Based on my previous post....

 

I have paired the Resessive Pied Green Hen with the Greywing Cock...

 

I have paired the Opaline Green Cock with the Grey Opaline Hen...

 

I have paried the Albino Cock with the Dominate Pied Yellow Hen...

 

Can you tell me what any of the babies might look like? And is my Dominate Pied yellow hen still too young? Her cere isn't brown or as dark as the resessive pied or grey opaline?

 

Sorry to be such a pain, but two of the three pairs already seem to be "bonded" and if these are good matches I'd like to leave them and see what happens. I have not found mates for the other two females (normal blue and dominate pied blue) as of yet, there cere's are both white with a pinkish blue around the notstrils and someone told me if they are females they are probably still too young?

They should be atleast a year old before you breed them

Will theywillingly breed before one year old if they are with a male or are they not "interested" in breeding until then? I have nesting boxes, food, water, cuttle, mineral blocks, bedding, not to mention tha additional greens and fruit I've been giving them. I know you can tell if they are a year old if the iris has deveolped, but is there any other way to tell how old they are? Some of my birds have bands on their legs and some don't. I have a few with black bands, one with a purple one, one with a dark blue one, and one with a gold one. I've check sites for info on band colors and none of them are consistant and one said the color doesn't matter that breeders use whatever color they like??? I think the black ones are 08, but not sure so those would only be 7 months at the most... (

 

I got my first keet as a Christmas gift and obtained all the other in the following months. I plan to get two more males to bond with my other two females, but I need to chose the ones I want and then quarentine, etc... so my flock won't be complete until end of summer.

Any budgie breeding under 12 months of age is like letting a 13 child have kids - they can breed, but are not physically or mentally mature enough to do it properly. They can get egg bound, they can leave the eggs, they can pluck the chicks or not feed the properly - and those are just a few complications when breeding underage budgies.

On the band there will be a couple of numbers or a symbol and then a number that run at right angles to the rest of the writing. This is the birth year. Don't forget though that if it says 07 then it could still be ess than a year old

Will theywillingly breed before one year old if they are with a male or are they not "interested" in breeding until then? I have nesting boxes, food, water, cuttle, mineral blocks, bedding, not to mention tha additional greens and fruit I've been giving them. I know you can tell if they are a year old if the iris has deveolped, but is there any other way to tell how old they are? Some of my birds have bands on their legs and some don't. I have a few with black bands, one with a purple one, one with a dark blue one, and one with a gold one. I've check sites for info on band colors and none of them are consistant and one said the color doesn't matter that breeders use whatever color they like??? I think the black ones are 08, but not sure so those would only be 7 months at the most... (

 

I got my first keet as a Christmas gift and obtained all the other in the following months. I plan to get two more males to bond with my other two females, but I need to chose the ones I want and then quarentine, etc... so my flock won't be complete until end of summer.

Band colours in the USA are different to here in Australia and that might be why you are getting different answers to the band colours and age.

Please do not pair up any budgies under a year of age and do not put them in any cages where a nesting box is. Budgies can and will try and breed from a few months on BUT its up to us to stop that happening for their healths sake. Anytime you add a nesting box is their reason to breed, whether they are old enough or not. Cere colour is no indicator of old enough to breed.

Edited July 10, 200817 yr by KAZ

Agree with the waiting for at least 12 months..

There are so much complications that can happen from breeding with young pairs

egg bound

infertile eggs

unfed chicks

feeding problems

etc etc ....

 

Also best to try and pair a first time parent with a experienced parent too

Edited July 10, 200817 yr by Neat

These are my pairs, what kind of babies should I expect and in your personal opion are they pair nicely to produce unique color? and mutations?

 

Tinker and Peral (Opaline Green Cock and Opaline Mauve Hen)

 

 

Raine and Sunny (Sky-blue Yellowface II Greywing Split Recessive Cock and Recessive Green Pied Hen)

 

 

Innocents and Patches (Albino Cock and Dominate Pied Green Hen)

 

(older picture)

 

Thank you

Chrissy

These are my pairs, what kind of babies should I expect and in your personal opion are they pair nicely to produce unique color? and mutations?

 

Tinker and Peral (Opaline Green Cock and Opaline Mauve Hen)

 

 

Raine and Sunny (Sky-blue Yellowface II Greywing Split Recessive Cock and Recessive Green Pied Hen)

 

 

Innocents and Patches (Albino Cock and Dominate Pied Green Hen)

 

(older picture)

 

Thank you

Chrissy

 

 

 

I can see the band on Patches leg in this picture now and I see 08'... that must mean she was just born this year... I'm gonna have to seperate her and Innocents.... she's too young to be paired off.... ( She seems to be bonded to him though, do you think that will cause stress on both of them to take her out and put another more mature female with him?

 

I've been advised that Patches is a Green Dominate Pied Hen, but I was also wondering if she is a Clearwing? Clearwing means that both the tail and flight feathers are pure yellow (green keet) or pure white (blue keet)?

To be more exact Patches is a Clearfight Dominant Pied (the mutation is all in the same)

 

as for taking the bonded pair and seperating them I will let someone with more experience in that area answer this question.

 

General Outcomes: some members will do exact %'s

 

Raine and Sunny (Sky-blue Yellowface II Greywing Split Recessive Cock and Recessive Green Pied Hen): if your hen is split for greywing you can have the possibility of more greywings, you will have yellow face 2 birds, all babies will be green unless the green pied is split to blue then you have a chance of blues, you have chance of recessive pied since you know the cock is split to recessive pied and the hen is a recessive pied.

 

Innocents and Patches (Albino Cock and Dominate Pied Green Hen) All birds will be green unless the hen is split for blue, ino/lutino babies will be hens since they get this gene from their father, you will have a 50% chance of dominant pied chicks.

 

Tinker and Peral (Opaline Green Cock and Opaline Mauve Hen) All babies will be green unless the hen is split to blue, 100% opaline babies

 

There are always surprises in the nest from recessive genes, I think I covered it all if not someone else will .

How long have you had these guys? Is there a reason you are rushing to breed them?

 

I am looking at the pics, and a few have trimmed/cut flights. I am assuming you either bought them and they have not grown back yet, which to me says that you should give them all more time to settle in before you put them throught the stress of breeding,

 

OR

 

You are trimming their flight feathers yourself, and for some reason you are only trimming one side.

 

Now, I understand the want to breed, but ask yourself why you are rushing into it, if you are? Maybe the photos are old.

Break up the pairs that you say are bonded but too young. Best to do that immediately. Breed only with pairs 12 months or older. If you are unsure of ages wait until you can be sure they are older than 12 months.

Any budgies with clipped wings especially if cock birds wont be able to mate preoperly as they need their wings for wrapping around the hen and balancing during the mating act.

If you are breeding the ones of age, are you putting apair ina breeding cage together with no others. Any extra budgies will cause you major dramas with fights and killed and injured chicks and eggs thrown from nests.

How long have you had these guys? Is there a reason you are rushing to breed them?I am looking at the pics, and a few have trimmed/cut flights. I am assuming you either bought them and they have not grown back yet, which to me says that you should give them all more time to settle in before you put them throught the stress of breeding, ORYou are trimming their flight feathers yourself, and for some reason you are only trimming one side.Now, I understand the want to breed, but ask yourself why you are rushing into it, if you are? Maybe the photos are old.

In response to this email, I have had my birds for just under a year now. My first keet, Innocents (Albino, male) was a gift from a close family friend. He has a band on his leg that says 07' so he is any where from 7 months to 19 months old. I did not like him being alone so I got him a friend (Tinker, Opaline, green male). He has a band on his leg that says 00' so he is about 8 years old. Then my husband and I build a home-made aviary for them 62 x 62 x 20. Knowing there was enough room, plenty of toys and feeding stations, we decided to get two more (Angel and Patches). Angel has a band on her leg that says 08' and she is NOT paired with a male right now. Patches on the other hand instantly bonded with Innocents, my Albino male, but she has a band that says 08' so that is were my concern is. They are bonded, but to me, they are both too young to breed, but I don't want to break their bond by separating them. Then I found a women on line who needed to re-home three keets due to the birth of her third child and the inability to care for them. Two of those birds she gave me had one clutch together last year while she still had them and she advised me that the one was 2 years old (Raine, greywing, male) and the other was a recessive pied (without the presents of an iris) but she was sure she was rounding 2 years old. Neither of these birds have bands so I can only go by her word. The third bird she gave me, Jasmine (normal blue female) has a band that says 07' on it but she is NOT paired with a male right now either. As for my mauve opaline female, Pearl, she does not have a band but her iris is developed and cere has crusted over and is dark brown indicating she is breeding condition...... So that being said..... All my birds were in the large avairy together as a flock. Sunny my one female was becoming aggressive toward the other females so I decided to seperate her and her mate, Raine, into a breeding cage by them selves. Once I did that Tinker and Pearl were both in breeding condition and I separated them out into a breeding cage too. So that left Innocents, my only other male in the aviary with three females..... BAD BAD BAD.... too many females and not enough males. I feared fights amoung the females, so I pulled Innocents out into a separate cage, but knowing he was already bonded to Patches, I just paired them off. It wasn't really in the intent of them breeding but now knowing that regardless of age they may mate, I don't feel comfortable with Innocents and Patches together because they are both still too young to breed, but I DO NOT want to break their bond. And that is my concern right now... fear early breeding or fear breaking their bond????? So I don't feel I'm "rushing" anything, especially with my first two pairs.... they are just fine to breed if God wills it. My concern here was that of Patches and Innocents and breaking a bond that was instant, due to them being too young.okay I hope I explained myself enough... so please with all this being said can you please respond?

Break up the pairs that you say are bonded but too young. Best to do that immediately. Breed only with pairs 12 months or older. If you are unsure of ages wait until you can be sure they are older than 12 months.Any budgies with clipped wings especially if cock birds wont be able to mate preoperly as they need their wings for wrapping around the hen and balancing during the mating act. If you are breeding the ones of age, are you putting apair ina breeding cage together with no others. Any extra budgies will cause you major dramas with fights and killed and injured chicks and eggs thrown from nests.

KAZ - To answer your questions - All of my budgies had clipped wings when I first got them and I had continued to do so with them, until I started researching info on breeding, etc... and found it to be best to let them grow in. I have since stopped clipping their wings and those that you see with one side or still clipped have not grown back in yet, especially Patches. She had her wings clipped when I got her and I still to this day have not had to clip her wings at all... I was conerned about this a while back because I feared she was clipped too short previously and didn't know if they damaged her wings and enabled them to grow back correctly, but it is just recently that I see her flight feathers coming back in. As for the rest they are all filling out nicely now and I will not be clipping them anymore. As for the breeding paris, yes I have separated them out. I was originally going to attempt colony breeding, but didn't like the risks. Although you take a chance breeding in general, I didn't like the odds of what females could do to other clutches or their mothers. Sunny my one female was being agressive towards ALL other birds in the aviary and would not allow any of the other females to even check out ANY of the nesting boxes. She had one box that seemed to be to her liking, but she still patroled all the other boxes and would kick the other females out and then go in and see what they did and then go back to her box. So I feared her being destructive to the other nests or birds and seperated her and her mate into a breeding cage. I then separated Pearl and Tinker, my other mature breeding pair into a breeding cage with the hopes they could have a fair chance at mating too. THat left me with one male and three females in the aviary and I didn't want fights among the females. So... I divided a section of they aviary out for him. Since he was bonded to Patches I did not want him to be alone so I put her in with him (but not to encourage breeding, just to keep the bonded pair together) and left the last two females in the main aviary. I wanted to get two more males, but the females I have now are not old enough so I am waitng.So my concern at this point is Patches and Innocents... they are male and female, anywhere from 7 to 19 months old, bonded but not ready for breeding and I don't know the effect of separating them... having three females in one cage, and a male all ALONE.... please tell me what's best to do.

Budgies are affectionate creatures with each other and us , their human companions. Budgies also are very fickle in their relationships.

What appears to be an ïnseperable" bond and one you can well imagine would create heartache to break.....in a budgies world is more often than not....easy come, easy go.

Budgies form "friendships" and bonds at the drop of a hat. If you seperate a pair of budgies and give them new companions, new toys, new environments...they move on. They generally do not sit and grieve a loss or sulk. It is rare.

Breaking up the pair will not be as devastating to them as it would be your own personal heartache. We look at a budgie's affections for each other often as "true love"and soulmates kind of stuff. BUT the reality is even the most bonded budgie will move onto the next boy or girl budgie in the blink of an eye with no look backwards.