feet carefully checked for caked feces. I think it must have something to do with the consistency of what the hen feeds the babies.