Breeding budgies question?

Question

i have a female and a male budgie that are old enough to breed. I showed them the nesting box today and put the female in the nesting box. she started moving the nesting material around and she kept scaring away the male is that bad. Also do I have to have a mineral block in the cage. im ready for the babies

Answer 1

yes it's perfectly normal. but you dont need the nesting material, parakeets like to lay their eggs directly on the nesting box floor. the male parakeet wont start going into the nest until after the babies hatch from the eggs.

you definately need a mineral block, and make sure they have some type of fruit or fruit seed in there too. after doing that you're ready to start breeding.

the first clutch of eggs probably wont survive, but they'll get right to the 2nd clutch afterwards, and they should do fine. good luck!

Answer 2

What you have described is normal behavior.  However you must provide them with a fresh cuttle bone.  Walmart has them and they are cheap.  Be sure the soft side is toward the birds.

Why do you want more and more birds?

Answer 3

Why are you breeding budgies? Look here and type in budgie: http://www.petfinder.com/

As you can see, budgies are already insanely overpopulated and there are tons in shelters and rescues. Please don't breed your birds. There's a lot more to breeding responsibly than to just put a male and a female together.

Answer 4

I have an excellent site for you to learn about breeding Parakeets, it is very educational.

I have bred over 100 and even hand fed the babies, which I dont recommend you doing unless you can have a Vet or professional Breeder teach you the ropes because there is no margin for error when hand feeding any baby bird, but it is something you should learn how to do if you are going to be breeding birds, should something happen to one or both of the birds you would have to take over feeding them.

Sapphyre

Certified Avian Specialist

Answer 5

She needs to explore the nest box on her own, don't force her to go into it.  Budgies don't use nesting material. If they put anything in the nest, its seed hulls or a few feathers, nothing else.  She will lay the eggs in the little hollowed or dished out spot in the box.

Have you watched the pair breed yet.  If they haven't yet they soon will, then in about 1-1/2 to 2 weeks she should start to lay eggs. 4-6 in a clutch.

If you didn't have a mineral block in the cage before, you should put it in ASAP.  She should have had access to a mineral block way before she was put into breeding mode.

If she is lacking calcium in her body, she may have bad shells on the eggs, or can suffer a major calcium loss from her bones. This can cause broken bones in her.

If you feed fresh fruit and veggies to your birds now is a good time to really lay on the fresh food.  I use a food called Judy Kay's Crazy Corn for my birds.  It gives them a good variety of foods and is great for the parents to feed to the babies.

Female birds are more aggressive then males when it comes to protecting the nest, once she lays the eggs, and they hatch heel be a big help to her.