Hi I would like to try breeding as a hobby I have read alot of the information that people have been kind enough to give to others but I still have a couple of my own. First is I have a female with the blueish type cere and have never seen it change color now when she is of breeding condintion does it change to the brownish like the others or does it change a different color?

Second what should I be doing to help my females be of breeding condition or is this an act of nature and doesnt matter what you do?

Thankx Nicky

Do you know the ages of your birds ?

Breeding condition comes when a female is "of age" and past her first moult. Of age doesnt mean of age to breed, it just means in "breeding condition". as females can be in breeding condition just past their first moult and anywhere between 3-6 months they would still be too young to breed due to not having their first 12 months to grow.

Nothing really you can do to make a female come into breeding condition, however if all is right she will.

Good food, plentiful and varied diet, including vegies, natural branches of gum and peppermint tree, large space to fly and exercise etc.

Breeding only one pair of birds at a time can give you a lot of grief if the only mother does not feed or care for her babies. Having 2-3 pairs of budgies breeding at the same time give you options when things go wrong ( as they often do )..............fostering of eggs and chicks to other nests etc.

Edited March 18, 200916 yr by KAZ

Your hen could be a male, Post a picture to be sure. How old is she? I would not breed her until atleast 1 years of age, same with cocks. The hens cere goes whiteish blue when out of coniditon, then goes light brown coming into condition. Followed by dark brown crusty cere when in peak condition. The crust then falls off and the cere goes light blue again. And the process repeats. Breeding condition cycle goes for 7 weeks.

The only way I know how to get ahen into breeding condition is to put them with a male.

Edited March 18, 200916 yr by Pearce

Here is the 2 i would like to breed thats if not both boys that is, her being the blue and Donny the green

 

 

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here is her

 

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I have a strange feeling its a boy but not 100%, I have asked befor of the age and sex from the forums recently but since then i have treated for scaley face so I hope that helps. You said that she was around the 2 yr old mark.

Edited March 18, 200916 yr by Sheila

One on the left looks hen to me.

There has been some success with Hens with bluish ceres, but it is not good.

This is the other female i have but not sure if old enough so Im not going to try with her and this is the first time her cere has started to change color.

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Thank you all once again for the help.

 

definitely a hen

 

definitely a hen

 

Kaz, I have a question, people talk about a male with hormonal issues or testicular cancer looking like a hen. Could a male like that have a cere like this hen, or in that case would it always look brown and crusty?

 

definitely a hen

 

Kaz, I have a question, people talk about a male with hormonal issues or testicular cancer looking like a hen. Could a male like that have a cere like this hen, or in that case would it always look brown and crusty?

Good question but in this case NO...the colour of a bird with testicular cancer is very different to this hen

I have a male with testicular cancer and his cere is dark brown with blue spots. Looks like a hen until you see him upclose.