January 10, 2024
Budgie fledging
my one and only birdbath baby is now 5 weeks old when should I remove it from the cage and how do I prevent the parents from mating again besides separating the pair.
Question:
Answer:
Hi,
You can remove the chick as soon as it is eating on its own. As for future breeding, they need to use a nest box. Obviously the bath didn’t work out, so that needs to be removed especially if the chick has left it. If you let them breed again, the nest box must be removed as soon as the chicks leave it. If you want to discourage breeding or stop them from breeding, try all of the changes below. There is no accidental breeding with birds – you have to give them a way to incubate the eggs. A pair will breed and lay eggs, but you do not have to let them sit on the eggs.
Keep in mind that to lay eggs, they need longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. The goal is to reverse these conditions. In the wild, they get signals from nature to end breeding season, but in captivity, if ideal conditions continue to be provided, a hen will literally lay eggs until it kills her. In the wild they only breed once a year, and typically only raise one clutch per year.
Limit their light to 8-10 hours by covering the cage early each evening
Do not give her anything to use as a nest – no bird huts or tents, no box, bowl, etc. If she decides to sit in a food bowl, remove it and replace with smaller cups.
Do not give her anything to shred such as paper or cardboard.
Rearrange the toys in the cage frequently.
Move the cage to a different place in the room. Move the cage about once a week, or whenever she shows signs of nesting – settling on the cage floor for example. This disrupts her idea of having a stable place to lay eggs and raise chicks.
If you feed a lot of fresh foods, stop offering any for a couple of weeks, and then only offer them in small amounts about 2 or 3 times a week. You can resume normal feeding later when the birds aren’t being hormonal.
If she is let out of the cage, do not let her get in any dark cozy places and don’t give her free roam.
When you handle her, limit any petting to only the head and neck – do not pet a bird on the body. Only a bonded mate is allowed to groom the body. We can’t be a mate, so touching the body is off limits.
If there is no metal floor grate, then do not use any bedding or paper in the cage tray – leave it bare and clean it daily.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
