The new pair i got recently are very close and the male spends alot of time preening the female and feeding her.They have been mating alot as well. Her cere shows that she is in breeding condition and i thought because they are in a quarintine cage with no nesting box that the female would not want to nest. A couple of days she started pulling up the newspaper from under the grate of the cage and taking it to a corner of the cage and now she keeps going and sitting in the corner and the male goes down and feeds her. i am concerned that she is trying to nest and that if she cannot she will get egg bounded. Is that a possibilty and what could i do to try to distract her from her behaviour. i do want to breed with her but not while she is in quarintine.she is not sick because she will go up to the perches to interact with the male and then go and get newspaper and take to her corner.i am not sure what a female in breeding condition looks like but her bottom area is fluffed up.

Edited May 13, 200817 yr by deb

People often breed while the birds in quarantine... so it's up to you if you want to let her nest and lay (giving her a box), or you will just need to take any laid eggs away and possibly separate them if the eggs keep coming.

Sounds like it is too late anyway as the eggs are on their way. Dont take eggs away as it just promotes egglaying to replace those eggs.

Tough call......if you think the health is okay and up to the rigors of breeding, then YES attach a nestbox. ....if they are of age also. If an egg is laid between now and then,

remove the egg and keep it for safe keeping. Once she uses the nestbox for the next egg, you can put the first egg back into the nestbox with her. Remove all the paper from the bottom of the cage.

Edited May 13, 200817 yr by KAZ

i was not sure if itwas a good idea to breed with them while they are in quarintine. she is a df spangle and he is a violet skyblue spangle so i would get some pretty spangles from them. The cage they are in is not big enough for breeding so if i moved them to a breeding cabinet would it upset them.

i was not sure if itwas a good idea to breed with them while they are in quarintine. she is a df spangle and he is a violet skyblue spangle so i would get some pretty spangles from them. The cage they are in is not big enough for breeding so if i moved them to a breeding cabinet would it upset them.

 

If you chosse to set them up in a breeder cage, wait to move them until she lays that first egg where she is now. Once she has, move them into the breeder cage.....keeping her first egg safe elsewhere. Then when she lays the second egg, add the first egg to her nestbox.

Edited May 13, 200817 yr by KAZ

thanks for your advice, should i be giving her anything extra to eat. she loves her cuttlebone at the moment. They are also getting fresh vegies and she loves corn.can she decide not to lay a egg because she is not comfortable enough in her corner.

thanks for your advice, should i be giving her anything extra to eat. she loves her cuttlebone at the moment. They are also getting fresh vegies and she loves corn.can she decide not to lay a egg because she is not comfortable enough in her corner.

No, it sounds like she is about to lay an egg whether or not it comfortable or not. One of my silly hens recently kept laying her eggs ina corner of the breeder cage with the ripped up paper just like yours, I just kept putting them in her nestbox and eventually she went into it and incubated them. But every eggs was laid in the corner in the beginning. The food yours is getting sounds about right. Watch for signs of stress.

The hen did not lay a egg yesterday but this morning i gave her vegies and she took all the chinese cabbage to the corner of the cage and sat on it.i think she is a strange hen.i decide to move them to a breeding cabinet today and now she is happily sitting on the perch interact with the male and not playing in the corner or going in the nestbox so maybe she did not like the quarintine cage.

I have a hen (Lady) who goes when in a small quarantine cage!!!! I had to empty my small aviary just for her so she wouldn't kill herself fighting to escape!

 

I hope your hen is much happier now, and if she wants to lay, she has a nice safe place to do it, which i bet makes her a lot more comfortable :hap:

Definately a budgie with 'issues'... but hey, don't we all have them . I'm glad she's stopped her nesting behaviour, and I hope she continues on improving.

I had a similar case to yours, but in my case the hen already was in a breeding cabinet, I have never seen her go into the nest box, even though I think it’s the same nest box she was bred in. I noticed that she was sitting in the corner on the floor [the floor is solid with a sand covering] I thought it looks like she is going to lay in the corner & sure enough she did. I took the first ones away, but she has still kept on laying. I wish I knew how to stop her & make her take to the nest, but think I will have to build a special nest to fit over the area. This is the first time I have had a bird with a nest do that.

 

I think it’s a good idea if your bird breeds while it’s in quartine, as that should bring out any disease problem they may have & if not you will be as sure as you can that they are safe to add to your other birds.

Norm providing it is in a warm draft free roomwould there be any real issue with her breeding in the corner? I mean the babies aren't gonna fall out of the nest or anything that way so the only problem I can see is warmth and mum should provide most of that.

This morning when i went to check the pair, the hen was in the nest box throwing the bedding out so hopefully that is a sign she is intersted in the nestbox and not throwing it out so she can take it to the corner. She has been going in and out of the box all morning.Should i put the nesting material back in or just leave her to make the nest the way she wants it.

Edited May 15, 200817 yr by deb

This morning when i went to check the pair, the hen was in the nest box throwing the bedding out so hopefully that is a sign she is intersted in the nestbox and not throwing it out so she can take it to the corner. She has been going in and out of the box all morning.Should i put the nesting material back in or just leave her to make the nest the way she wants it.

Let her throw it out, she is "cleaning house" and making it how she wants it. Put it back after chicks start arriving.

Thanks, this is my first cabinet breeding pair sfter 3 years of colony breeding.

Would be a good idea to have two pairs breeding at the same time in case you need fosters for eggs or chicks

i do not have any other females that are of breeding age and i was not going to breed with her til i was able to put another pair together at the same time but she was really wanting to make a nest so i decided to take the risk and hope she is a good mother.

Photos ?

they are the spangles that i got given recently.

A very nice pair Deb

Norm providing it is in a warm draft free roomwould there be any real issue with her breeding in the corner? I mean the babies aren't gonna fall out of the nest or anything that way so the only problem I can see is warmth and mum should provide most of that.

I have never had one breed like that before, but it may work out, I had a cockatiel that reared babies on the floor of an aviary inside a concrete brick. As there was no nest in the aviary. The first two eggs I gave to another hen & they look fertile, but she still laid & the last one disappeared, maybe the cock broke it. She looks real settled in the corner, but I’m going to try & convince her to move into the nest as I think that’s better in the long run.

 

Looks like your one is settling down okay Deb, your's only built there because it had no choice & now it's got a nest looks like it will be okay. But mine had the choice & choose the floor. If you don't have a concave in the bottom of the box, I would try putting back some material after she lays 1 or 2 eggs to stop them rolling around, mostly after the first eggs most hens stop throwing it out.

Gald you moved them Deb, If she laid eggs at the bottom the eggs or bubs mat have fallen thru the grate ...

Best of luck, They will make beautiful babies