I paired two of my birds together one week ago. Now, they preen and feed eachother, and sit next to eachother all the time. The female has, in the last few days, been hopping in the nestbox all the time, just sitting there or throwing the sawdust around..she has even let the male inside a few times. But..she is happy enough to have them preen and feed eachother, but whenever the male tries to mate with her she bites at him...They may have mated and I didn't see.. (as they are 'modest' and I pretty much have to sneak up on them to see anything :bliss: )..is this normal though, for only being together for a week? Would they normally have mated already if she's been in the nestbox a lot every day, etc (so is she wanting a family but missing one important step.. ) Or is she just making it perfect before deciding to lay?

Thanks.

When I started breeding I was worried when the hen did not lay also. After the birds mate it takes somthing like 7 days for the egg to develop, so if they did mate as soon as they were put into the breeder cage then you could expect the egg in the next few days. Some birds dont mate until a week or so together so add another 7 days for the egg to develop and thats a fair while. I usually wait 4 weeks and if the hen has not layed then I change pairs.

Okay then, thank you. So I shouldn't really expect her to lay for another few days at least, most likely a week or more..thanks.

If she is ready to lay you will see an egg sized bump around the vent/tail area. 7 to 10 days after mating for the first time is average so yes she could be about to lay, and if she has ëggbum" then soon. Unless you are out of bed watching them at the crack of dawn and at dusk then you may never see them mate even though they do.

Edited January 28, 200916 yr by KAZ

She'll also start to do BIG poo... that is another sign of things to come!

I paired two of my birds together one week ago. Now, they preen and feed eachother, and sit next to eachother all the time. The female has, in the last few days, been hopping in the nestbox all the time, just sitting there or throwing the sawdust around..she has even let the male inside a few times. But..she is happy enough to have them preen and feed eachother, but whenever the male tries to mate with her she bites at him...They may have mated and I didn't see.. (as they are 'modest' and I pretty much have to sneak up on them to see anything )..is this normal though, for only being together for a week? Would they normally have mated already if she's been in the nestbox a lot every day, etc (so is she wanting a family but missing one important step.. ) Or is she just making it perfect before deciding to lay? Thanks.

Like humans it takes awhile for parakeets to bond together but they will make the choice of life partner.The rest is just in nature.Give them weeks and months to find each other and bond together