Ask Lafeber

Budgie breeding

How do I get my budgie to sit/incubate her eggs? She lets them drop to the bottom of the cage and ignores them. Is there anything I can do to help her care for them or can I care for them until they hatch

Hi,

Some birds never make good breeders. If she continues this, I would remove the nest box and not try to breed this pair. It’s very hard on her to form and lay eggs, and you should let her keep doing this. A pair should be rested for about 6 months between each clutch, whether the eggs hatch or not. I would not recommend trying to incubate the eggs since these are budgies which are very common. Incubators are expensive, and budgies are almost impossible to hand raise from day 1. Without having a good start from the parents, they can end up sickly and weak even if they do survive. If you have to stop trying to breed them, here are some changes you can make to discourage future egg laying.

Keep in mind that in the wild for breeding, they need longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. The goal is to reverse these conditions.

Limit their light to 8-10 hours by covering the cage early each evening

Do not give them 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 them 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 they show 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.

When they are let out of the cage, do not let them get in any dark cozy places and don’t give them free roam. When you let them roam around, this mimics searching for a nesting site.

When you handle them, 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