How To Breed Budgies Correctly

Many think that it’s as easy as buying two budgies and adding a nest box and the money will flood on in. First I will make this clear:

YOU WILL NOT GAIN MONEY BY BREEDING BUDGIES!

There are many things that need to be considered before a nest box is even put down on the shopping list.

Age:
The age of the bird must be known so that you know they are mental and physically ready to rear offspring. The youngest that most breeders accept as safe is a year. Many feel that 18 months is better. Budgies themselves are physically ready to breed by the age of 6 months, but this equals in humans 13 -14 years of age. They are simply not mental ready for the task of breeding. They can start to eat eggs, which once started can me hard to stop a bird from continuing, they can abandon nests and eggs or worse attach they young when they hatch.

Birds from a breeder you should expect a correct month of birth if not the actual date of hatching. I’m not meaning off the top of they heads but they should have it some where in their records. Older birds in the show side should have coloured bands on their legs which will give you a year of hatching. Ones from pet shops can come with leg bands but if you clearly tell them why you want to know the correct age they should be able to tell what info the breeder gave when selling them. You still take these ages at a risk that they picked a figure from air to tell you for a sale.

You also need to know if your birds are too old to breed. Hen should not be used over the age of three, sometime a breeder will removed eggs to another clutch on a four year old hen if the hen if is high value. Males shouldn’t be used over the age of 6.

Once you know if your birds are ready or not you can look at other issues.

Health:
Both the mother and farther need to be in tip top health. This is making sure there are none of the normal signs of illness: Sitting fluffed up continually, Discoloration/discharge present on feathers above nostrils, Lethargy, Vomiting, and Inability to balance, Stains or accumulated poop on vent feathers. If you can’t tell this apart rethink your idea of breeding them right now and study behaviour. You can also take the birds to your vet to get an all well check up. They also need to be in breeding condition. The hens will have dark brown cere or turning brown while the males cere will be a deep and even blue.

Relationship:
The closer the bird the more risk of defects and problems arising. Beginner breeders should not even t think of starting of with line breeding it takes a lot of effort to do correctly. The closest most people deem acceptable is grandparent to grandchild or aunt uncle to nephew niece. But Line breeding or inbreeding can not be taken lightly
How To Breed Budgies Correctly
Set up: 
Yes using a normal bird cage can work but you need to think about where to put the box, and if it’s inside the cage is there enough room for 6-10 birds still? Making sure you have enough clear space around the sides or ground to either hang or play extra seed dishes and fresh food plates.

Hand feeding: 
You will need to have hand feeding formula before any babies appear for the in case moment of having to feed a newborn chick. Added to the food are syringes for problem feeders and a spoon bent into a spout. It would also help for you to visit a breeder or a vet that handles bird who can show you the way to feed them correctly.

Afterwards: 
What are you going to do with the chicks? Give them away to friends and family, sell them privately?, sell them to a pet shop or even keep them. What ever you choose to do it needs to be thought over first. 

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