Here's a tale of caution for all you fellow Novice breeders!

 

I started breeding budgies 3 years ago and like all beginner breeders I was keen to the right thing so I followed the advice of a fellow breeder and got a couple of double breeding cabinets made especially.

 

They are made of marine ply and laminex, are nice and deep and roomy- the Ritz acommdation for breeding budgies!

 

Here's a picture of just a single:

 

At the beginning of my first season I started out by putting the breeding cabinets in an aviary and I had reasonable results, not outstanding but I put that down to my own inexperience and the fact that they were outside and not in a proper breeding room. Of the 8 cabinets 5 pairs bred successfully but the clutches were not too big, averaging 3 chicks.

 

By the following season I was firmly established in my garage, having moved there half way through that previous season. I put in fluorescent tubes for lighting.

 

Here's a photo of what my breeding room looked like:

 

I don't know if you can see it, but I had placed the 2 double breeding cabinets on top of other banks of cabinets so that they were the highest up and closest to the lights. By this time I had been to Nationals and replaced the tubes with lighting from Arcadia which is recommended specifically for breeding birds.

 

To my great disappointment my best pairs just wouldn't breed last year and most significantly, I had put them down in these cabinets. You may recall I put a post about it, Kaz came round and had a specific look to see if we could figure out what was going on, we concluded it may have been the perches which I dutifully replaced. I heard about Vitamon B12 and started giving it to my pairs .... Still no joy, I had my top cock bird examined, I contacted the breeder of some of the hens to see if there were any underlying issues - zilch! Of the 8 pairs 3 produced a round of chicks but the average was very low: 2-3 chicks and they took forever to go down.

 

Interestingly all around me the "lesser" breeders were pumping out chicks like no tomorrow. And of course at that point the penny should have dropped- but in my case I just couldn't see what was staring me in the face.

 

Right at the end of last year's season I moved both of my top hens and put them into other cabinets with other cock birds and to my delight they dutifully produced a round with no issues whatsoever. Still at this stage I thought that it was 'proof' that the cock bird I had so obstinately insisted with was a dud......

 

In fact it was not until earlier this year that Liv posted that 'Renee', the underperforming hen I had given her was sitting on a round of no less than 7 eggs that I began to examine the nest boxes of these cabinets in more detail. You see Renee, or that bloody lazy hen (as I occassionally referred to her in frustration) would lay only a few eggs for me and raise no more than one, maybe 2 chicks at a time .... and she was one of the success stories!

 

Finally I realised what the problem could be! :doh: Budgies in the wild seek out dark tree hollows, in fact the darker and more private the nest box the better for the hen as she feels secure and protected while she incubates and raises her chickies. The nest boxes I was using are white and shiney on the inside, not particularly big and were plaed on the side of the cabinet. My theory is that being so close to the lighting the nest boxes were just too bright inside as the light came in the entrance hole and bounced around inside.

 

About a month ago I replaced those nestboxes with ones made by Daz and to my delight I now have happy hens sitting on fertile eggs.

 

Tomorrow I will post picture of the 'suspect' breeding boxes and the new set up.

Wow Really interesting Renee. Glad you figured it all out. How many birds did you get rid of thinking they werent up to the task ?

Wow Really interesting Renee. Glad you figured it all out. How many birds did you get rid of thinking they werent up to the task ?

 

Well, Renee is the standout .... but more importantly I lost 2 years of good breeding with my top birds.

WOW! And Renee is raising 6... yes SIX healthy chicks right now - i havent needed the foster yet! :doh: She is also in a box with Daz's design

Edited June 22, 200915 yr by **Liv**

I WENT TO DAZ THING TO TRY FIND HIS DEZIAN ABOUT 5 DAYS AGO OR LESS I COULDNT FIND IT CAN SOMEONE POST THE LINK PLEASE AS I WAS GOING TO GET SOME BUILT FOR ME

SORRY BOUT THE CAPITALS MY THING IS STUCK TRYING TO FIX IT NOW

I WENT TO DAZ THING TO TRY FIND HIS DEZIAN ABOUT 5 DAYS AGO OR LESS I COULDNT FIND IT CAN SOMEONE POST THE LINK PLEASE AS I WAS GOING TO GET SOME BUILT FOR ME

SORRY BOUT THE CAPITALS MY THING IS STUCK TRYING TO FIX IT NOW

 

How about PMing him?

That is interesting Renee.I need to talk to a breeder I know,who would breed up 300 for the season & I think

he paints the inside of his nest boxes white,I myself have white ice cream containers in my nest boxes & also

I have a light timer in the breeding room & the lights are on for 16 hrs day & when they go off there is a solar light

that comes on when the lights go out,thats so if the hen is off the nest the glow from the solar lets them see to go back onto the nest from the glow from that light.I breed my 80 to 100 each season.But only 3 or 4 per round,I have 8pr down at the moment,expecting the first chicks in the first week of July.I will be interested to see these

nest boxes,when you putup the photoes.

I WENT TO DAZ THING TO TRY FIND HIS DEZIAN ABOUT 5 DAYS AGO OR LESS I COULDNT FIND IT CAN SOMEONE POST THE LINK PLEASE AS I WAS GOING TO GET SOME BUILT FOR ME

SORRY BOUT THE CAPITALS MY THING IS STUCK TRYING TO FIX IT NOW

 

How about PMing him?

 

because its on here somewhere and he is a very busy man so....

you guys know how to find them you said you use it so why dont you just put the dezian up your self or would that be to hard

sorry i just arnt in the mood for smart coments

people post links to help others all the time so why cant i ask for some asistance with out copping grunt

because its on here somewhere and he is a very busy man so....

you guys know how to find them you said you use it so why dont you just put the dezian up your self or would that be to hard

sorry i just arnt in the mood for smart coments

people post links to help others all the time so why cant i ask for some asistance with out copping grunt

I will look for you

 

 

Cant find them but have PMed Daz for you so he can send you the plans.

Edited June 23, 200915 yr by KAZ

thank you kaz i very much apreciate your asistance

okay, I want to make it quite clear that I don't believe that just because the nest boxes were white on the inside that this was the definitive cause .... just a contributing factor.

 

Here's a picture of how high up the cabinets are:

 

Here's a picture of how the cabinets are now:

See how white and reflective it is?

 

Alright, now have a look at the smaller cabinet above it- I bred 10 Recessive Pieds out of it last year:

So we can see that just the proximity to the lighting is not a factor.

 

Now here's the old nest box (on top of the cabinet):

So you can see now that size of the cabinets is not a factor nor the size of the nest box as the top cabinet is significantly smaller in all regards.

 

Finally I have opened up the top nest box so you can compare:

The other significnt difference between breeding cabinets other than size is that the top breeding cabinet is natural wood colour- which does not reflect the light.

 

So, in conclusion I believe the problem arose from a confluence of factors: the proximity to the light became a factor when combined with the white, shiny surfaces of the breeding cabinet which acted like a light box effect and because the nest box was placed on the side of the cabinet the light entered more easily.

i know none of you will agree but i think you will find the smaller the box not the cage the more secure the hen feels and is more likely to raise a larger clutch

the problem with that is that the box is then to small for the hen to raise all chicks sucecfully due to suffercation and growing restrictions ect..

the way to over come this is to have the smaller box on when the hen is sitting and when the eggs hatch place the chicks into the larger box when all chicks are hatching around the second or third chick is the best time as the hen wont care about the housing change as she will be to busy protecting her bubs

i know none of you will agree but i think you will find the smaller the box not the cage the more secure the hen feels and is more likely to raise a larger clutch

the problem with that is that the box is then to small for the hen to raise all chicks sucecfully due to suffercation and growing restrictions ect..

the way to over come this is to have the smaller box on when the hen is sitting and when the eggs hatch place the chicks into the larger box when all chicks are hatching around the second or third chick is the best time as the hen wont care about the housing change as she will be to busy protecting her bubs

 

 

A previous member had nestboxes which changed size as needed....so here is his previous posting about it............

 

Hi Daz and everyone, I found your topic on nest boxes quite interesting with some good ideas.

 

I too have been experienting with nest boxes.

 

I have progressed to this point with my boxes and are having good results.

 

I intentionly made my boxes on the larger side, to give the hens more

room to move when the chicks get older.

This had its problems at first, mainly being the hens trying to keeps eggs and

newly laid chicks warm enough.

 

I then came up with the idea of a partition to make the boxes smaller to help the hens.

Well this worked a treat and are having good success, also with the partition it has given me flexability.

 

When the chicks get feathered up I remove the partition which frees ups more room

in the boxes and has given the hens space when they lay again.

It also provides more air to the birds.

 

I have used an acrylic clear front with holes drilled in to create the air to circulate,

this also makes it possible to view chicks with them falling out or the hens getting

upset.

 

I have wood fronts that slide in front of the acrylic covered boxes to give the the security

that they need.

 

I have been experimenting lately with the warm weather we have been having, by leaving the wood fronts

off during the day.

With holes in the acrylic fronts it allows the boxes to keep cooler during the warmer period, so far

the hens have been happy with this and it gives me the oportunity to vies chicks and see

how they are going without intruding.

 

The boxes are attaches to the side of the breeding cabinets which have a hole in the side.

The larger sides on the nest boxes allows the hens to be able get out easerly if I have to slide

the inner nest boxes out for cleaning etc.

 

Well it's all going fine so far, love to get your feed back.

 

Cheers

Paul

 

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e375/ultra777/000_0179.jpg

 

 

Don't worry your not the only one to not work something out. I got these boxes off ebay put them up and no one would go into them ???? then one morning after weeks of trying I find one hen who tried to get into it and got stuck! the entry holes too small!

Hi Renee Glad the nest boxes are going well

 

GB here are the plans.

 

http://www.thcock.com.au/Wells/plans/Nest_Boxes_small.pdf

http://www.thcock.com.au/Wells/plans/Nest_Boxes_large.pdf

 

Renee the wiring along that bean doesn't meet Australian Standards.

It should have protection.

If someone was to tie a wire cable around that beam to use as a washing line, it could cut into the cables and cause a big problem - Electrocution or fire.

 

 

I'd nail a piece of 25 x 20 mm hardwood strip on both sides of the wire to prevent this.

When assembling Daz's nestboxes next time you do it....the rounded off sections on the sides are meant to be on the top of the nestboxes and not the bottom.

They are very well made nest boxes! Daz is very clever. I tried to do mine myself, they still work well but dont look so flash :rofl:

this is all very interesting and gives me something to chew on thanks guys things like this thread is why i joined to learn from others practical and non practical experiances

i will see if i can get these boxes made up my familey next door person is a carpender so these plans will be great cheers all