Hi all... well it came down to the crunch, I had my breeding cages set and well every HEN i put in got stressed and sick , This fustrated the **** out of me I couldn't get my breeders going cause they were to afraid of their New Homes ......

 

I breed sucessfully with 3 - 4 hens last year and so on raised wonderfu Healthy Chick - Why now has it all stopped .......

 

I guess Closed / Cabinet / Selective Breeding isn't for me ...

 

There is no reason why I need to do close breeding , I do not breed show budgies I breed Pet type and hand raise them ... I don't need to increase the size of my Birds , perfect it's stance nor correct it's posture ... and all that jazz that goes with breeding show type budgies ....

 

So What now, Closed breeding isn't working and Colony breeding is dangerous .....

 

Why not combine the 2 selective colony breeding ..... I have 3 pairs that are TRUELY BONDED Why not but them into a flight avairy and let them breed ......

 

This was my thought last night, Budgies are a Flock species, they - My new avaires are large enough to do so wth plenty of extra room ...

 

Now this is all making more sense to me after reading an Article on the pros and cons of breeding ....

 

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE ....

Edited April 17, 200817 yr by KAZ

Neat most birds will stress some when placed in a smaller cage, normally it will only be for a few days then they settle down. Also if birds are bred in cabinets they will settle down quickest when place in cabinets, whereas birds that were bred in the aviary situation may take longer. So the first breeding season may be the hardest, also maybe most of your birds are bred in the colony system, as many people that breed a few birds & probably don't look into it deeply breed colony & so many of the birds that you buy in pet shops, have probably been bred under the colony system. I think these birds tend to be a bit wilder than birds that are bred in cabinets, as most show people use cabinets & also probably select their birds for quietness, so these birds are quite by nature & settle easier in new situation.

 

Breeding birds in an aviary situation has probably got some very disable conditions & I do breed a few pairs one pair in an aviary, but this is very expensive of equipment & most people don't have the resources to have an aviary for each pair that they breed.

 

I tried using colony with three pairs & I put sister mated to brothers together, but even with this small number I eventually got fighting, so that's the problem.

 

Just a comment on your sig…it suggests to me a lot of aggression tied up…do you have anyone in mind…I hope it's not me…LOL…

Just as well your in the cabinet system & not the colony…

 

Edited April 16, 200817 yr by Norm

I agree with show types being quiet - i have 4 and they are all super easy to handle My Lady thinks she is a princess - but other than that they are all lovely

 

I am going to try my first cabinet breeding after winter - it is great to hear your experience with it and i look forward to seeing what the others say

Thanks Norm ... and LOL my siggy's were all to big and this was the smallest one LMAO , So No I am not usually anggressive person... I just can't seem to design the "RIGHT" one yet .....

 

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So, How do i stop them from being stressed out? I got told to take them out put them in hospital cages and wait a longer time before I breed with those hens , Now this has happend with 4 Hens I have tried.

Do i leave them in the cabinets and persue ( this seems cruel )...

 

NEATS CASE STUDY:

 

I have a massive Split aviary it is pictured in a previous post ..

I am going to try 2 pairs in one half .

(as the other 1/2 is my flight cage - The other smaller avairy is occupied By Mybird and snowman)

I thought that if I put 4- 6 nestboxes in there and attach Blinders ( Bits of ply on either side of te opening of the boxes) on the side of the boxes ,this may help with any bickering as they won't be able to see one another ...

 

Also Noted from previous experiences that a long perch in front of the row of nest boxes is asking for trouble ...

So I will arrange perches at equal heights and distances away from all boxes to help with territorial issues .....

 

I am going to be recording this all , It is my little experiment -

I will create a journal and attach pics - I am curious to see th out come

I am not convinced that colony breeding is the right way. My birds go down easily in the breeding cages. I generally see results within a couple of days (Bonding) and eggs are laid within 2 weeks.

Any bird taken from a large space like an aviary and straight into a small space tries to "jailbreak" for awhile. Even some of my birds do the frantic run up and down the front of the breeder cage for awhile trying to find a way out. Some of the worst of them are better if those ones, breeder cage and all is far removed from where they can see other birds free and flying. Then they FOCUS on the job at hand.

I used to colony breed until I faced a few slaughter situations that near on break your heart.........chicks with such promise being destroyed and beaks ripped off by other birds laying claim to the nestbox. Those are the moments that make you change your mind about colony breeding. Until that happens you will only see colony breeding as a hassle free way to go.

Re attacks in breeder cages...seems more to do with space than anything to me, and the new breeder cabinets I have made are huge. In saying this, the only attacks I have had in breeder cabinets was one hen to cock and one hen to chick...but the hen to chick occurred when the hen was attacking me and the chick got in the way of that.

Edited April 17, 200817 yr by KAZ