One of my beautiful budgie breeding pairs have been raising a clutch. The babies are about four weeks old. The dad(Mildred) is an inexperienced male, so after the babies were barely coming out of the box, he stopped tending to them. I don't know if he doesn't know he has to wean them or not. He started trying to mate with the female again, but she wouldn't let him, knowing there was a clutch to finish(she's more experienced). Now, whenever he goes near her, he attacks her. This morning, she was calmly resting and he stared inching(yes, inching) towards her. He got close, then bang! He pulled out a big mound of feathers from her head. I moved the babies and the mom to a different cage and took the box out of the breeding cage. He was screaming for her for a bit, then stopped. She doesn't miss him at all.

Is he going through a phase? Will he cool down? Is this common? I really would like to breed them again because I got a beautiful turquoise, a blue/white pied, and an opaline. Can I introduce them after a while?

 

(And yes, the babies have been weaned by me)

Normally it is the hen that does the damage as she wants to breed again and the little ones are in the way. Keep an eye on her so you can be sure it is not her as well.

 

It is not about neglect or anything. You cannot attach human ideas and concepts to animals. It is about wanting to breed again and they babies are taking up the breeding space, so he is cleaning out.

I agree with Dave

 

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak9jcuB2GjaL5JBEtK8HC.GYDH1G;_ylv=3?qid=20111202121256AAsz5SL

When I read through this, I got the impression that the dad was attacking the mother. Was he actually attacking one of the chicks?

 

 

 

I once had a cock attack the mother, and do some little bit of damage to her in the process. I think I worked it out that he was wanting to start a new round of breeding, so he was trying to clear the chicks out. And I think that since they were still in the nest, the mother was in there defending them.

 

Well at first I thought the mother was the offender, so I took her out (to a hospital cage, since she was bleeding). And no sooner did I turn around, than the father was in the box attacking the chicks, who now didn't have a mother defending them. So I had to take the cock out, too. Fortunately the chicks weren't hurt, but they had to be on their own then, since the dad was mean and the mom was in the hospital. (They weaned fine after that.)

 

 

I think you have handled your situtation the best way you could. As Dave said, keep an eye to make sure the Mom is okay with them. Once they are weaned from her, you could probably set the pair back up for a second round, if you think they are both in good condition. More than likely, once there are no chicks around, the two will get along fine. Even still, though, I would watch them. Cuz the hen might have decided she doesn't like that particular cock anymore, or just plain doesn't want to breed again. And that may be why she's rejecting his advances.

 

 

In that case, give her a good long rest, and try again next time she goes into breeding condition.