Monday 15 April 2013

Budgerigar (budgie / Love Bird) Breeding Tips

48 comments

For breeding a Budgerigar all you have to do is create a favorable condition for the birds to fall in love and then let nature take its course but their are some essential points that you must know.

Budgerigar (budgie for short), Melopsittacus undulates, in India we commonly call them love-birds.

The Parents :


While buying budgies, whether buying from a reputable breeder or from a pet shop, take a good look at it to make sure it looks healthy, chirpy and active. No missing feathers, no excreta stuck to its bottom. Bright alert eyes are usually a sign of good health. This is important in case of buying all birds.


Budgerigar breeding, budgie breeding, Love birds breeding



Creating the Atmosphere :


If you are planning to breed them following things are very necessary.
- Male + Female (Male has a blue/purple cere* and female has brown/white cere*)
  *Cere is upper part of the beak where nostrils are located.
- A cage
- Sturdy nesting box on the outside of the cage
- Low disturbance level
- Plenty of seed and water
- Mineral blocks and calcium blocks 
- Extra light during the day to make them think their days are longer

Lets know each other :


Both birds need to be old enough, I'd say 12 months at least for him, a bit older for her. It may take time for the pair to start mating. They need to get used to each other and acclimatise to the new environment. During the course of breeding season the cere of the female budgie starts to change colour from white to brown and the cere colour of the male budgie gets a nice royal blue till the breeding season comes to an end.

The Family Begins :


Once they start mating, it should take about 10 days for the first egg to be laid then a new egg is laid every other day. Sometimes they miss a day, sometimes they lay on consecutive days. But again this is all theoretical. Animals do not follow the books.

About 18-23 days after the first egg is laid is when the first chick should hatch, depending on how soon the hen starts sitting on them. Sometimes they sit from the first egg being laid, sometimes they don't sit until they have 3 eggs. It’s all instinctive.

If you follow all of these steps and have lots of patience, you might get lucky and end up with some nice little chicks.  Good luck!

The entire information was provided by Harshal Rawool , a friend , a Zoologist from the heart and a lecturer by profession.

Please do not buy any budgie for the sake of experimenting after reading this. 

A life is a life no matter how small it may be.




48 comments:

  1. Hi Anandan,

    I've bought a pair of badrikas yesterday, and I hope I can learn to care for them well through your site. I wanted to ask, though - can I put other sort of birds in the same cage? The cage is pretty big.

    Also, how do I spot a real australian budgie? Because my friend says he can get a pair cheap if I want. And will they mate with the indian variety?

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  2. Hi Swarna,

    Sorry for late reply. My suggestion avoid adding other birds with budgies. Male budgies are very territorial. So if you are adding smaller birds the budgie may attack it. If you are adding a larger bird it may attack your budgies. Many other blogs and website say that cockatiels can live with budgies with harmony but my advice do not take the risk.

    In a 2ft (height) x 1ft(breadth) x 1ft(length) cage, 6 pairs can survive easily. Best idea is to check out the rod in the cage (where the budgies rest). There should be a space of +1 on the rod. This gives the birds some space to turn around.

    There is not much difference between the wild Australian type variety and the Indian ones. Difference can be seen in English budgies and wild type. English budgies are larger. And by the way why do you want an Australian budgie when you can get a good Indian one. Plz don't encourage exotic bird trafficking and poaching. Many exotic birds have become extinct and many are on the verge on extinction because of this eg. Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii). Let the birds live in the environment.
    Good Luck with your birds and hope I helped. Feel free to comment :)

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  3. my female budgie lays 4 eggs and she start the brooding from 1 st egg. but she does not sit on her egg at night. every day she coming out from the next box at eviening and does not go there any more at night. she has also male mate and he make her fed. now what should i do?

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    Replies
    1. The female would not sit on the eggs 24x7. The temperature needs to be regulated so she will sit on the eggs only when she feels that the eggs are getting cold. Also, She will not feed by herself the male will feed her. This is completely natural. Be careful that you do not disturb her at this stage.

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  4. thanks Anandan. i will follow your advice.this is her 2 nd clutch. first clutch was totally unsucceful . it made me very tence.

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    Replies
    1. You are welcome Smritilekha. Hope everything goes fine with this clutch.

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    2. Hi Anandan,
      Only one no egg is hatch among the 4 eggs in one week ago. I am very excited for this first chicks. Have you any suggestion regarding the caring of chicks?
      I am only use seed and cattle bone. Is there any home made substitute of mineral blocks? I seen that our budgie loose their shine. They becone very dull. I am live in a remote village. Please help me some list of food which is easily available in my area.

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  5. I have three budgies in my nest.....two male and one female.... In which one male and female are having good conversations but the rest male is interrupting them. I have installed wooden nest a day back..... Any suggestion for their healthy breading... And food items to supply

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    Replies
    1. Two males and one female is not a good combination Raheez. The other male will always keep on disturbing and interrupting the pair. I can suggest you two options buy a new female for the other male or separate the other male.

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  6. i have 5 pairs and one pair successfully hatched 3 chiks which are 2 weeks old both parents were feeding well but last week the male became a little sick an could not help the feeding female. the female is now disturbed and has badly injured her mate and other birds in the aviary.this fight happens only in the dark in the night.please suggest anything else than removing either the said pair or other birds. thanks

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    Replies
    1. Sorry for replying late Ashok. Now to answer your question... it could be that the fight takes place over food and water. Try increasing the quantity of food and water. Apart from this the best I can suggest you is Watch them for a while n try to find out the cause of fight.

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  7. these birds are budgerigars and it is also very cold in delhi for your kind info

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  8. Hi Anandan, I have a stray budgie which came into my balcony a few weeks back, ive been looking after him and he seemed fine, since the past two days ive noticed that hes been itchy and scratches his body a lot more than usual and he goes crazy at night when the light is off. I fear he might be having some mites so i took him to a dr who was not an avian vet but he just said you give him some cetrezine syrup mixed in his water- i am not sure if that is what i really need to do and im finding it hard to get a good vet in bangalore.please let me know what to do to make him healthier.

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  9. Hi

    I got 2 budgies as gift from a friend. I dont know anything about pets, so not sure of the age, gender even. I am feeding them seeds I got from pet shop and water. What else should I feed them?How can I identify the gender?

    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Hi Deepa,

      Giving seeds is not sufficient. Please provide cooked rice, properly peeled, washed and cooked vegetables such as carrots, chow chow preferably organic , and grated almonds as well. If the cere i.e portion above the beak is blue then it is a male, if it is white or brown than female. For budgies younger than 6 months , the cere remains pink/purple irrespective of gender. Ensure to keep your budgies in a warm place not very breezy. During winter, cover the cage partially with a warm cloth.

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    2. Thank you so much for letting me know the food and other details. Can you please tell me how can I play with them because they seem scared the moment anyone goes around the cage.
      - Deepa

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    3. Budgies are little wonders. Their presence itself is like a blessing to your life. They are very innocent. It takes time for them to get use to a new owner and as they belongs to parrot family, they have lots of self respect. They do not like if you try to hold them. Go slowly near the cage, carry some food that they would love to eat in a small plate, even boil rice would do. slowly put your hand into the cage and hold the plate near them.Do it gently, it might get scared if you are shaking the plate or moving fast. Initially they may go away, slowly they will overcome the fear and start eating from your plate and slowly start playing with you. This trick may work out but it is all on your luck. It is just like how some children are scared of parents while some would love playing with parents. :) RIP my little budgie. I miss her a lot.
      -Priyanka

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  10. My budgie died recently. She was around 6 years. In the net I found that budgies can live upto 12 years when taken care and with a proper diet however mine failed to survive in spite of taking proper care. Is it because I have purchased her from a local vendor in India and in India, budgies have a less life span due to improper breeding?

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  11. hi Anandan Konar

    i have two pairs of budgies. i have installed earthen nestbox in the cage. I want to know that what is the mating season of Budgerigars in India?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Tsdeogan,
      Budgerigars will breed all year round if allowed. There are no particular season that I know of. But warm climates are preferred.

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  12. My bird died recently . He was with us for only 9 months which is very less in comparison to the given life span. We gave him green leafy vegetables and corn apart from pellets and we even clean their cage regularly . I don't know what happened to him but he kept on falling or stumbling of his perch and before we could take him to a vet , he died. It was very sudden and came as a shock because he was fine few days ago. At night we notice his balance problems and next day early morning he was gone. We didn't even have chance to take him to the doctor. I had 11 birds and now there are 8. Two birds died before , one had a liver problem and another one had a lung infection as doctor mentioned. I dont know what are we doing wrong. We give them fresh food and water , clean their cage regularly and we even open them so they can fly. I am trying so hard but I think I am lacking somewhere . These three budgies didn't even last a year. Please help or suggest me . It's so disheartening to watch them die.

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    Replies
    1. Disorientaion could be due to build up of toxins in the body caused by fungal infections in the croup. Other symptoms would be retching. Would suggest salt solution at sea water concentration, 0.5 ml. Twice a day. To administer take a 3 inch long bicycle valve tube attach to a syringe and administer the solution via the mouth directly to the croup. All the best. Ad a preventive for croup infections add .5 ml vinegar to 100 ml drinking water daily. Change water in the evening/ night so the birds get fresh water in the morning

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  13. For scratching budgie, in case you detect mites or feather lice.drop of ivermactin on the back. Though ask the vet for the dosage. alternately You could dip the bird in liguid butox solution.hold it for 5 minutes and repeatedly dip in clean water. Do it on a warm day and domt let the medicine get in the mouth.All the best.

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  14. On season for breeding- based on where you are based the hatching rate will vary. Though the birds will lay round the year. The incubation temp is 37 degrees. In hot weather in north you should not breed during summer as the eggs would spoil in 40 degree temp. You need to supply warmth below 10 degrees. Also summers is infection time in north. And the birds get unnessasarily stressed, the young too if they survive are not really healthy.

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  15. As for dimensions of cage , with PETA in mind,min length should be 3 ft. So the birds have 2 ft flying space after a perch on both ends is mounted. Height 1.5 ft and above. Width based on num of birds. 3 inch per bird on the highest roosting perchs. So if you have a 2 ft wide cage its goodfor 16 birds assuming highest perches on two ends. in this scenario none of your birds will sleep on the wire mesh at night.

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  16. my budgies cage has very big. i have 10 budgies birds. but my any budgies bird didn't lay eggs . please you can tell me that but can i can do...?

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  17. This is a great post as ususal, Thanks for sharing such great information,
    Buy Pet Food India

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  18. Hi folks.,
    I recently bought two pairs f love birds. Two blue color cere and two has white color cere. Green love bird (blue cere) is always being loved by the other three (two white &blue cere) . If one s getting loved by green bird others are getting possessive and they r fighting for the green bird. Even the blue cere bird s behind the green bird (blue cere) . I'm confused did I buy the correct sex f birds and 'll they really pair up ?

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  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. Hii...i hav a pair of budgies n a parrot...bugies r one male n female...but i dunno the gender of parrot...n also how to kno wether my budgies are adults o young?

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  21. helllo sir how r u i hope u will be fine , i have big cage for my budgie and there are 8 pair. and female is pregnent so its safe for the egg?... and what the eat healty food suggest me please waiting and please make whatsaap group

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  22. helllo sir how r u i hope u will be fine , i have big cage for my budgie and there are 8 pair. and female is pregnent so its safe for the egg?... and what the eat healty food suggest me please waiting and please make whatsaap group

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  23. Hello sir i have pair of love birds.what is the season for mating the love birds

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  24. i had newly brought 2 pairs of budgies. and within one month i saw one pair is start mating.
    i had attached proper nest box for them but i am so confused that , what should i put into the nest box. because other birds prepare their nests with grass and small bushes and sticks.
    so please suggest me if anything i can put into their nest box to make a female budgie comfortable.

    thank you,
    regards
    sharad

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  25. Hi, I would like to know about breeding budgies. I have 6 budgies, 3 male and 3 female. One of the pair is really interested with eachother. Most of the time male(Tommy) regurgitate to his girl, Julie. I have placed 1 clay pot inside the cage, and Julie is going inside and exploring it aswell. I have put some Coconut fibres inside the nest pot. Is our necessary to put nesting materialsinside the pot to encourage the female,as Tommy is trying to stand on her bit she is not letting him to do it. Tommy has bright blue cere and Julie has light brown cere. Please advice as what i have to do to encourage my budgies to mate. I have placed cuttle bone, pellets and sec mix, fresh veges daily and fresh water thrice daily.

    Looking forward for your reply.
    Thanks

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  26. Gratitude.....for such valuable information..

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  27. Gratitude.....for such valuable information..

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  28. past 8 months i have one pair budgie birds but not laying eggs.

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  29. Hi v have bought 3 pairs of lovebirds two pairs had got together and started laying egg... out of 6- 2 hatched for one pair n 3 out of 5 for other pair..
    Problems are
    T hen still sits on t eggs, which r more than 35 days old.
    Wat should i do? Do i need to remove it? But i feel pity wen t hen sits on it...
    Other pair hasn't mate still they both dont even communicate each other both playing separatly in t cage...
    (As one female has injured this unpaired female i have bought a other cage n left t unpaired male n female in it)
    Please suggest wat else can i do ?
    My birds eat seed tomato etc... n it loves coriander leaves

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi v have bought 3 pairs of lovebirds two pairs had got together and started laying egg... out of 6- 2 hatched for one pair n 3 out of 5 for other pair..
    Problems are
    T hen still sits on t eggs, which r more than 35 days old.
    Wat should i do? Do i need to remove it? But i feel pity wen t hen sits on it...
    Other pair hasn't mate still they both dont even communicate each other both playing separatly in t cage...
    (As one female has injured this unpaired female i have bought a other cage n left t unpaired male n female in it)
    Please suggest wat else can i do ?
    My birds eat seed tomato etc... n it loves coriander leaves

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
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  34. I have written a post about Budgie got hit by fan based on my experiece. I would like if some experts like you check this out.

    Looking forward for feedback. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Kya ek pinjre me do mada aur ek nar rah sakte he? Vo breeding nai karte kya kre

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  36. Kya ek pinjre me do mada aur ek nar rah sakte he? Vo breeding nai karte kya kre

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  37. in one cage i placed 2 pair of budgies ... Both pair laid egg.....

    Few days back .... one of the male budgies flew...

    Now from4-5days i am seeing both females are fighting .... .

    So i saperated the single female pair into new cage.....

    But that single female budgie is not sitting on egg from few hours .....

    What is the cause.....will the egg hatch .....

    ReplyDelete