How to make budgerigars breed. How parrots breed. Necessary accessories for nesting

Breeding budgerigars is a very complex and fascinating process that requires in-depth knowledge on this topic. A person who has devoted his time and carefully studied all the positive and negative sides breeding parrots, often abandons his plan - and he will be right. This is a sure way to keep your one and only wavy couple healthy.

Conditions for breeding

Having decided to breed parrots, it is desirable, in addition to knowledge and acquired all the necessary accessories, to have several pairs of budgerigars. In case of failure with the clutch / chick, you will have a chance to save future offspring and at the same time help restore the health of the female / male.

Let us consider in more detail how the preparation and breeding of budgerigars takes place.

Photo: Timothy Burling

Firstly, the male and female must be a well-formed pair and absolutely healthy. The optimal age of birds is from 1.5 to 5 years (a parrot can be older than 5, but not younger than 12 months). These should not be parrots of one breeder - the risk due to closely related crossing is fraught with genetic diseases with their manifestation in severe defects.

Birds should not be allowed to lay during molting, overweight or physically exhausted!

In breeding, the time of year for pet budgerigars does not play such a decisive role as in wild nature. The natural nesting of these birds begins in Australia in the summer, at a time when we have winter. Seasons are popular with breeders: the end of spring and summer are long days, all kinds of vitamins are available and the air temperature is optimal.

In any case, you decide when to change the nature of the food and daylight hours of your wavy. Also, in addition to the time of year and weather, one has to reckon with personal calendar business and vacations, since the time of incubation of eggs and raising chicks is round-the-clock care and readiness to provide appropriate assistance to the “young family” and its offspring.

Preparation for masonry

Most often, budgerigar owners begin to prepare the birds for nesting about two weeks before installing the nest house in the cage.

Make sure that the cage is in a quiet and calm place and during this period of time, do not disturb the birds unnecessarily.

The temperature in the room should be at least 15 C, daylight hours - 14-16 hours (if necessary, illuminate with artificial lighting with a smooth transition so as not to provoke a molt in birds). Heat is also dangerous for embryos, so the upper limit of air temperature should also be controlled.

Disinfection

Be sure to sanitize any items you will need during this time. The cage, drinkers, feeders and toys are soaked in hot water with a weak solution of whiteness, and then rinsed thoroughly. The house itself is dismantled, cleaned with baby soap, dried, then calcined in the oven at 120 degrees for 30-40 minutes, some, after a good bathing of the nest, calcined it on a gas burner until the outer wall becomes hot - it all depends on how and what it is made of.

It will not be superfluous to add dry medicinal chamomile to the sawdust that you will pour into the nest - it prevents the appearance of gamasid mites.

Nutrition

Some breeders cut the parrot menu a little to play on the birds' natural instincts when they are later given a rich, vitamin-rich diet. But this is not a common method.

The couple's daily diet, in addition to grains, seeds, vegetables, fruits and herbs, should include cereals, steamed and sprouted grains (high in vitamin E, promotes reproduction), calcium, mineral supplements, eggs (preferably quail) and cottage cheese 2% fat.

The diet of birds should always be varied, regardless of whether you are going to breed parrots or not.

It is very important that your parrots eat all foods.

If you have not taught a parrot to eat anything other than several types of grains and carrots with an apple, breeding parrots in this case is strictly prohibited!

Your birds simply do not have enough nutrients for normal egg gestation, successful laying and feeding of chicks. Even if, under such conditions, offspring appear, he will have a very high risk be born disabled and the development of the birds will go wrong.

The body of the female during nesting requires enhanced nutrition, enriched with additional products.

To lay a full-fledged egg and form a healthy embryo, in addition to the standard diet, breeders in one day parrots are fed with a mixture of carrots, eggs and cottage cheese (a source of calcium) and sprouted grains - mash.

Birds should not be enriched in this way on a daily basis, since an excess amount of protein affects the hormonal level and the birds can become aggressive towards each other and towards the chicks, as well as get problems in the gastrointestinal tract.

Examples of medley for budgerigars during the breeding season:

- carrot + apple + boiled egg + rice porridge + greens;

Sprouted grains: green lentils, millet, wheat, oats, hempseed + grated beets + egg;

Boiled millet and oats + rice and pearl barley + beets + egg + greens;

- germinated grains + sweet pepper + hamarus;

- steamed cereals + zucchini + carrots + egg + greens;

- cottage cheese + pumpkin + broccoli + sprouted wheat + greens.

Some breeders like to season with hamarus (freshwater crustaceans are a natural animal protein that can only be used during the breeding season and in small quantities), but this is not necessary, it is enough that you alternate the egg with sprouted grain feed.

Pay attention to how sepia, mineral stone and mineral mixture are eaten, which should always be in a cage. If your birds show no interest in them, you will need to use powdered calcium gluconate tablets as a source of calcium and add to the mixture. This will help to avoid the fragility of the eggshell and the embryos to develop safely.

As soon as the female begins to incubate eggs, eliminate soft foods from the diet of parrots and double the amount of grain. The egg should now be given in very small amounts and very rarely.

1-2 days before the chicks appear, the female should be fed again with an egg, carotene-containing vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, sweet peppers), herbs and sprouted grains.

How to feed budgie chicks, we will consider in the article.

After two weeks of preparation, you can install a nest house. What should be the nest for budgerigars you will learn.

During nesting, parrots should not be let out of the cage for a walk.

male courtship

During the mating season, the male's cere becomes saturated blue, while the female's is brown, even slightly enlarged. This is a sign of "raging" hormones. The courtship of the male becomes more intrusive, some females hardly eat until the male feeds them, although they themselves are not yet sitting in the nest.

It is very interesting to watch the cooing of a wavy couple before mating. The male begins to actively nod his head, chirp, and dances and mating begin - the parrot knocks with its beak on all objects and on the beak of the female. Sometimes the female takes part in the dance. Making all sorts of sounds, the male does not forget to treat the young lady with food from his beak. This ritual, as it were, confirms the seriousness of the male's intentions. After all, after the female goes to the nest to incubate eggs, the male becomes the main breadwinner and guardian.

Incubation period for budgie eggs

The incubation period for the eggs is 18 days.

A week after the first mating, the first egg appears in the nest. From the moment of laying the first, the female begins to linger in the nest, but she "sits down" somewhere after the second egg.

Before laying an egg, parrots begin to gnaw chalk noticeably more, the female recovers, her droppings increase. The bird becomes very funny, rounded with a tail trembling up. She fumbles for a long time in the corner of the cage, equips the nest, she has a desire to gnaw everything.

At this time, the female shows an incubation spot - feathers fall out on the tummy, the rest begin to puff up due to the fact that the skin swells and warms up. This place the female will warm the eggs.

Egg laying occurs every other day. Depending on the age of the bird, it can carry up to 12 eggs. But this is rare, most often there are about 7 in the clutch, but the optimal number is 5. Then the female budgerigar will be able to evenly heat all the offspring and the number of frozen eggs will be close to zero. If your female has laid more than 5 eggs, you can put them in the nest of a neighboring pair of budgerigars or use an incubator for this.

It happens that it comes as a surprise to the owner that the female budgerigar laid an egg. Sometimes it lies at the bottom of the cage, since you were not going to put up a house yet. What to do in such a situation, you will learn in more detail in the article.

Experienced breeders can identify fertilized eggs without transillumination: unfertilized eggs become yellow a few days after incubation, while fertilized ones, on the contrary, become porcelain, white-gray in color.

Unfertilized eggs should not be removed from the clutch, as they play the role of a heating pad in the absence of a female. Frozen ones, with an embryo inside, must be removed (they can be recognized by their gray-brown color with spots). The bird may do this on its own, but it will also throw away normal eggs by mistake.

Be sure to hang a bathing suit in the cage: if the air is too dry, with the help of wet feathers, the female maintains the desired humidity in the nest.

The reasons why the clutch turned out without fertilized eggs or with frozen

When there are one or two frozen eggs in the clutch, you should not worry. The female, even due to inexperience, could not warm up all the eggs evenly. If all the offspring died, it is worth thinking about the reasons.

These can be infectious diseases of parrots, improperly formulated bird nutrition, poor-quality water, genetic incompatibility of parents, inappropriate humidity in the apartment, or the female is not able to hatch normally.

With regard to unfertilized eggs, most often the cause is the improper preparation of birds by the breeder. But it happens that the reason lies in health problems in one or both parrots. Even the wrong placement and quality of the perches can affect the result.

Is it worth getting involved

Many breeders are able to let go of the situation after installing the nest house and let the birds deal with the offspring themselves. A fleeting inspection of the nest several times during all the time seems to them sufficient. But such people are a minority, the rest simply cannot resist, and there are two reasons for this: excitement for their favorites and interest in the process.

Some owners, while breeding budgerigars, get very carried away and may annoy their own birds. This is manifested in the constant peeping into the nest, the persistent addition of sawdust, when the female throws them out anyway, and after laying, a regular review of the eggs is added.

It is important to listen to the behavior of a pair of budgerigars, especially the female. If you see that she is clearly nervous and becomes aggressive when you put your hand into the nest, you should not unnerve the bird with your presence. In case of urgent need, wait until she leaves the nest and takes care of the grain feeder.

Eggs should be handled very carefully. It is better not to pull them out of the nest without the need.

More experienced breeders number each egg with a soft, simple pencil so that you can control the sequence in which the chicks appear. If you have already hatched two chicks, and egg number 1 is still in the nest, it is likely that something went wrong and the embryo died.

Before lowering your hands into the nest, you can rub your hands with chamomile, some females do not tolerate extraneous odors during the laying period. And they may, in the future, refuse the chicks after you touch them.

Budgerigar chicks are born every other day. At this point, room humidity plays a very important role (the norm is more than 60%). Thanks to this, the chicks can get out of the egg on their own. There is a thin film under the egg shell, and if the air is too dry, it instantly dries to the newborn, which leads to the death of the parrot.

Babies have an “egg tooth” on top of their beak, with which they pierce the wall of the shell. The female can also sometimes participate in the process: as soon as the chick makes a small hole, she begins to help him get rid of the remnants of the egg. The shell is usually eaten by females. It happens that curious owners themselves try to help the chick get out of its home, this can only be done if you are confident in the timing of incubation and there is a professional ornithologist next to you who shares your zeal in participating in the process.

Newborn chicks are not much like adult parents: they are blind, naked, only there may be a little gray fluff on the back. At first, babies are so helpless and weak that they are unable to hold their heads up and lie on their backs. The female in this position feeds them. At this time, she is inseparably next to the chicks, and, warming her body, does not allow the babies to freeze.

Only a hatched budgerigar chick weighs 1 gram, more than 1.5 grams most often show budgerigars weigh.

Since the chicks do not hatch at the same time, and their development occurs very quickly, by the time the last chick appears, the older one will already be quite large compared to the younger one. If there were more than five eggs in the clutch, and the female successfully hatched all the offspring, there is a big risk that the grown chicks can crush the babies.

Chick development

Two days after birth, the weight of the chick is already about 4 grams!

On day 3, the parrot still lies on its back and is constantly in this position.

After 6 days, the eyes of the budgerigar open, and he is already trying to hold his head.

At the age of 8 days, fluffy stumps appear on the back of the bird, and the baby tries to sit.

On the 10th day, the look of the chick can already focus on the objects around it.

Day 11 - you can admire the future pattern of the plumage of a parrot.

Day 14 - the back is covered with fluff, and the wings and head are in stumps, transforming into feathers.

Day 18 - you can see the color of the feathers on the chest and tummy.

Day 20 - professional breeders can already determine the sex of the baby. From this day begins the main transformation of the chick into a small full-fledged bird. If the baby is tame, then it is already trying to sit on your finger, like parents.

Day 24 - the chick is gaining maximum weight and is covered with small feathers.

Day 29 - the parrot is fully feathered, but the tail and wings are still a bit short.

Two weeks after departure from the nest, the chicks are transplanted into a separate, more spacious cage.

You must be prepared for the fact that a chick with twine or helicopter defects may appear in the litter. To do this, it is recommended to inspect the nest for 7-10 days, so that in case of problems, treat the babies as soon as possible.

The reasons for such defects: the parents of the chick are relatives, lack of vitamins or the complete absence of sawdust in the nest.

The most important thing is that you have a chance to help the chick only until it leaves the nest.

Consult with an ornithologist and start fixing the legs as early as possible. Show patience and care in time - the baby can become a healthy bird.

If you, after reading this brief information on how to breed budgerigars, you can say with confidence that:

- your birds have proper and nutritious nutrition;

- they are perfectly healthy;

- you have all the conditions for jigging a pair for breeding;

- a cage / aviary to accommodate matured offspring;

- you can stock up on all the required equipment;

— are ready morally and financially to provide round-the-clock support to orphaned or sick chicks;

- be able to endure the sudden loss of one of the parents of the kids;

- next to you there is a person who professionally breeds budgerigars - then you can start preparing for this difficult but interesting process.

Budgerigars are rightfully recognized as the most popular pets among bird lovers. This is due to their mobility, playfulness and ease of care. In addition, such birds have an accommodating character and easily contact other pets. That is why information about whether it is possible to breed budgerigars at home is relevant even for novice breeders.

The appearance of offspring of birds at home is a process that must be approached with all seriousness and responsibility. To do this, it is important to observe certain conditions for keeping pets and carefully observe the reaction and habits of birds.

Budgerigars at home are quite capable of breeding. In addition, subject to all breeding rules, such birds are quite prolific. The mating season for budgerigars in the wild occurs mainly in June. However, in captivity, such birds can breed in different times of the year. At the same time, wavy birds breed in some cases 3 times a year, but it is better to avoid such situations so that the chicks hatch full-fledged. The best option is considered no more than 2 times a year.

Pair formation

Before planning the mating of budgerigars and the appearance of healthy offspring from them, you should carefully approach the formation of a pair for the role of parents. Both individuals must be sexually mature, active and completely healthy. If these criteria are not met, there is a great risk that non-viable eggs will be produced after mating.

Also of no small importance when choosing a pair of "wavy" for breeding healthy chicks is the relationship of individuals. The further it is, the better. That is why the female and male should be purchased from different breeders.

Many owners often wonder: at what age do budgerigars begin to breed? According to experts, the sexually mature period in females begins after the onset of 1 year, and in males - from 10 months. However, 2-4 years of life of individuals are considered the most fruitful. Despite this circumstance, the mating season in budgerigars can be observed up to 10 years of age of birds, and in individual cases and much longer.

On a note! A pair of budgerigars prepared for mating should be fairly well-fed, but not over-fed. As noted by many breeders, skinny parrots often refuse to hatch eggs and also feed their chicks.

Choice of dwelling

It is impossible to imagine normal reproduction of birds at home without providing a home with optimal conditions for this, among which is the size of the cage.

For a pair of "wavy", given their offspring, it is recommended to choose a dwelling with parameters of at least 60x55x65 cm. The cell itself can be various forms, but always with a removable top. Such a requirement is necessary for the timely cleaning of the nest and inspection of the eggs. The frame of the cage must be made of strong steel bars and with the possibility of securely fixing the nesting house on the sides.

Before planning the mating of budgerigars, the cage and all items in it should be thoroughly disinfected. To do this, they are removed, disassembled and soaked in hot water with a small concentration of bleach. Then everything is thoroughly washed with a brush and left to dry for several hours. The nest box is also taken apart and washed in hot water using baby soap.

Additional terms

For parrot breeding to be successful, the birds must be prepared. To do this, it is necessary to gradually increase the daylight hours - up to 15 hours. During the summer period, it will be sufficient to open the curtains with the appearance of the sun, and in winter - turn on the light when it starts to get dark. At the same time, a sharp increase in daylight hours should not be allowed, as this can provoke untimely molting in birds.

The temperature is also important to observe when it comes to breeding parrots. Room temperature is considered optimal - within +20 ° С.

The reason why budgerigars do not breed under all conditions of detention may be extraneous noise and harsh sounds. Therefore, the dwelling of birds during mating and nesting must be located in a quiet, secluded place, preferably in a corner at eye level of the owner.

parrot diet

Budgerigars during the breeding season should eat in a special way. The main diet, consisting of a grain mixture, pieces of vegetables and fruits, must be supplemented with fresh herbs - dandelion leaves, plantain and others. In addition, birds at such a time need calcium, which is contained in a boiled egg and low-fat cottage cheese.

Do not forget to feed the birds with minerals and various vitamin supplements. Especially contributes to the reproduction of vitamin E, which can be purchased at specialized pharmacies. It is useful to add sprouted grains of wheat, oats or other types of cereals to the feathered menu during the nesting period. These products contain many trace elements important for the body of birds.

It is also important to ensure that the budgerigar has free access to clean water, which needs to be changed regularly. In addition, all fruits and vegetables that the bird did not immediately eat must be thrown away immediately, they must always be fresh. All this should be done not only during the breeding season, but also daily.

How do parrots behave during the mating season?

To see how budgerigars mate, it is necessary to put a young pair in a cage previously prepared for this and follow their behavior. If the birds do not start to fight, peck each other and tear out feathers, then we can hope for the speedy appearance of offspring.

All the time of courtship, the male behaves funny - he combs out his girlfriend's feathers, feeds from his beak, chirps loudly and shows off in every possible way in front of her, taking various poses. You can understand that the female is also ready for mating by her behavior - she responds with mutual caresses, squints her eyes and constantly sits near her boyfriend.

On a note! Budgerigars are monogamous and, if they immediately reciprocate, their affection remains for life. Therefore, it is impossible to force birds to breed.

The mating itself occurs quite quickly, the owners of the birds in most cases do not have time to notice it. Even if the male managed to fertilize the female the first time, parrots often continue to mate for several days. As experts recommend, the best period for such a process is June-September, since it is at this time of the year that there is enough solar heat, light and fresh fruits.

How does nesting take place?

A few days after mating, the behavior of the female can determine whether the attempt was successful. The bird will look for a secluded nesting place in the dwelling. During this period, the breeder should take care of installing a house for future offspring. It is believed that the optimal parameters for it are 22x15x20 cm. The design should be well fixed, preferably under the roof of the cage.

The birds may not perceive the house at first and bypass it, but this is only temporary. After one or two days, the budgerigar, namely the female, will begin to explore it from all sides and put things in order in the structure. The male has other duties during this period - he takes care of the future mother, feeds her and chirps loudly.

At this time, it is necessary to provide the birds with enough thin twigs of various fruit trees, they are needed as a building material for the nest. Also, for arranging and warming the house, birds often begin to tear out their feathers. This behavior is especially noticeable in female "wavy".

laying eggs

All of the above signs signal that the first egg should appear soon. A couple during the nesting period should not be disturbed at all, and even more so - touch the house, since there is a high risk that the female will abandon her nest after that.

From the moment of mastering the house and until the appearance of the first egg, quite a lot of time passes - up to one month. After that, the female begins to lay eggs every other day. There may be 4-6 pieces in a clutch. It depends on the age of the parent parrots, genetic predisposition and environmental factors.

On a note! As a rule, captive-bred budgerigars lay 5 eggs each. It is this amount that the female is able to evenly provide with the heat of her body. If there are more eggs, professionals advise additionally using an incubator.

The appearance of offspring

The period of incubation of eggs of "wavy" lasts no more than 18 days, the chicks appear the next day. After the birth of the first-born, sprouted grains should be gradually excluded from the parrot menu, replacing its share with vegetables that are rich in carotene. It is also necessary to maintain a sufficiently high humidity in the room on such days - about 60%.

It often happens that not all eggs hatched from the clutch, that is, they froze. If we are talking about 1-2 pieces - this is considered the norm. As a rule, this situation happens if the female is too young and could not sufficiently heat the entire clutch. If not a single chick hatched, there may be plenty of reasons that led to this:

• infectious or chronic diseases of the parents;
• poor-quality or insufficient food and drink;
• poor conditions for keeping birds;
• genetic incompatibility of the couple.

Hatched chicks are very weak - they are not even able to hold their heads, so they lie on their backs. Many breeders of wavy birds ask the question: do you need human help during this period? No, the female will be able to feed and warm them on her own.

Only two weeks after the birth of the last chick, the owner can open the nesting house for cleaning. This must be done with rubber gloves very carefully and quickly, while the female is outside the nest. Follow-up cleanings are required once a week.

When are the chicks released?

It is customary to transplant grown-up chicks from adults no earlier than a month after their birth. During this period, they already independently leave the nesting shelter and confidently hold on to their paws. In some cases, the chicks are removed earlier from the female. For example, when she begins to behave aggressively with them. If such behavior is noticed, the babies are supplemented artificially and are no longer allowed to see the mother.

To independently understand and see how "wavy" breeds, special skills are not required. The main thing at the same time is to provide pets with timely care, hygiene and good nutrition.

Wavy people like their owners due to their funny nature, curiosity, bright appearance, as well as the ability to imitate the voice and even pronounce words. Many owners understand how much these birds love the company of their own kind, so they do not want to doom them to loneliness.

But when buying another parrot of the opposite sex, not every responsible owner understands that sooner or later the budgerigars will breed, and this process often requires responsibility and compliance with the right conditions.

The main mistake of beginner breeders is that they buy a pair of wavy, thinking that this is enough. But keeping two birds in a cage is sometimes not enough, they may simply not like each other. And then you will not expect offspring from them.

There may be several reasons:

• the male is much younger than the female;
• non-compliance with the rules of acquaintance;
• the female does not like her partner, she can easily accept courtship, but with closer contact she beats and drives the male away;
• tight cage.

As you can see, conditions greatly affect fertility and the ability to reproduce. Unlike people who are able to huddle in a one-room apartment with two children, a cat and a dog, wavy people are very responsible in choosing a partner and living conditions.

How to understand if parrots like each other? As a rule, mutual sympathy is visible with an armed look. If a couple just tolerates each other, they rarely interact, each sits on their own perch, and they never eat from the same feeder.

If parrots are in love, then they usually spend time together:

• sit side by side;
• sort out each other's feathers;
• constantly kissing and making chirping sounds;
• build a nest together.

A good age for breeding a young couple is 1.5 years. In the wild, wavy can mate earlier, however, at home, this is not at all the case. If the female is younger than a year old, she may die while laying eggs. In good conditions, these birds can breed up to 7 years, but the older the female, the smaller the offspring and the higher the load on the body. Therefore, it is best to stop breeding at 6 years of age.

Also, mandatory conditions for breeding budgerigars is a heterosexual pair. It sounds, of course, ridiculous, but very often, instead of a male for a female, they mistakenly buy another representative of the fair sex.

By the way, in the ladies' society, they are very aggressive towards each other. But two males can get along very well if they do not have a female in their immediate environment.

You can determine the sex of a budgerigar by wax and at the age of 3-4 months. Prior to this, almost all individuals have a light blue or light pink "nose". An important condition for the selection of a couple is the absence of their relationship. If the closest relatives mate, the offspring often turn out to be defective.

Dating rules

When you have bought a new pet as a mate for an existing bird, it is important to observe the introduction ceremony. In no case do not let the new parrot immediately into the cage with the old one. First, you need to endure the quarantine.

This is important for two reasons:

• exclude the disease in a newly arrived bird (often the incubation period lasts from 7 to 21 days);
• allow the budgerigar to adapt to new conditions.

You also need to unite the birds gradually. After the quarantine is over, put the cages in one room and watch the budgerigars.

If they show interest in each other, then you can let them fly, so to speak, create conditions for acquaintance on neutral territory. As soon as the birds start visiting each other, you can try to unite the couple.

The whole process must be supervised. If there are fights and quarrels in a couple, then perhaps these are unsuitable partners for each other.

But if the couple matches, then their union is very strong, budgerigars take care of each other and always have a hard time being separated. In this case, you can move on to the next period and start making a nest.

Cooking the nest

In order for reproduction at home to be successful, it is necessary for parrots to create conditions close to natural conditions.

A well-chosen pair is, of course, the lion's share of successful offspring, but the wavy ones still need to provide these moments:

• complete nutrition (rich in green foods, calcium and protein);
• long daylight hours, at least 16 hours (ensures good fertility in both budgerigars);
• air temperature is not more than 30 degrees, and not less than 20;
• of course, you will need a nest, since in the wild, females incubate chicks in hollow trees.

Budgerigars breed when their cage is equipped with a house where the female will incubate the clutch.

The nest can be vertical or horizontal, however, experienced breeders advise making it horizontal and with a thicker bottom. Also, there should be a recess for the testicles so that they do not roll out, and there should be enough space for the couple so that the male can feed his mate.

A few weeks before the nest is installed in the cage, it is necessary to give the birds more protein food: an egg mixture with semolina, carrots, herbs, fruits, vegetables. Also, be sure to have chalk and crushed eggshells in the cage.

Breeding birds at home is a little different from how it happens in nature. Wavy birds are flocking birds and living in a society of the same pairs, they are more likely to give birth to offspring.

During the mating period, it is not necessary to release birds at home, this can delay the process for several months. At this time, the couple is focused on each other and give their partner a lot of signs of attention.

As soon as the female finishes putting things in order in the nesting place (and she can not only drag leaves and twigs there, but also throw out everything she doesn’t like), the breeding process begins. They reproduce until all the eggs in the female are fertilized.

Signs of close laying can be considered plucking of feathers around the cloaca, an increase in body weight, the tummy becomes larger and an egg is clearly visible in it. Before the nest is filled with testicles, top dressing should be removed from the diet, otherwise the number of eggs will be large, and the quality of the clutch will not be very good.

Young females usually produce 5 to 10 eggs. There is a clear division of labor in the pair, the male feeds the young mother, and her concern is the incubation of the young. After 15-20 days, the testicles begin to crack and tiny budgerigar chicks emerge from them.

Chick care

Babies are born blind and weak, they have a long neck, a large head, and the body is completely naked. The eyes open only after 6-7 days, and a meaningful look appears somewhere around 9-10 days.

The young grow up very quickly and after 3 weeks they already fully look like adult wavy. By breeding these birds at home, you can get completely tame parrot chicks.

It is possible to remove nesting after 2 weeks, immediately after the chicks begin to eat softened grains. This is done so that the male does not fertilize the female again, her body must rest and recover after hatching the babies.

If you want to start breeding your own pair of wavy, you should know that this is a very complex and responsible process. It has a lot of nuances. To get started, take a closer look at your parrots and answer one very important question: do they love each other? In nature, parrots from many individuals of the opposite sex find their soul mate and stay with her until the end of their lives.

In apartment conditions, birds do not have such a choice, they sometimes have to endure for the rest of their lives next to someone who may not like it at all. From such pairs of offspring, you can not wait at all. Mutual love is immediately visible: the couple is constantly with each other, sorting out feathers, feeding a partner, and if they swear, it is very rare. Usually, if a nesting house is placed in such a pair, then the female will immediately climb into it and begin to equip it. It often happens that in a loving couple, the female tries to find a place to lay eggs and does not wait for the house to be hung. She can even lay eggs at the bottom of the cage. This should not be allowed, so watch your birds and be prepared for anything.
The next question you need to answer before you start breeding parrots is about the age of the birds. In nature, parrots are ready for breeding as early as 5-7 months, but at home it is absolutely impossible to breed them before 1-1.5 years. Otherwise, the female may die trying to lay the first egg. Wavy are able to breed up to 5-7 years, and with good care and up to 8-9 years.

Inbreeding is dangerous

Preparing for nesting and incubating eggs

Budgerigars are able to breed all year round. However, it should be remembered that for successful breeding, parrots need a long daylight hours (up to 16 hours), in winter you will have to maintain it with artificial lighting. Also, in winter and spring, there is not that excess of vegetables, fruits and greens that is in summer and autumn, so you will definitely need to give liquid multivitamins that are added to the drinker or feed. The best time for breeding is summer and early autumn.
The air temperature in the room with breeding parrots should be at least 20 ° C and not more than 30 ° C, otherwise the eggs may die.

In nature, wavy lay their eggs in the hollows of trees. At home, this is provided for, which are not much different from ordinary birdhouses. The house must necessarily be made of wooden boards. There are three types of nests: vertical, horizontal and compromise (see fig.).

Each type has its pros and cons. Vertical: a high-lying notch eliminates the early exit of chicks, takes up little space, however, due to the small size of the bottom, the female, jumping onto the clutch, can damage the eggs and chicks, and if the clutch is large, the chicks will be cramped. Horizontal houses exclude damage to the masonry by the female, because. it is more spacious. However, the low location of the notch can lead to the fall of the chicks, which are not yet ready for independent life. In an attempt to combine the advantages of vertical and horizontal houses into one, a compromise type of nesting was created: they are spacious, like a horizontal one, and the notch is high, like a vertical one. Their only drawback is their large size.
In the bottom of the house you need to make a recess for the eggs so that they do not roll. It should be 2 cm deep and 10 cm in diameter. You also need to provide fasteners with which you can hang the house. The nest cover must be removable in order to inspect the masonry and clean inside. Two weeks before hanging the nesting house, parrots should be transferred to enhanced nutrition and gradually lengthen daylight hours. Parrots need to start giving an egg mixture consisting of boiled eggs, carrots and semolina. Increase the amount of vegetables, fruits, greens. In addition to the mineral mixture and sepia (mineral stone), the cage must contain crushed eggshells and crushed chalk, which can be replaced with crushed calcium gluconate tablets.

Usually nesting places are placed outside the cage as high as possible. To do this, either the cage must have a second entrance, or you will have to remove several rods. Many females do not pay attention to the houses, standing at the bottom of the cage or suspended from the lower entrance to the cage, as unsafe. The size and shape of the cage is very important in breeding. It should be rectangular in shape and elongated in length, not height. The minimum length is 60 cm. In small cages, there is almost a 100% chance that the female will start beating the chicks that have left the house.

Inside the nest, it is imperative to pour dry hardwood sawdust with a layer of 2-3 cm; for disinfection, you can add 1-2 teaspoons of dry pharmaceutical chamomile.

Ideally, if all the conditions for parrots are created, then the female almost immediately begins to be interested in the house. At first, it just gnaws at the entrance, checks its strength, later it starts to climb inside and prepare a place for masonry, taking out sawdust in its beak. Usually the first egg appears 2-3 weeks after hanging the house. However, it often happens differently: the male and female are in no hurry to lay eggs. If even after a month the female's interest in nesting has not appeared, then it should be removed and wait another month so that the female does not perceive it simply as part of the interior.

Since in nature budgerigars sit on masonry with the whole flock at once, it is much easier to make several pairs at once breed. But this requires a large enclosure and there should be one more houses than breeding pairs. But even in this case, it is possible that two females will like one house and they will start fighting or destroying each other's clutches in this house because of it. So it's best to keep each breeding pair in a separate cage. If there is only one pair, then it is necessary to create a constant little noise in the room with parrots. It can be just the radio turned on, music, but it is best to record the voices of budgerigars. To do this, it is enough to record the singing of your own parrots.

Once you have set up a house, you need to keep communication with parrots to a minimum. Ideally, the cage should be in a quiet corner of the room where there are no people, since nothing should distract the couple from the masonry. For the same reason, they cannot be let out of the cage to fly. After the female prepares the nesting house, she becomes more favorable to the male. The act of mating can occur several times a day, but usually this happens in the early morning. Sometimes it only takes a few matings before the first egg is produced to successfully fertilize the entire clutch. But more often, mating continues for longer, until the female lays all the eggs.

A couple of days before the appearance of the egg, the female plucks the place around the cloaca, the amount and size of feces increases, and the tail begins to twitch in rhythm with breathing. The expectant mother becomes more cautious, she does not make sudden movements and spends more and more time in the house.

After the appearance of the first egg, all additional feeding should be removed from the cage and only the main feed and mineral mixture with eggshell. Otherwise, the number of eggs will be large, but their quality will be greatly reduced.

The female immediately proceeds to incubate the egg. Although often, if the female has the first clutch, she begins to incubate eggs tightly only after laying the second, or even the third. Do not worry about this, since the development of the embryo in the egg will begin from the moment of incubation. The male during this period feeds the female, sits near the entrance to the nesting area, sings songs to her. The second and subsequent eggs appear every other day. There may be 4-8 eggs in a clutch, but sometimes it reaches 10-12. Young females usually have fewer eggs than older ones.

Chick care

The eggs hatch approximately 17-19 days after incubation begins. The chicks that have appeared are more like small worms than future birds.
They have an absurdly large head, long neck and legs. They are born blind and begin to see only after a week. By the 9-10th day of life, the first stumps of feathers appear on the back. At 2 weeks old, the chicks are already completely covered with fluff and feathers are already forming on the wings and tail. By the color of the fluff, one can judge the future plumage of the chick. If it is gray, then the parrot will be with a normal color, and with white fluff - with a light one. Every day the chick will have more and more feathers, and by the age of 3 weeks it will already look like an adult.

If, 21 days after the last egg was laid, there were still eggs in the house, then they were not fertilized or the embryo died. In this case, empty eggs should be thrown out. I would not advise beginners to check the fertility of eggs for beginners, because. the eggs are very fragile and any shaking can cause the egg to die. In addition, in order to be sure of fertility, you still have to wait until the hatching period has passed.

You need to check the masonry at least once every two or three days in order to provide timely assistance, if any. A week after the appearance of the first chick, it is necessary to clean the house. To do this, you need to catch the moment when the female leaves the nest and remove it. At the time of cleaning, the chicks must be carefully transferred to the box, remove the old sawdust and pour in new ones, and then return the chicks. It is better to clean the house with gloves, because if the female is wild, then she may not tolerate someone else's smell and will begin to pluck the chicks.

During cleaning, you need to carefully examine each chick, paying attention to the paws, as droppings often stick to them, which can interfere with the proper development of the fingers. To clean the paws, they need to be soaked in water and remove dirt.

Cleaning must be done quickly so as not to force the female for too long to be nervous and not to overcool the eggs. They should be handled with particular care, as the embryos are very fragile and any shaking can lead to their death.

The house should be cleaned about once a week. It is ideal to have a spare nesting site for this, in order to simply transplant the chicks into new house ik. If the female is wild and, with any intervention (cleaning, touching the eggs and chicks), begins to pluck the chicks or even abandons the clutch, then it is better not to clean the house, but simply sprinkle clean sawdust with chamomile on top.

Breeding parrots is a difficult but interesting activity. These pets are known for their fidelity to a partner and can be considered the standard of love in the world of birds. Therefore, it is so interesting to watch bird families, their mating games and touching nursing of babies.

How parrots breed in captivity, and what is required from the owner for successful breeding of birds, we will consider in detail in this article.

Reproduction at home: pros and cons

Breeding parrots can be for fun or as a business idea, that is, for profit.

Pros and cons of breeding parrots at home

In both cases, this is an exciting activity that requires a responsible attitude and patience on the part of the owner of the birds. You need to carefully weigh the pros and cons before you seriously engage in breeding work.

If we compare the breeding of parrots with the rearing of other birds, such as pheasants, quails or chickens, then the variety of species makes them more versatile. The size of many of them allow you to keep pets in a city apartment without the need to live in countryside.

A plus can be considered the high cost of exotic birds. And cheaper types pay off thanks to in high demand on them. I am also pleased with the fertility of parrots, which retain the ability to reproduce all year round. Igor Ignatenkov

Pets of small and medium-sized species are especially good at this, for example, wavy, cockatiel, lovebirds. Difficulties may arise with large birds, the breeding of which requires certain skills and conditions.

It is also worth noting the amazing intelligence and friendly nature of the pets, working with which will bring a lot of joy to their owner.

The disadvantages include the noisiness of birds. Some species emit sharp, unpleasant cries, which is why not every person will tolerate their neighborhood.

Before you start breeding parrots, you need to take into account the time spent on their maintenance. Breeding birds can be done by people who are ready to devote enough energy to caring for their pets.

It is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the cages, feed and water pets on time, educate, train them, and treat sick individuals. When chicks appear, parrots will require even more care. You will also need to deal with the future fate of the kids, find them a new home.

How to prepare for mating birds?

Optimal time for breeding

In captivity, birds are ready for breeding almost all year round. From March to October there is more light, warmth, greenery and fruits, so these months are considered the best for breeding.

A direct incentive for mating and procreation is the presence of a natural hollow. In captivity, it is replaced by a special nest box.

Thanks to this, the owner can control the breeding process of parrots and stimulate it at the most suitable time of the year.

Know! Babies born in winter grow up weakened or with malformations due to the diet of their parents depleted in vitamins.

The age of the bird must also be taken into account. Elderly or too young individuals lay unfertilized eggs, hatch sick chicks with various malformations.

Small parrots are not allowed to breed before twelve months, and medium ones are not allowed until two years. Feathers of large species reach sexual maturity at the age of three.

Mating and nursing chicks requires a lot of strength from parents, and laying eggs is a serious test for the body. Therefore, only a fully mature, healthy, well-fed female parrot is ready to reproduce offspring.

Pair formation

Parrots form pairs for life. Some species do not seek a replacement for their companion even after its death. Therefore, it is necessary to responsibly approach the formation of a union of birds at home.

If pets live in packs, mark individuals that stick together and care for each other. Mated parrots may begin to chase other inhabitants of the cage, which also indicates readiness for nesting.

During the breeding season, they are placed in a separate cage and a nest box is attached there. Birds of medium and large species usually breed only in enclosures.

Artificially united pairs of birds may not start reproducing for many years, even if all the necessary conditions are present. Sometimes birds immediately begin to quarrel.

Then they are separated and placed in different cages, which are placed side by side. After about two weeks, the couple is reunited again, but in a different cell unfamiliar to them. If the hostility continues, then one of the individuals is replaced.

The greatest problems with the formation of pairs of parrots arise when breeding large species. This is due to mild sexual dimorphism, when it is extremely difficult to determine the sex of a bird without special analyzes and DNA tests.

Remember! Inbreeding should be avoided. From such a union, sick and non-viable offspring may appear.

Additional terms

Conditions for breeding

Before breeding parrots in captivity, three conditions must be met.

1. Daylight hours should be long. For most species during the nesting period, it is about 15 hours. You need to increase its duration gradually, adding an hour and a half within ten days.
2. Properly formulated diet. In the wild, an abundance of food is a sign of the most favorable time for breeding, a signal for the start of the mating season. Therefore, pets need a varied diet, with a sufficient content of vitamins and minerals.
3. "Nesting Landscape". Without a device that replaces a natural hollow, it will not work to breed parrots in captivity.

Additional conditions may be required depending on the breed. So, for breeding medium parrots, you need an aviary, preferably located in the open air, and some types of birds also need high humidity and a source of artificial lighting.

parrot diet

During the period of incubation of eggs and nursing of chicks, newly-made parents need to be fed. After about two weeks, an egg-carrot mixture, cottage cheese are added to the diet. Many breeders give their females a bun soaked in milk. This additional source calcium and energy. During the laying period, birds need to consume more greens, sprouted grains, vegetables and fruits.

Necessary accessories for nesting

A special box or hollow is installed in the cage.

When choosing an accessory, you need to consider the type and size of your pets. The height at which the device is suspended also depends on these factors. Depending on the design of the cage, it is attached inside or outside.

The sizes of artificially created nests for different types of parrots are given in the table.

Nesting houses are made from dry boards, and a nest box is made from a piece of a hollow tree trunk. At the bottom is a hole for masonry. Its depth is necessary so that the eggs do not roll out and the embryos do not die. The size of the bottom needs to be no smaller than indicated in the table, otherwise the growing chicks can pass each other.

Dry sawdust is used as bedding. When kept in a flock, the number of devices for breeding birds should be somewhat larger than the number of pairs so that the birds do not fight for space.

Lovebirds make real nests in the wild, so they don’t need a recess in the floor and sawdust. However, several holes with a diameter of 6-8 mm are drilled in the lower part of the box for air circulation.

How is the courtship ceremony for birds

In a well-chosen pair, the behavior characteristic of current birds is noted. The male gently pulls the feathers of his chosen one, while making stealing sounds, often feeds her from his beak.

In response, the girlfriend bows her head favorably, sits with half-closed eyelids. Birds regularly kiss, can dance and behave in a funny way.

For example, the unusual mating behavior of arar in one of the zoos is described. In addition to the above courtship, the birds took turns lying on their backs, playfully pushing each other with their paws, running around with a nut in their beak, trying to take it away from each other.

Egg laying and incubation

Disinfection

Before the start of the nesting season, parrots are removed from the cage and subjected to thorough cleaning and disinfection. The procedure must be repeated after each withdrawal of the chicks, when they have already left the house.

During the nursing of babies, the nest box is cleaned once a week, while changing the sawdust to new ones. However, there are birds that react painfully to this, they can even throw a clutch or a brood. Such birds should not be disturbed once again before the departure of the young.

Egg Quality Determination

A fertilized egg is usually determined by appearance. Its shell is matte, grayish-white in color. Unfertilized - yellowish, sometimes just spotty, shiny.

Incubation period for budgie eggs

In wavy chicks hatch on the 18th-19th day after the female begins to incubate the eggs. In other species, this occurs later. For example, for lovebirds and cockatiels - after 21-22 days, and for rosella - after 22-23. In large birds, the incubation period can be up to 30 days.

Chick care

Chicks need to be fed, then taught to feed themselves, and also work on their socialization so that they become good companions for the future owner.

After hatching, the babies have an unattractive appearance: naked, blind, with a large head and a long neck. They are completely unable to take care of themselves and will quickly die without outside help.

Sometimes parents abandon the brood and even harm their own offspring. Then orphaned chicks are identified in the nests of other pairs of parrots or fed from a syringe.

To get tame pets, from about 10 days after hatching, well-fed babies are taken from the house for 3-5 minutes. Gradually, the time of contact with a person is increased to a quarter of an hour.

When can chicks be separated from their parents?

Young individuals are transplanted separately after they eat food on their own or adults begin to drive them away from the house. Chicks of large parrots fly out of the nest at the age of three months, and small parrots - 30-50 days after hatching. For some time they continue to receive food from their parents, mainly from the male.

Independence occurs two to three weeks after departure from the nest box or nest box. In Araras, Cockatoos, Amazons and Grays, this moment may happen later. If feathered babies stop feeding before they learn to get food on their own, they must be supplemented by hand.

Possible mistakes

Novice hobbyists, and sometimes an experienced breeder, may experience a number of problems when breeding birds. Errors occur when choosing a pair and determining the sex of birds, compiling a diet for pets, and creating conditions for reproduction.

The following are the most common causes of unsuccessful parrot breeding

1. A pair of birds constantly quarrel. Such behavior is possible if a bird of the same sex is in a cage, or one of the individuals was kept alone for a long time, or the pets simply do not have “sympathy” for each other.
2. Showing and even mating is observed, but parrots do not lay eggs. It is likely that both individuals are males or one of the birds is immature.
3. The female sits on the eggs, but the chicks do not hatch. This phenomenon occurs when the eggs are infertile, the parents are too old or infertile, or both parrots are female.
4. The brood dies. The reason may be the loss of parental instincts by birds when they do not feed babies or even deliberately injure them. It is possible that the body of breeding birds is depleted. This happens if the brood is already the fourth or more in this year. Some species also have a predisposition to this behavior, for example, the Czech parrot.

Why there may be frozen or unfertilized eggs

The reason for this may be the old age or infertility of birds, as well as the wrong selection of a pair consisting of two females. The death of embryos occurs when a small hole at the bottom of the nesting house or nest box, pollution of the shell.

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