Breeding season in Texas?????

[omarion]

I need to kno when breeding season is in Texas ? What is best to keep my pairs together throughout the year or only during breeding season?

[omarion]

Help please!!!!!

[Skyes_crew]

North America breeding season is December through May give or take a month. Depending on how long your winter is. Breeding season is now just coming to a close. As for keeping your pairs together, if they are bonded already I don't see the harm. Are they in an outdoor aviary or indoors?

[omarion]

Thanks a lot for the info. I guess my pairs didn't do anything this season :/ and they are outdoors

[Skyes_crew]

There could be a lot of factors for why they didn't breed. Usually it's incompatibility. But it could also be weather related, age factor, unproven breeding habits, level of tameness, diet. Any number of things. If this is your first season breeding, I would take the off season to read up within this forum how to successfully induce good breeding habits. As well as being prepared for emergencies, hand feeding, incubating...anything and everything that could possibly go wrong. You could also try different hens against different cocks when you approach breeding season. You may like your pairs, but they may not agree with you

[Jonathan]

I live in east Texas, near Houston. I've had one pair of IRNs for almost 4 years now and I purchased another pair last year. My birds have nested as early as mid December but this year they started the last week of January. My new pair didn't start until a mid March, the cage I had them in was a bit small and they didn't start to nest until I moved them to a larger cage. My first pair layed two clutches but the new birds only one which I removed from the nest two and a half weeks ago, I don't expect they'll lay again this year.

[MissK]

Jonathan, that's kind of interesting. I noticed that my (non breeding, pet) bird molted at least a month late. How could I tell? He is just now dropping feathers that were clipped last year on April 23. This is the start of my second year with him. Do you feel that molting is that variable, or that this is odd?

-MissK

[JimHcctx]

I live in Corpus Christi, TX. For me, breeding season has started as early as Dec 27th and as late as Feb 1th. Then runs until the end of June. My aviaries are outdoors.

Last year was not a great year early in the season having the 1st eggs across the board clear, but shaped up will on 2nd and 3rd clutches.

This year I only had 2 clear egg clutches, both from the same pair, but he is only a 2 year old male just getting his ring. The rest bred very well and I still have babies out in 3 boxes, babies I am hand feeding and babies in a one year old cage. A friend of mine in Galveston has a pair that just started laying on June 1st which he has never had that late in the season.

As far as whether to keep the pairs together or not. Either way works, but it you want the flexibility to change those pairs each year, housing them in a community cage is the way to go. I have a clear tail male and for the past two years placed him with a violet. They have not bred. He had no interest, yet I noticed he was always chasing around a dark green (violet green). I pulled the violet and tossed in the dark green and he spent the rest of the season courting her. (Too bad I didn't notice the dark green was 1.0 LOL). The violet I re-paired mid season with cinnamon violet turquoise and got one double factor violet and two turquoise out of it. So having them familiar with all colors might work out better in the long run.

[omarion]

why is my female working the nestbox right now? aint it too early to breed?

[JimHcctx]

She wont unless you have her inside and for some reason have the lights on for at least 12 hours a day after she had been in a period of 8 hour a day light for some time. The "season" in Texas is over, but never say never! Good Luck!!

[omarion]

Thanks Jim.

So around when do you start putting your nestbox in? None of my other pairs have nest boxes except this pair, and why do you think she is working her nestbox? Could she just be getting ready for breeding season?

[JimHcctx]

I leave nest boxes in place all year around, but they never use them outside of season. If she is working it, I would leave it and see what happens. She might lay, never know. The only ones I have seen go in are this past seasons babies who wonder in and out just to look around. But it is not their nature to lay this far out of season, but it will be interesting to see if she does.