I would like to start breed, before anyone says anything. I know that it is alot of hard work, time, money, sometimes heartbereaking experience. I have down research and everything read books. I have four questions for now, some more will probably pop into my head a little later. My first that I read in the book, but am a little unclear on is how will I actually know when my pair is in breeding condition? My second question is right now I only have two budgies which are females, one is about 3 and the other about 3 months, I am going to get a male from this breeder that I know, would it be a problem if I put the young female with the pair if its a big enough cage? I am just worried that she might get hurt or destroy the eggs if she finds them. My thrid question is I read that you should introduce the male to the cage first, would it be a problem if I introduced the male and female at the same time? My last question for now is, should the male and female be hand tame before they breed? Just incase I have to grab an egg or a chick out of there.

Thank you

how will I actually know when my pair is in breeding condition?

the hens cere should just start to be going brown not dark brown as you have missed the most active time she should be chewing everything in site the male will have a nice dark blur cere and be hopping around bobing up and down

 

one is about 3 and the other about 3 months, I am going to get a male from this breeder that I know, would it be a problem if I put the young female with the pair if its a big enough cage

 

the young hen is to young to breed minimum 12 months and in my experiance the older hen is rite at the last of her breeding age any hen over three years has more problems ie egg bound also if you put them together how do you know the cock bird will not pair up with the young hen?

 

the male to the cage first, would it be a problem if I introduced the male and female at the same time?

i introduce my pairs together normally late evening so they settle quicker ready for action the next morning

 

should the male and female be hand tame before they breed? Just incase I have to grab an egg or a chick out of there.

no they dont need to be if you check the nest box twicw a day morning and evening she will get use to it this is for two reasons first to keep an eye on the hen and second to check for eggs and then chicks

Her cere is brown and crusty looking. She has been chewing on the newspaper in her cage I dont know if this is because its new, or what. She has also been pulling on the little things that hold the treats up, and she has been chewing on her water cup.

they are signs of her coming into season or being in season by the sonds of how you describe her cere, however you should probably replace the newspaper with plain paper as the ink can be poisonous.

if its brown and crusty shes well into the breeding cycle

Also do I add the nesting box before or after I put the pair in? Or does it not matter?

 

oh sorry I forgot to ask this too. What are some "breeding triggers" that I can use?

Mmk how much of breeding do you know?

I don't think it matter when you add the box, i would add it with them so they see it as part of the cage and something to look into not some big thing invading their space.

 

breeding triggers- rain, fresh food like greens or sprouted seeds.

 

Also DOn't add the other female leave her by herself in another cage. There is a chace for the two hens to fight over the box or him. She could be bothersome to the pair while mating, which means bud eggs and he might even try breeding with her as well.

Im pretty sure I know alot about breeding, I have been around one of my friends a couple times when he had a clutch, but he doesnt live near me so I cant get that much experience. I mean I have read a couple books, alot of acticles on the internet, and read alot of the previous posts on here. The things I werent clear on were when to add the nest box, some acticles said to add it after, but that didnt make any since to me. Also I dont know alot of the signs of when to expect the hen to lay eggs, or some of the "rituals" to look for before they breed. Yeah I am definetly not going to add the female.

righto then, your getting all the info you can I was juc checking. Wasn't meaning to be rude or anything.

 

SIgns to look for when the hen is ready to lay, swelling of the vent are, periods of time spend in the box. Larger and wetter poops.

Oh no Im sorry, I didnt mean to sound rude, even though I probably did. Im sorry. I dont know if this will be a problem or not but, the male I am getting is about 10 or 11 months, probably around 10. So before I put them in the breeding cage should I have them in seperate cages next to eachother? If so how long should they be there for?

no you where not just making sure you were not upsit by my quesiton in the first place.

 

We he need to go through the 30 day quantine fist so that will make him 11 months.

 

It's up to you but there isn't any real reason not to put them together as soon as poosilb eto start a bond, with out a nest box.

oh okay . hmm well Im not positive, but I am pretty sure that to get a good bond between them they need to be in the same cage and not just next to eachother right? The only thing is after 30 days which is a month it will be close to february, and in the united states I heard that the breeding season either ends or goes through march. And doesnt it take awhile for the pair to actually lay the eggs? I dont know but I thought it took awhile. If this is the case then the breeding season would pretty much be over.

okay a few steps to take.

1. Your young female is too young as Hath said she should be around 12 months
   
2. Your old female is a bit too old. As she probibly hasn't breed yet. It is unwise to breed with her.
   
3. If you are going to get a male, also get a femal around the same age 11 to 12 months old.
   
4. If you get both new birds from the same cage they can be quarentined togeather.
   
5. Quarentine for 30 to 45 days.
   
6. Put in the aviary for 1 month to climatise
   
7. Breeding on summer is more difficult but can be done.
   
8. Keep the birds colol but don't use stong coolers.
   

Budgies can withstand warm days and cool nights but not quick changes in temperatures.

 

While you are waiting for the quarentine period and adjustment to go through you can read this site. Master Breeder

your birds dont need to bond to breed if you time everything right ie breeding condition you should have eggs 7 to 10 days if no eggs by 21 to 25 days i would seperate for 7 days then try again

okay thanks. Also if a female has the brown crusty cere, and is in breeding condition, will the cere go back to the pinkish blue when breeding season is over? Or will it stay that way until she breeds? And about the males breeding condition, I am thnking about maybe getting a pied budgie, but if he is in breeding condition the cere is suppose to be dark blue, and if he is a pied then can that happen, because I thought pied males had a dark purple or pinkish cere.