hello, new, discussion questions, etc.

swanwillow · Post by **swanwillow** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:38 pm

Hi, I just got a pair of breeder IRN's... :mrgreen:

the male is a turquoise and the female cinnamon. don't know if they are split to anything, or anything special (other than not being green or blue)

couple of questions: The female is more or less obsessive about her nest box, so I'm told. ie; she never leaves it. I've had them for 24~ish hours now, just put the nest box on, for comfort. I'm not hoping for babies (its not still breeding season usually I've read) right away, but is it okay to leave it on there?
She also looks pretty scruffy... kinda ruffled/missing feathers on her head from the male... normal?

and, I have them in my bedroom (no, I normally don't sleep in) is it okay to let the birds out to fly around a little? The male seems like he used to be a pet... he took a peanut out of my fingers, and hes not afraid like the female is. Hes actually a true attack bird. When we were putting the nestbox on, they were flying around, and he almost stepped up on my finger.. lifted his foot and got half way there before trying to rip my finger off. hes UBER agressive, the female scared.. so I was thinking of just opening the door to their cage for an hour a day, closing the door of the bedroom, and letting them fly around. Would that be too stressful, or good for them?

julie · Post by **julie** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:09 pm

Hello and welcome to the board. It may not be such a good idea to let them fly around where they could fly into walls ect they may get hurt. How big is the cage you have them in? Have you got any pics??

swanwillow · Post by **swanwillow** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:52 am

they are in the cage they came in, its 2x2x3~ish ft. not NEARLY big enough imo. need double that!!!

I'm getting the supplies to build them a new one. no pics yet; have to steal... err, borrow, the in-laws digi cam again.

They are settling in quite well. I'm pretty sure the male was hand tamed at one time, he'll take treats from me easily, whereas the female just wants to hide in a tiny ball in the corner whenever I look at the cage funny. She won't come out of the cage, but he will... and hes good about not flying into things, just protects his little lady. And takes peanut treats.

The cage that they are getting build is 5 feet long, 3 feet wide and tall. flight room for them, at least. That should be done being built by tomorrow evening, so they'll be moving in then.

for the rest of the day, they'll be by themselves, dont' worry, not TRYING to bug them altogether too much... just a little.

julie · Post by **julie** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:27 am

The hen may warm to you ,I have noticed all of mine know me now and are not very shy with me. The pair that I have inside (waiting for aviary to arrive) the male has decided that he will talk to my hubby and the hen talks to me. But I know they were hand raised and used to people. They should be right where they are now until you get your new aviary done.

swanwillow · Post by **swanwillow** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:10 pm

is it strange to be getting breeding behaviors this much out of season? the female is doing the bubbling noises, the male head bopping, some mounting going on...

how strange

silly birds

Post by **kyria** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 4:18 pm

Welcome to the family darlin

Probably just practicing .. its fun to practice stuff like that :wink:

*giggle*

I have a tame blue I paired with a wild female. He comes out and eventually she joined him, she follows him everywhere (Kai (male blue) mickey (female Lutino). But this was all after they had been paired and had a breeding season together (inside in our birdroom :shock:

)

I would just take it slowly with them as you already seem to be doing. Its always good to have the female not so tame with IRN's as I have heard tame females don't make good breeders. :wink:

but with the males it doesn't matter. My quaker pair are the same, Billy the boy is tame as can be, but Bell the female is a little wild, but follows billy like a bad smell.

swanwillow · Post by **swanwillow** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 4:38 pm

oh hes still mean as heck. Tried to rip my fingers off unless I have a treat for him in them!!!

swanwillow · Post by **swanwillow** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:04 pm

new cage.. almost up and running. I re-attached the nest box, and the female decided nope, not good enough. SOOO,
leave it off for now?
when do I put it back on/in?
and which is better, on I'm assuming for ease to see babies?

is a nice, 3feet long, 3 feet tall, and 2 feet wide good enough? the one that they are in is smaller than it looks, its 1.5x1.5x2 The three footer looks.. well, HUGE!!! not really, but it does look really nice.

well, theres an update and a few more questions. I'll take pictures soon... hopefully VERY soon.

mattyboardman · Post by **mattyboardman** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:19 pm

when i got my male and female they was breeding around 2 weeks later i put the box in the second day i got them she didnt go in it for around 5ish days and then she hardly come out of it only when they was breeding she come out of it so i would say yes put the box in with them.

my female as i said took 5 days to get into the box but 2 weeks after i got them they laid 4 eggs and all 4 eggs have hatched now. so i think they will start using it in time.

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 8:56 pm

The cage size should be okay. Most of my breeding cages are 3'x3'x6' suspended cages and some are 3'x6'x6' walk-in flights. I don't notice any difference in breeding performance between the two set-ups but I find the suspended cages easier to maintain.

An acquaintance of mine uses 2'x2'x4' breeding cages and they work just fine as well.

The nestboxes are hung outside the cages for ease in inspecting the nests. Where are you located? Breeding season starts in late winter all the way through spring so if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, it is NOW. Leave the nestbox installed and the hen should ease into it eventually. Put enough nesting material (about 5 inches deep) for her to rearrange. Any excess material will be thrown out.

swanwillow · Post by **swanwillow** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:13 pm

northern hemisphere, northern MN... I got a wait!!!