Guess What! - need breeders advice

[spiritbird]

As I was checking e mails this morning all was quiet. I heard sweet Linnie sounds but my eyes were on the computer screen. Happened to look up for a second and low and behold Kobe and Tango were mating! Does the female always lay eggs after mating? I really know nothing about the details here.

At least I have dummy eggs. I could of course keep 2 of the real ones if things happen here. There is no nest box in the cage but I do have one. OK breeders any advice here?

[spiritbird]

Anyone?

[Mare]

Well, I have no advice but sounds like you are in for an adventure! :). Good luck!

[spiritbird]

I have read and heard about giving the birds all the nesting material they need and let them go through the process. With Tango being 7 month old she will most likely not be a good mom the first time round. That is just an uneducated guess. Hey Steve where are you?

[Lady]

I know I would be nervous. Researching is the way to go, till Steve or someone with some experience pops in to help. Seven months old sure seems young to be a Dad, but that is because I have yet to research anything about breeding birds. The eggs are going to be so very tiny I would think.... oh just imagine how tiny the baby's will be~

[spiritbird]

They seem to have just discovered the newspaper in the cage bottom.

[Mr Peepers]

They seem to have just discovered the newspaper in the cage bottom.


Are they shredding the newspaper up and gathering it in a corner? 7 months is not too young to breed... I've seen a cock budgie that was 5 month old that bred with budgie hen who was close to 9 months old. They produced a couple of nice healthy clutches.

If the urge is there they will breed and find nesting material and lay eggs.

[spiritbird]

No shredding yet. What else can a bird do when caged all day long. Grow back flight feathers!

[Cedardave]

Well I guess im late to this one.Usually nothing comes from the first egg laying.At 7months you may get eggs but they may not be viable.You may not even get eggs because of their age.If you are interested in having a group of little ones, I would go to your local pet store and pick up a plactic nest box...about 10 bucks...put some pine shavings in and see what happens.Eggs if layed on the bottom of cages are subject to waste being thrust upon them and if your cage is so equiped with a grate they will fall thru causing the parents tremendous stress.The most likely scenerio at the age you mentioned is they were simply going thru the motions...I have a pair of conures that have been on that honeymoon for a couple years now qith no eggs.

[spiritbird]

Thanks for the reply. I have a plastic nest box I got on Amazon but it does not fit to hang on outside of cage. Would have to either get one that will or put this one inside of cage on floor which is not ideal.

I really know next to nothing about raising chicks. My birds have shown no signs of nesting behavior except crawling under newspaper which Kobe has done since day 1. I just assumed eggs would follow mating but that has not happened. Guess I should be more prepared for this in the future. Thanks again Dave.

[Cedardave]

Most petstores sell small plastic ones that hang on the inside of the cage.Linnies are generally not at all aggressive when it comes to their nests.We are able to reach in and check them without any issues.The plastic ones i mentioned typically have a clear plastic on one end that slides up and a black cover to give them privacy.They really are perfect for these little guys.Ourselves and other breeders of linnies use these exclusively because they are so good.They even have a small cup as part of the bottom mould of the plastic to keep the eggs from rolling all over.

[spiritbird]

Sound like the one I have but will not hang where it should on outside because the prongs to hang with are too wide to fit through the cage bars. I will try and post a photo tomorrow.

[spiritbird]

OK here is a link to the box I am talking about. [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] Its nice except I cannot mount on the outside of the cage due to the width of the hooks. I am not strong enough in the hands to make any alterations in the cage nor do I want to spread out the bars of the cage. Its rather useless.

3037 You can see here how wide the plastic hooks are. For a small bird nest you would think it would be better made to hang on 1/2 bar spacing.

[Cedardave]

Ah...completely differant from the ones we use.Ours are rectangular,black and easily hang on the inside of even very small cages.

[spiritbird]

Can you please post a photo of your nest box? The one in the photo will not fit any of the two cages I have. It must be made only for vision cages. So, I am nest box shopping. Is this it? [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] Also how does one attach the box to the outside of the cage where the opening is located?

[colbon2]

I inquired about this with my breeder when my female Lilo laid about four eggs over spring.. It was my first experience with eggs and My female was about two years old... because she was older my breeder said I wouldn't really have to worry as much about egg binding. When hens are younger they are at higher risk for egg binding so be careful. Also it's not recommended to breed two blue birds... it's more recommended to breed a mutation back to green to keep the babies strong. Although I know this lol, though both my babies are from a pairing of blue parents, but both of mine are girls :D

[wingman]

I would go ahead and put the breeder box in the cage with a paper towel or news paper. Every time my budgies have done that there ends up being eggs in the breeder box!

[spiritbird]

With the help of a neighbor friend the plastic nesting box has been customized to fit the cage. If have the nesting materials also at the ready. The only thing I do not have is hand feeding supplies and I hope not to use them. I like the idea of co parenting baby birds. However a first time for me and the parent birds is scary.

[Mr Peepers]

Maybe there is a few recipes of specialty formulas you make for your breeding birds when they lay eggs and have chicks to feed?

Dry egg food can be purchased in a small box or bag, you just add water and veggies if you like its easily available at most pet stores.

I've made fresh egg food for breeding birds by using freshly hard boiled eggs, I smash the eggs through a sieve creating a fine mixture then I added cut up finely tips of raw broccoli and super fine shredded carrots to the egg fix.

I then add either dry egg food or fresh bread crumbs or cous cous or quinoa to the mix, it stores in the fridge for days and should be fed to your breeding pair twice a day. The parent birds usually hoover the mix up and use this to feed the chicks, it gives extra vitamins and minerals to growing chicks and helps keep parent birds healthy as tending to chicks can stress them out when feeding.

This egg food offers so much more then just the regular fruit veg and seed mix your birds eat daily.


[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]


[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

[spiritbird]

Very helpful, thanks Nick. I have been giving them egg food but not like you mix it. I can do this when the time comes. I just made an appointment at my avian vet who is super experienced and travels the world visiting other bird vets. Late September I will take Tango to him and see if she is old enough and healthy enough in body to go through 1 or 2 hatchings. My poor birdies are still cage bound waiting for flights to grow back. Its a painfully slow process and they get so stressed out when I take them out by hand and play with them. If I had no furniture it would be ok to let them run around the floor but they both go under the sofa or chair and stay there. Even in the bathroom Kobe finds a place to hide from me I cannot get to.

[Mr Peepers]

Very helpful, thanks Nick. I have been giving them egg food but not like you mix it. I can do this when the time comes. I just made an appointment at my avian vet who is super experienced and travels the world visiting other bird vets. Late September I will take Tango to him and see if she is old enough and healthy enough in body to go through 1 or 2 hatchings. My poor birdies are still cage bound waiting for flights to grow back. Its a painfully slow process and they get so stressed out when I take them out by hand and play with them. If I had no furniture it would be ok to let them run around the floor but they both go under the sofa or chair and stay there. Even in the bathroom Kobe finds a place to hide from me I cannot get to.


Awwe, those birdies do keep you on your toes, lets hope their flights grow in soon!

[spiritbird]

OK I am writing down your egg recipe and calling it Peeps Eggs. I might ground almonds and add. What do you think of that?

[Mr Peepers]

OK I am writing down your egg recipe and calling it Peeps Eggs. I might ground almonds and add. What do you think of that?


I don't know if I would put almonds in it, maybe someone else can give you an idea with any egg type food they might have fed their birds when breeding and nesting with chicks.

I would be concerned if the almonds gave off a type of protein that might mix with the boiled egg and cause it to turn.


This mixture was what I fed to Peepers when I first got him, he was under weight and needed some fast nutrients. He must have thought he was in hog heaven, fresh veggies chopped in egg with quinoa. He loved this mixture.

[colbon2]

@spiritbird I looked up the possibilities of babies

1.0 is Male
0.1 is Female

If your male is the Cobalt and the Female is the Turquoise then if the male is also split to Ino these are the results that can come from a Pairing


Cock: cobalt split to ino
Hen: turquoise split to -

Result:
12.50 % 1.0 cobalt
12.50 % 1.0 turquoise
12.50 % 0.1 cobalt
12.50 % 0.1 turquoise
12.50 % 1.0 cobalt /ino
12.50 % 1.0 turquoise /ino
12.50 % 0.1 creamino+1df
12.50 % 0.1 creamino

However if he is not split then you have This pairing result

Cock: cobalt split to -
Hen: turquoise split to -

Result:
25.00 % 1.0 cobalt
25.00 % 1.0 turquoise
25.00 % 0.1 cobalt
25.00 % 0.1 turquoise

Results came from online calculator: [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

[spiritbird]

Exactly what does split mean? Tango had 3 hatch mates that were all green. I do not know about Kobe. Thanks for doing that.

[spiritbird]

Looked up the answer for meaning of split. . Split is just "bird talk" for heterozygous. Heterozygous means carrying a recessive trait. So I am guessing this means Tango is split green?

[spiritbird]

Nick I ordered that egg food from Amazon yesterday afternoon and to my amazement it was delivered to my door at 2 pm today. Now that's prime at its best!

[Mr Peepers]

Nick I ordered that egg food from Amazon yesterday afternoon and to my amazement it was delivered to my door at 2 pm today. Now that's prime at its best!


That's excellent fast delivery.

Try your two eating it with just a little water and see if they like it, it has honey in it so entice them. If they don't go for it then I'd try mixing in their favorite chopped veggies.

And then you can add it to hard boiled eggs and veggie mixes. I'll be curious to see how they like it.