Can you breed 2 female with 1 male? Will the male mate with both of them. I have put two nest boxes in the cage and both of the hens are going in both of them and the cock is feeding both hens, I belive that the cock would struggle to look after two clutches. Is it possible?

 

Cheers,

James

yes it is but you need two cages and run the male with both hens ie one in the morning and one at night

One Cock With Multiple Hens

 

Budgerigar hens, as is common among a number of species of birds, have the ability to store semen for limited period of time. Some evidence suggests that this period is up to 20 days long. Biologically, this is quite adaptive as it insures fertilisation of a clutch of eggs if for some reason, such as death by predator, the cock is unavailable.

 

Some knowledgeable breeders, taking advantage of this, have used a single outstanding cock bird to fertilise a number of hens during the same time frame. This is not a particularly difficult procedure and there are several variations used by different breeders, all of which have been effective. One of these methods is, once having selected three complimentary hens for the cock that is to be used, set them up in breeding cages one above the other. This arrangement is used so that:

 

1. They are out of sight of each other.

2. It keeps one from getting confused as to which breeding cage the cock will be rotated to next.

 

Next take the cock bird and place him in one of the cages and watch for signs of acceptance by the hen, if they are present then leave him with her for one half of a day. The rest of the day do the same in the next cage and on the second day move him to the third hen. If any of the hens reject him, try several others until all three hens find him suitable. For the rest of the second day, place him back in cage one where he stays until the next morning. Then rotate him to cage two for one day and then cage three for one day. From this point on he should be rotated from one hen to the next on a daily basis until the last egg is laid.

 

If you wish you may leave him with the hen that finishes egg laying last. In this case, the other two hens are left to raise their clutches on their own. These hens cannot be used for a second round as it is too taxing on them, to both lay eggs and feed chicks by themselves.

 

Alternatively, remove the eggs as they are laid from all three hens, to be fostered to pairs specifically for this purpose or to other nests where there are clear eggs. In this way, you can get the equivalent of two rounds of eggs from each hen without putting any of them in a position of having to raise chicks on their own. This also allows time to rest the hens for a month and then mate them to different cocks. This alternative method is preferable but circumstances do not always favour it.

 

from the The Master Breeder by James Bratt

Edited December 28, 200519 yr by daz