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Is there any good ways or means by which I can encourage my budgies to mate?
Hello,im new here and I want to ask a question about budgerigar birds (budgies) , i have kept birds since i was a child I have kept budgies for a long time ..the first 2 pairs i got mated very fast and laid eggs and chicks hatched and were very very well reaching adulthood ...about 2 years ago i bought another pair of budgies remembering how fun they were and hung a nesting box for them but throughout a whole year they haven't laid any eggs and didnt even try to mate ..the male wasn't even trying to mate so I just released the 2 birds in my garden to give them their freedom as keeping them was no longer of any use to me...later, 4 days ago I bought 2 new budgies a male and a female from the bird store and put them in the breeding cage together hoping that they would mate , im quite sure they r male and female the male has got a very bright blue cere and the female has got a brown crusty one so I guess they are in condition , my cage is like double size of the normal common breeding cages and i put a nesting box in it..they have everything there fresh water daily,fresh seeds changed daily lots of veggies like cucumber,carrots and other leaf-like stuff, they get light nearly 10 hours a day and alot of air passes through the room.
They look like have adjusted well to their new enviroment & started to get more active and at night they sleep together on the swing up the cage .
Here's the backgroung of my birdies but my question is how much time do they need to adjust and start to mate (if they will as im a bit un-hopeful) im afraid they just wont mate like my last pair ..i have only seen the male going into courtship like 2 or 3 times ..not very true courtship as he didnt feed the female but he kept looking to her and tapping her beak with his and moving his head up and down but he didnt try to mate with her or feed her and thats all but its just their fourth day in their new cage..
another thing is: any tips or advice on how can i trigger the mating process or encourage the male to mate and is there any hope they will mate and lay fertile eggs?
sorry for all my blabber but im a bit deseperate for advice
thank you
aya
xxxxxx
by feeding this to your budgies in a seperate pot slightly moistened with water this will help bring budgies into breeding condition,
use a plain canary and panacum millet mix at a ratio of 50/50 instead of budgie seed and give them budgie tonic 2 times a week... also you may want to try the bird care co products which are very good and they have products in their range of vitimins which also help bring into condition ,
a smaller cage may be needed as they feel more secure in smaller cages , and so better breeding results,
budgies also prefer to colony breed ,if you are not interested in what colors you produce then this may be the way to go as they will pr themselves up to a suitable compatable mate rather than been forced togather whith somebody they thing is really ugly hehe...
feed fresh fruit and veg every day and give them a spray bath everyday.. this will help them also come into condition ..
it could take a long time for me to explain all the factors of how to get birds to breed including, light, heat, cage, vitimins , seed, etc etc and so probibly you could get a lot of detailed answers on our site...
thank you so so much mrssittingduck for ur post ..that was very informative and helpful and i will try to buy a common smaller cage and put them there and to mention ..the 2 pairs that i have successfully bred before were in smaller cages like the ones for breeding so i guess since i bought the big one my budgies wont breed ..also ill keep up with the fresh fruits and veggies daily which i already do ,i will also try egg food as u said and buy them cuttlebones for extra calcium ..by the way i have been giving them a spray bath just before i opened askmeyourhelpdesk to find your post ..about the light they get 10-12 hours of daylight daily ill try to make it 14 (that means i have to get up more early to remove their night cover!lol! no problemo!^^) and the room is breezy fresh with air i will also try to download a recorded voice of budgies and play it for them to encourage mating so it will all be a waiting game for me and wish me luck
thanks again for being so helpful if i get time ill check out the website you gave me but now ill be buying a smaller cage
good luck with your budgies and i hope they breed for you,
the site i mentioned is exeptional where advice is concearned and well worth the look,
the combination of all the above factors put togather will help you to have very happy healthy birds that want to breed, it is a matter of getting the conditions just right, which is why combinations of more than 1 change will help, the food is the most important factor so once this is changed their should be no problems
also you dont mention how old your birds are as they should not be bred before the hens are 1 year old, they can be bred from 9 month but the chances of eggbinding in a young hen are very great and the bird may well die from it, cocks can be bred from 9 month old but not hens..
also if the birds are over 4 years old and have never been allowed to breed it will be harder for them to get into the swing of things and know what to do , some takre to it with ease while others dont.. at 4 years old the egg count will start going down however they can still lay and hatch eggs to a good age past 4 years old
well thankyou ^^ i just came back from the store...i bought a new smaller cage put them there with fresh seeds and water and hung a nesting box there ..in the morning ill give them fresh veggies and give them a spray bath...also i have found at the store some kind of syrup u can add to the drinking water that makes the male birds more keen of mating..is that kind of medication safe..do u recomend it if my birds don't breed in about a month or 2?! thank you! and ill have a look at your site
hi if you could give me the name of the treatment for the water i could tell you much better on weather it would have good results as i can look the ingredients up,
anything sold for birds is likely to be safe in the right dosage .. just make sure you dont go over the dosage required..
let me know the name of the product and i can tell you more...
however the danger with making just the cockbird want to breed is that if the hen is not in breeding condition at the same time as the cock, their could be trouble in the cage as the cock will not stop pestering her , and they may start to fight, so keep an eye out for any severe fighting, it is not unusual for budgies to draw blood on each other even in mild fights but keep your eye out for severe fighting..
as i said let me know the name of the product and if i or my friends have used it i will let you know what is thought of it and what the ingredients do .......
ok...unfortunately i havent recognized its name but it's an Egyptian product (I live there) SO im quiet sure ull have no idea about it but i will try to tell u its ingredients and u may help me out ..but i guess it will be safe to use it also both my birds ARE in breeding condition & the female i got is of a very quiet and soft nature so it wont b a problem anyway ill have to use it if i see no signs of mating
another Q: when should i expect eggs after the 2 birds have been together i saw people saying u should expect them in 10-12 days if everything goes well ..is it true or do they need sometime to bond together?
sorry for annoying u that much again but ur just great if ud like to add me or e-mail me my yahoo mail is " ayakaramany" at" yahoo (dot) com LOL!
hi , in most cases budgies need time to bond,
most people pair them up in october and they start to breed in march, i dont know about your weather conditions or if your birds are inside or out ...
but that is the time we put them "down" in the uk..
however if both birds introduced to one and other are new and both are in full breeding condition sometimes (not very often with budgies but it does happen) they will go down and mate straight away,
once they have done this the eggs do take around 10 days to start laying and after that they will lay an egg every other day.. they will start sitting the eggs after the 2nd or 3rd egg has been layed and incubation will take approximitely 18 days depending on weather (hotter weather may take less time) colder weather take more time)
the eggs you will find that some of them hatch togather and the remaining eggs will hatch every other day ...
but all because a bird has mated doesnt mean the eggs will be fertile or that any will hatch so if you do get eggs please dont get your hopes up until you find they are fertile ...
good luck and i really do hope my answers have helped you, if you need any more help please contact me
either through here the website or by pm katie
the only stupid questions are the ones that never get asked
you are asking questions and hopefully taking note and learning, i dont mind helping anybody when it comes to birds birds are my life and have been hand rearing, incubating and breeding birds for 20 years i am only 23 years old so like i said they are my life ..
please ask if you have any questions and if i can help , i will help
katie
..
birds are my life and have been hand rearing, incubating and breeding birds for 20 years i am only 23 years old 
so like i said they are my life 
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