Hi everyone, my first post here.

Let me start off by saying Im not a bird breeder, and I've never bred birds in my life.

I have budgies as I saved them from dire situations, but i generally dont support the breeding of pets (no offence or anything, i just think there seem to be too many needing homes already, although this may not be so much of an issue with budgies!?)

 

With that out of the way, I do obviously love birds but am getting a little worried about one of my pairs. I have a 2 males in one cage together, and the other cage is a male and female. I put them together as the other 2 males are rather agressive towards this 3rd male, and also didnt want the female being alone. I have tried as hard as possible to discourage breeding behaviour by limiting daylight hours, providing no nest sites etc. But despite that i guess their instincts still kick in.

 

I've only seen them mating once, that was around 3 weeks ago (I dont watch them 24/7 so they may have done it more times since). No eggs have been laid, but the past couple of weeks they've been ripping up the newspaper at the bottom of the cage as well as dragging the seeding grass that i give them to eat into the corner, where the ripped up paper is. They are obviously trying to make a nest.

 

The cage isn't large at the moment, around 60cm wide, 35cm deep and high. I had planned on getting them a much larger cage soon, one of those mini aviaries on wheels from ebay.

 

I am worried that the female will become egg bound, today she has been sitting on the bottom of the cage every now and then, and i went and looked and her vent was 'pulsating' - i have a feeling there is an egg there. I have never seen an egg bound bird but read there would be an obvious rounded vent area, Im not seeing that but perhaps Im just not familiar enough to tell.

 

I am pretty rural and have no avian vets within 2.5 hours from here, i prefer not to have to take her unless i absolutely have to. She is still jumping from perch to perch and eating okay.

 

Im aware i should give more calcium, is egg biscuit a good way to do that? Should i just mix that in with seed or give in a seperate bowl?

 

These budgies are fussy eaters and the only non seed things they take are spinach, corn and some sprouts but they hardly touch the sprouts. Ive tried many types of vegetables but they avoid them all besides those ones. They do love any type of grass that i can find that has seeds in it. They go crazy for it and eat it very fast... however this pair now eat the seeds then drag the grass to a corner as nesting material.

 

So my dilemma now is, do i just let them continue with their instinctive behaviour? There is no nestbox so i imagine an egg may not even survive in this cage. Now i am thinking i should put a nestbox in.. or do so in their new larger cage soon. I am just getting guilt feelings that Im making it difficult for them to express their natural behaviour!

 

Any suggestions? Being inexperienced, would it be stupid of me to just let them do their thing?

 

In the meantime, the boys in the cage next to them seem to want to get at her, one of them also rips paper up, and constantly hangs to the side of the cage near her cage and scrapes his feet back and forth on the ground!

 

Any ideas would be appreciated, sorry about the long winded post!

Edited January 2, 200916 yr by budgiegalah

I think it is possible for them to mate recreationally without fertilising an egg if there's no nest, although I have no idea how they manage to do that! I just know that I have had ones that did that, but as soon as you put the nest in then they do have eggs :yes:

 

If yours is going to lay an egg, it doesn't sound like you have the right set up to let her raise a clutch and it doesn't sound like you have anywhere to keep the babies once they're older. And once they have one clutch they don't stop there. So if you don't want to breed her, don't. It might be a good idea to take away the newspaper or do something that prevents them building a nest. But hopefully other people will have more specific advice on how to distract them from building a nest.

I have an outdoor aviary that is not in use.. I could put them there oneday.

But will 2 budgies turn into 100 budgies? I wouldn't want to sell them!

 

I imagine the offspring would inbreed eventually if all kept in the same aviary? Couldn't have that happening.

 

Then there is a whole new world to learn about as far as diet etc for the parents... hmm I just dont know!

Edited January 2, 200916 yr by budgiegalah

Yes I think 2 budgies will turn into 100 budgies, and inbred ones at that :yes: That's if you don't control things carefully, but just let them breed whenever they seem to be wanting to.

If you dont want to proceed with her raising a family, you need to change her conditions.

She is about to lay an egg it sounds like. Let her lay that one as it seems today is the day.

BUT to stop her, you need to put her in a cage without a male and nowhere for eggs. No newspaper, no grass no nothing. She may lay another egg off the perch, maybe two. BUT she will stop.

To proceed, if you choose to allow it, you will need a bigger cage and a nestbox attached higher up externally with access from within the cage.

Calcium is best served as calcivet in their water.

Edited January 2, 200916 yr by KAZ

Hi Kaz, thanks for your reply.

 

I will not solitary confine her. I just can't do that to a social animal. I realise its the only way to stop the behaviour though with the male.

I knew the problems I would get into when I got a female but I had to save her from a bad situation (alone in a tiny cage in a public place).

 

I am thinking of getting them this larger cage now, then they are 'starting again' so to speak.

 

What do you mean by putting the nestbox externally?

Hi Kaz, thanks for your reply.

 

I will not solitary confine her. I just can't do that to a social animal. I realise its the only way to stop the behaviour though with the male.

I knew the problems I would get into when I got a female but I had to save her from a bad situation (alone in a tiny cage in a public place).

 

I am thinking of getting them this larger cage now, then they are 'starting again' so to speak.

 

What do you mean by putting the nestbox externally?

An external nestbox with entry from within the cage allows you to be able to check the nestbox and gives them more space in the cage :yes:

 

 

Like this

Edited January 2, 200916 yr by KAZ

Ah okay, thanks.

 

If i do let them breed I won't have anything to do with raising the nestlings although i imagine having access to check on their progress is ideal.

Ah okay, thanks.

 

If i do let them breed I won't have anything to do with raising the nestlings although i imagine having access to check on their progress is ideal.

 

If you put them (the pair, or the whole lot) in an aviary or flight with no nest boxes or nesting sites it might solve your problem. At the moment I am keeping hens and cocks together in two large flights - birds are happy and amorous but no way will there be eggs or babies.

IU can't be bothered writing but I will go wiyh Kaz on this one because she is on my wave link but maybe not right now becaus i';m not me at the moment haha. opps the oven just went off dinner is served well almost haha

jaznjj do you have a photo of a 'flight'? not sure what that is - is it just a long cage?

 

Where can i get calcivet from? Pet shop, farm produce store?

Calcivet is from a petshop or farm produce store that carries bird supplies.

A flight is an aviary.

jaznjj do you have a photo of a 'flight'? not sure what that is - is it just a long cage?

 

Where can i get calcivet from? Pet shop, farm produce store?

 

Kaz has this question covered.

Flight vs aviary. I had to have a think about this. I call my set-up "the aviary" but within the aviary are two flights and a breeding room, so flights to me are sectioned off areas of a larger establishment and their function is to allow the birds to fly. On the other hand I have another stand-alone cage I use for culls and old-timers and I refer to it as an aviary, not a flight. Other people might have a different understanding of the nomenclature but this works for me.

The reason I call an aviary a flight is because a lot of people with cages call their cages aviaries. To me, an aviary is something you can walk through or into. A large cage is just that.....a cage but a larger one. Many people on here call their cages aviaries and I wouldn't.

A flight, to me, is anywhere a bird has a lot of space to fly...preferably in a large aviary

The reason I call an aviary a flight is because a lot of people with cages call their cages aviaries. To me, an aviary is something you can walk through or into. A large cage is just that.....a cage but a larger one. Many people on here call their cages aviaries and I wouldn't.

A flight, to me, is anywhere a bird has a lot of space to fly...preferably in a large aviary

 

Thanks Kaz, I think we have some common ground here. Jaz

Well if she is going to lay, it would be a good idea to lay off the spinach as well. Spinach has oxalates in it which decreases the calcium in the bird's body. So feed the budgies, dandelion, carrot, corn etc instead.

Do you have a fishtank in the same room as them, because the sound of running water also stimulates them to breed. Take the other 2 boys out of that room as the sound of other budgies singing also helps to stimulate them to breed.

I would advise you get her a female companion next time, however some female budgies will continue to lay eggs without male budgies as well.

 

Budgies don't make nests. They just "adjust" the area they want to lay in, by chewing the paper, moving wood shavings or doing nothing at all.

Edited January 3, 200916 yr by Sailorwolf

i dont want to sound dis couraging or anything but you really dont sound like you want to be bothered breeding birds

you say you wouldnt be bothered with their up bringing

you say you would not sell birds so i sugest that if you got them only to save them

sorry but do your self a favor and the birds and find at least the hen if not all a home

other wize if you go ahead and breed not only will you end up with a number that multaplys by around 4 to five or more at a time every clutch but you will have a very time conshuming and not cheep job of looking after them so think about what you really want its not hard to give away one bird but its hard to get rid of a large amount

anybody wants to ***** slap me on this please feel free and put me back in line

I would:

1. Remove the paper from the bottomof the cage and replace with something less appealing such as course shell grit(or nothing if it has a plastic base and you don't mind cleaning it)

2. Clip their grasses to the side of the cage securely so that they can't drag them around

3. Look at what makes that corner appealing (is it darker due to a towel over the back of the cage) and see if you can make that corner less appealing.

Edited January 3, 200916 yr by melbournebudgies

Wow, i had not come back to check replies for some time.

 

Genericblue: I LOVE my budgies and love all animals. I rescue animals and give them loving homes. These are all rescue birds. I did not pick and choose them based on sex or colour.

I never said i could not be 'bothered' with anything. I said I would leave the raising of young to the birds as I dont believe in hand raising.

 

My birds have a home, I don't need to find them one.

 

For those who are interested... she never laid an egg. The nesting behaviour has virtually stopped despite the branches that I put in each day - they tear the leaves off but thats about it. I also have not witnessed any mating for several weeks so fingers crossed they have given up (for now).

Great news there were no eggs. Sometimes it can just seem like they are going to...

Hey mate and WELCOME ...

 

You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders re: the breeding and needing homes and etc But budgies are the most sort after bird - ( from the smaller species)

 

So there are plenty of home always wanting that special little fella / girl ...

 

I don't believe that you meant any harm when you said you will have nothing to do with their upbringing -

I take it you meant you will let nature run it course .... But as you haven't breed before you will get that curiosity and then the Bug will hit ya

 

if you re arrange the cage and move it to different places rather then stay in the one spot they are in every 2 weeks this will also help discourage BREEDING - However like Dolphins and Humans Budgie will have sex just because they can not just to reproduce ...

 

An aviary/ flights will be a good solution just look out for anywhere she could call a "nest"

 

Good Luck and again welcome to BBC