Many bird owners want to breed their
birds, for some species this is quite easy, but for others it is more
demanding. Overall breeding birds is not something you should get
into doing without a lot of thought and preparations. Be sure you
have homes for any offspring you produce, do not just assume you will
figure that out when the time comes.
You will also want to use caution not
to over-breed your birds as this will lead to breeding exhaustion. To
be a proper breeder you need to have a lot of room and time, you need
to have many cages, and if you are going to be hand-raising the young
birds you almost certainly have to be home for the majority of the
day.
Extend the hours of light to encourage breeding, reduce the hours of light to discourage breeding in birds.
Supplies Needed for Breeding Birds
Your birds must be put on a special,
high quality, diet for breeders.
They need a nesting box or nest.
Different species have different preferences, but these should be
removed later to prevent the birds from continuously laying eggs and
rearing young.
The birds need nesting material. Allow
your birds to place this in the nest themselves. You can purchase
different nesting materials as well as providing some pieces of dried
grass from your yard (assuming you have not used any chemicals on
your lawn). Aspen or pine shavings may be given, but never give
them cedar shavings, never use a cedar nesting box.
Your birds need to be kept in a stress
free area.
If you plan on hand rearing the young
birds you will need special feeding tubes, lubricant for the feeding
tubes as well as special food for the hatchlings. This is not
something I would recommend for a beginner to try on their own
without a coach or mentor to show you how it is done. Note that
different species of birds eat different food and are fed by
different methods.
Incubation Period for Birds Eggs
For most birds you must note that they
lay several eggs before sitting on them, often laying one egg per
day. Calculate hatching by counting from the day when the birds
start sitting on the eggs to incubate them.
- African Grey Parrot – 26 to 30 days
- Cockatoos – 28 to 29 days
- Cockatiels – 18 to 21 days
- Conures – 23 to 25 days
- Doves – 16 to 18 days
- Finches – 14 to 15 days
- Lovebirds – 21 to 25 days
- Macaws – 24 to 28 days
- Parakeets, Budgies – 17 to 20 days
If you are looking for bird supplies, or specifically for supplies for breeding birds be sure to check out Bird.com or PetCareRX, links are provided by clicking above!
