Can female budgie raise chicks alone?
Lorene Turner
Hello all...
I have an interesting situation at home. I am taking care of a friend's
male budgie, and I have a female budgie (named Charlie, but hey how was I
to know.) Anyway, they have been making kissyface at each other thru the
bars of their cages (I let only one out at a time). It looks like they
are getting along.
My questions: Is it safe to let them both out at once? What are the
chances of fighting budgies? The male has been in the house for over a
week now.
If I let them mate, would my female be able to look after the chicks
herself once the male left? Or is this cruel and unusual? Do the males
usually hang around and help?
Is it too stressful on a female budgie to have her raise young, is there a
great chance of her dying if I allow this? I don't want to lose Charlie.
Thanks,
Lorene
Tracy Bell
I haven't tried this but will tell you my experience. Firstly if you do
not have a breeding box there will be no eggs to start with. I don't know
how well a female would cope on her own. The female does most of the work
sitting in the nest and relies on the male to feed her. I used to remove
the female about a week before the youngest chick left the nest to prevent
further breeding and the male continued to feed the chicks (by this stage
they don't need the mother for warmth). Personally I would not try it
unless you could keep the male for the 2 months needed. But if you do let
us know how it turns out.
Lorene Turner <tur...@duke.usask.ca> wrote in article
<571q1f$o...@tribune.usask.ca>...
Tracy Bell
Forgot to answer your first question: if they appear to get along they
should not fight.
ellen beth kessler
In <01bbda73$18ddbda0$0e3f...@indrmipc3094.ind.dpi.qld.gov.au> "Tracy
Bell" <Be...@planet.mh.dpi.qld.gov.au> writes:
>
>I haven't tried this but will tell you my experience. Firstly if you
do >not have a breeding box there will be no eggs to start with.
Huh? I beg to differ with you. Budgies, cockatiels, and ALL BIRDS, can
and will lay eggs without a nestbox. If yours do not, it's because of
other factors in your environment, such as minimum daylight;
distractions in the way of children, other pets, other larger humans;
minimum diet, in the way of cutting back on fresh food etc.
But every normal, healthy bird I've ever met (females only, of course)
will lay eggs without a nestbox...and even without a male present.
Ellen K
Tracy Bell
I should also add that most of the Australian birds kept as pets/breeders
nest in hollows in the wild and should always be given appropriate nest
boxes to use. If a bird nests without one it is probably only when one is
not available. Nest boxes provide insulation for naked young and
protection from other birds in the aviary. It is preferable to keep pairs
separate when breeding to prevent fighting and uncontrolled breeding, both
of which can cause death. Of course how people look after their animals is
their choice, I am just trying to give the best advice possible.
Tracy Bell <Be...@planet.mh.dpi.qld.gov.au> wrote in article
<01bbdb30$0c761900$0e3f...@indrmipc3094.ind.dpi.qld.gov.au>...
> Maybe being in another country stuffs them up. Please remember people
can
> only give the details for their experience (which I stated) and country.
>
> ellen beth kessler <ebk...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
> <57d0h3$j...@sjx-ixn8.ix.netcom.com>...
Tracy Bell
sol...@aol.com
<<Huh? I beg to differ with you. Budgies, cockatiels, and ALL BIRDS, can
<<and will lay eggs without a nestbox.
<<But every normal, healthy bird I've ever met (females only, of course)
<<will lay eggs without a nestbox...and even without a male present.
Well thank goodness and thank you so much for this post. I'm not a
regular to this NG, but signed on because my Cockatiel has been heavy into
the nesting behavior for the last few weeks and now she has dropped an
egg. I am uncertain what is the best thing for her now. This just
happened last night in a kleenex box. I put the box with her in her cage
last night but she seems pretty uninterested in it.
She is about two years old and I have had her for about six months. She
is very affectionate. Until recently, she was warm and friendly to
everyone in the family. In these last few weeks, she won't go near anyone
but me. I have discouraged her mating behavior by trying to distract her
and keeping her from my shoulder when she is most interested. I don't
know if that was necessary or not, but was trying to keep her from
becoming too attached to me.
I would appreciate any advice anyone might have for me on what will be
best for Peaches.
Thanks.
Karen Lohmeyer
Sol...@aol.com
ellen beth kessler
In <19961203132...@ladder01.news.aol.com> sol...@aol.com
writes:
her to lay. But if a hen is interested in laying, she'll do it anywhere
at any time. (I once had a dove lay an egg on my shoulder!) Leave the
egg and any subsequent eggs she may lay (don't remove the kleenex box
now). She'll probably lose interest pretty quickly, but leave the eggs
as long as she does brood them. Just make sure she's eating, drinking
and exercising on a regular basis and is not obsessed with the eggs.
She could lay as few as two-three or as many as seven-eight, with each
usually coming every other day.
Make sure she has plenty of calcium in her diet right now to compensate
for the loss to the eggs. Use natural calcium via healthy foods, if
possible, rather than a vitamin supplement.
Sitting on your shoulder and your stroking her should not induce
breeding behavior. But if she's hunkering down and making phew-phew
noises, you've gotten her too excited and you need to back off for a
while.
To prevent/control future excessive egg-laying, rearrange the
"furniture" in her cage, decrease (gradually) the amount of daylight
she's receiving to less than 12 hours, and remove any mirrors or toys
in her cage that appear to stimulate her into breeding behavior.
(Masturbating is okay, in my opinion; it usually does not lead to
egg-laying.)
Ellen K