I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem? I leave my babies in the nursery cage for about a month once they leave the nest. This year on two seperate occasions I've found them pairing up and laying eggs in the corner of the cage, these birds are less than 10 weeks old, so it can't be good for the young hens to be laying eggs. Cheers Clearwing

Wow...........thats starting early

 

I recall one of our club members over here ( in his late 70's ) who decided to hold up some youngsters in a breeding cage of all things and didnt block off the nestbox. When he noticed a 12 week old female missing he found her in the nestbox on 5 eggs. He does some silly things due to age and not thinking this gentleman but it goes to show it can happen.

Based on your experience it may be a good thing to seperate the sexes ?

Edited July 30, 201014 yr by KAZ

One of my UBC hens in avairy has been observed a few times on the floor in the corner in nesting position, no eggs though. In the wild they fledge and mate at a young age. It is us humans who have taken it upon ourselves to determine the age they should breed. Personally I breed when the bird is ready too, age is not really a concern to me, although having said that I would not pair up a UBC. I just think we make too much of it sometimes. Just off topic a bit here but if anybody is familiar with goats, males can impregnate females from around 4 months of age. The instinct to procreate is a strong, no doubt about that, and stronger in some individuals than others. Gee just look at the human species!

Wow! Never ever heard this before. 12 weeks, that's amazingly young.

I agree with RIP Budgies comments, in nature they will breed at a very young age, and yes we have imposed the breeding age not the birds. But I am concerned that hens 8-10 weeks old my injure themselves laying eggs. I may collect the nest egg and place it under one of my feeder pairs, just to see if they are fertile. Cheers Clearwing

Its all very well to talk about what they do in nature but the average wild budgie out there is so very far removed from what we breed right now in our cabinets

Good luck with the egg