Hi Everyone,

I have an equal quota of hens and cocks, but all the cocks only want one hen, she has produced two chicks and now has two eggs laid.

 

Just wondering, why the cocks dont show attention to the other hens ?? Most of them are over 3 years old.

 

I also have some doves in my aviary and some of the budgie cocks, well.. ummmm.... ummmm do intimate acts on the doves wings etc...... Wonder why this happens too ????

 

Thanks, Sandra

I have read articles that say hens shouldnt be bred over 3 years of age, maybe they are too old? Are you colony breeding?

I couldn't rightly say... are you sure that they arn't mating with the other hens? The hens might not feel that they have a place to lay and so they arn't producing eggs... I don't know what your set up is so its hard to tell...

I have three breeding boxes and my aviary is half the size of a car shed.

 

What is the definition of colony breeding ??

Colony breeding is when more than 1 pair of birds is breeding in the same cage/avairy (thats my definition anyway)

You should have 2 nest box for each one hen, all nest box should be the same height (this prevents hens fighting for the higher nest box)

How many hens are their? The other hens may not have any places to lay so they dont mate.

yes she is colony breeding there are 2 ways you can breed, colony and closed. Colony breeding is when you have nest boxes up in the avairy and just let them fend for themselves, closed breeding is when you take a pair and put them in a cage by themselves and allow them to breed in a nest box attached to the cage. Most people here practice closed breeding as it tends to have less problems...

 

back to your birds. I would say that the other hens are either to old to breed or they don't feel safe breeding...

Okay so if the other hens dont feel safe breeding, should I ramdomly pick a hen and a cock and put them in a cage, outside the aviary, with a breeding box and let nature do its thing ??

 

And the budgie/dove thing is just too weird to work out ??

Okay so if the other hens dont feel safe breeding, should I ramdomly pick a hen and a cock and put them in a cage, outside the aviary, with a breeding box and let nature do its thing ??

 

And the budgie/dove thing is just too weird to work out ??

 

Yes thats how I breed my birds, they will have far less problems this way. Are their hens in the avairy with the cocks? Maybe the cocks are mating with the doves because their are no hens in the avairy.

Okay so if the other hens dont feel safe breeding, should I ramdomly pick a hen and a cock and put them in a cage, outside the aviary, with a breeding box and let nature do its thing ??

 

Thats what I would do.. you don't have to have the cage outside the aviary if you are worried they will fly away, if you can put a shelf up inside the aviary and put the cages there that would work as well... You will find that your hens that arn't breeding at the moment will begin to breed. (that's if they are in condition) I will say this, with 3 boxes in an aviary with 8 pairs you've done amazingly well not to have any deaths

 

And the budgie/dove thing is just too weird to work out ??

 

That's just boys being boys. As long as your doves arn't getting angry with them, and everyone is getting along it doesn't matter. I wouldn't expect a dovgie if thats what your thinking

Edited January 8, 200916 yr by JimmyBanks

I have read that if you have breeding cages inside the avairy the birds in the cages will be focused on trying to get out with the other birds and they wont breed.

I don't know what's so special about that hen of yours, but I had the same thing with one of mine, when we used to breed years ago. If I let them have a choice they would have all gone for this hen rather than the others, and she was top of the pecking order with the other hens too. She is a beautiful green spangle, quite solid for a pet type, and is quite playful. She's still alive right now, and she'll be turning 12 this year... and she seemed to be the best mum I had out of the three or four hens we bred with. So I guess they knew what they wanted lol.

I've read that too budgie88, and then I've also seen it work... I think its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other... In an ideal world everyone would be able to have a bird room that is attached to the aviary that has both indoor and outdoor flights, but unfortunately that's not always possible... I know I'd prefer having my birds caged breeding in an aviary then be colony breeding...

Edited January 8, 200916 yr by JimmyBanks

I have read that if you have breeding cages inside the avairy the birds in the cages will be focused on trying to get out with the other birds and they wont breed.

That is correct...I wouldnt put breeding cages in an aviary

Okay so if the other hens dont feel safe breeding, should I ramdomly pick a hen and a cock and put them in a cage, outside the aviary, with a breeding box and let nature do its thing ??And the budgie/dove thing is just too weird to work out ??

Yep

Some budgies are just more sexier than other budgies.

I have 1 girl budgie that all the boys try to sing to.

I have another girl, that has had 3 boyfriends.

I have one boy that has no girlfriends and has never had one. He has a plastic budgie for company/fulfilling needs.

I had 1 one budgie who had his way with almost all of my girl budgies, because he was a hotty according to them. His son is a dork though.

Thanks everyone for your advice.