I just bought a pair of Love birds...?

Question

I just bought a pair that is already mated about a week ago. Will they continue to have babies, their nesting box is still in there, but I would like them to continue with having babies. She said they have had babies before. Is there an easy way to s*x them and can someone tell me what kind I have. If you will email me at dananapril4ever at yahoo I will send you pics. Will it stress them out with the move or will they have babies again. Please help only if you have something you may help me with. I have looked at a bunch of different pics on line and it really isn't helping. They almost look like different kinds of lovebirds. Is that possible?

Answer 1

yes it is most likely for them to mate through out there lives and you realy cant force them into mating spring is the most time they'll mate so you might have a few  eggs a year and it might stress them out but likely they get back to normal in a few days or less and theres a good chance they'll still have babies and yes theres lots of kinds of love bird if you email me a pic of the love birds i could tell you what kind they are , good luck!

Answer 2

There are 9 different species of lovebirds. You can only visually s*x 2 of the species, and those are not common in the pet trade.

The others (peachface, fischers, masked, are much more common, etc) can come in a very wide variety of colors, and you can't tell the s*x unless you see them lay an egg, they have a clutch that hatches (then you at least know you have a male and female, you can't always say for certain which is the male or female though), or you have them surgically or DNA sexed.  DNA sexing is cheap and very easy to do. You can get a look at all of the species at the African Lovebird Society's page online.

If you just got the birds, there's a good chance the shock of being moved and being in a new environment will get them out of breeding mode, for at least awhile. You need to let them get settled into their new home, and feel comfortable before you can expect any breeding to begin. During this time you need to make sure you read everything you can, and even see if you can find a good breeder that can show you all about breeding.

It takes a lot more than putting 2 birds together to be a good breeder. You should ideally condition the birds before you even think about breeding them. This means feeding them a very healthy diet (pellets, fresh fruits, vegetables, ample cuttle bone, a vitamin/mineral block, etc. A seed only diet is not healthy for any bird), and allowing them ample space to exercise, and lots of toys to keep them happy and entertained.

Once the chicks are hatched it can be a ton of work as well. The parents might not be great at parenting. They might injure the chicks, kill them, injure one another, they might not feed enough or at all. If any of those things (or others) happen you need to be prepared to pull the chicks and handfeed. Handfeeding is a whole other issue. Depending on the age of the chick, it could be around the clock feedings. Then there's socializing the chicks. If you're not going to hand feed, you need to spend a ton of time with them.

Selling the chicks is easier, and more lucrative when you have tame friendly birds, rather than birds who aren't very social and freak out whenever someone comes near the cage.

Not to mention if you don't even know what species or mutation your birds are, you probably don't want to just jump into breeding. Some species (if you have a mixed pair) don't tend to breed well and you can have tons of issues with any chicks that happen to survive long enough to hatch. Others have chicks that are sterile. If you're planning on selling any resulting chicks to anyone who knows birds, you'll have a hard time selling hybrid chicks.

Raising birds is a great experience, just really be prepared to do it well if you're going to do it at all.

Answer 3

More than likely, they are a mutation of a species of Lovebird, and that's why you're having trouble telling what they are.

I reccomend that you hold off on breeding until you've researched it a little more.  Especially, you must know what your breeding stock are before you breed!  Mutations of Lovebirds don't sell easily, while Lovebirds are prolific breeders, so you may want to reconsider, unless you have an unlimited budget in which to house all these babies.

Not to mention the health will greatly diminish.  Did you buy them with the intent of breeding them?

You can s*x them by yanking 5 chest feathers off each one and sending each sample to Avian Biotech, a reputable lab in Florida.

http://avianbiotech.com/OrderCenter.htm

Go to that site and request two feather DNA collection kits. They will send instructions for yanking & submitting the test.

It costs $25 for each test.

They will continue to have babies for as long as they live, until you stop them.  Do you know how to handfeed, by chance?