Something I've never done before

[dylbagz]

I've bred a number of birds, including Indian ringnecks for a long time, but never have I ever bred a bird that was a hand raised pet. Has anyone here ever done it?

One of my handraised 3-3.5 year old creamino indian ringneck hens has been essentially begging for me to let her breed. I've had birdy bunks/happy huts etc in the cage and she just rips parts of them up and makes her little nesty spot in the middle, same with cardboard items and toys - just rips them up and tries to nest in the little hanging tents. I finally got her a nestbox and attached it to the cage full of sawdust, and she's doing just like my other ringneck girls do - shoveling the sawdust out and spending hours in there preparing it. I've got her with a hand raised blue cock bird who has never bred before, but is mature (3.5 years). I wouldn't think anything of the pair breeding if one of them was an aviary bird who had been socialised with other birds and fledged out of a nestbox and knew what to do, but as these birds were both taken from the nest from 1-4 weeks, I'm not sure whether they will actually ever produce, even though my girl's nesting instinct is there.

Has anyone ever paired up two tame, hand raised birds successfully? Or am I just wasting my time with these two?

I am well aware that I don't have to pair her up, but if she's going to prepare a nest and perhaps lay on her own, I may as well let her actually have a real clutch - it's just about the same amount of effort for her, seeing as I'll be taking her babies later on anyway.

P.S. - she is a great ringneck and is very defensive of her territory and aggressive towards males, much like my aviary birds. I'd love to be able to breed her and raise her progeny, if they grow up anything to be like her, they will be incredible birds.

Any help, stories or experience would be appreciated!

Thanks

[SCB 22]

I bred my hand reared cinnamon green dom edge female with my tame green male successfully. Obviously they become very nippy whilst breeding, but then after the season is over calm down again

[Skyes_crew]

Has anyone ever paired up two tame, hand raised birds successfully? Or am I just wasting my time with these two?

I don't believe it's ever a waste of time to let nature take its course. Maybe you'll get lucky

[dylbagz]

Thanks for the info.

I've bred hand raised birds with aviary birds before, I'm actually doing it right now. But I've never tried two hand raised birds together.

Hopefully they produce for me, but if not, it's not a big deal. Better to do it with ringnecks than other birds anyway, seeing as the pair won't really bond like my green cheeks will.

[ellieelectrons]

I am in a slightly different situation to you. I have a male and female IRN that were handraised and share a cage, they are a bonded pair. However, I don't want them to breed.

Last year, after some very anti-social nesting behaviour from my female we gave in and gave them a nestbox. The birds mated (regularly), however the eggs didn't hatch. Our vet seemed to think this could just be because they are young and inexperienced.

This year, we still have nesting behaviour, no mating yet, that usually starts later in the year. I'm hoping that we won't need to give them a nest box but will see how we go.

My avian vet advises against those snuggly huts because he thinks they encourage breeding behaviour.

My male's parents are both tame house birds (i don't know if they were handraised though) and they breed successfully every year.

Ellie.

[dylbagz]

Yeah, I'm actually studying at UQ Gatton to be a vet, and I think it's only fair for me to at least let her try. She's been showing signs for 12 months, even out of season and it's driven me to the point of actually giving in and letting her try to produce.

Have you had any mating with any of your pairs (assuming you have more than one)? All of my birds (green cheeks, Bourke's, IRNs, cockatiels and budgies) all have eggs/babies already.

And yes, birdy bunks can encourage breeding behaviours in some birds, but most of mine (all but my creamino HR girl that I am trying to let breed) don't seem to think that they are a nest, just somewhere nice and snuggly to hang out.

Thanks for your sharing your experiences.