Breeding Cut Throats

[Pooky]

I have been trying to breed my pair of cut throats for the last three years but have had no luck. They always throw their babies out of the nest. I never do any nest inspections and I always try to keep right away from their nesting area so I don't disturb them. But they still throw out their young. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?

[GregH]

I haven't had too many problems with getting cut-throats to feed their young except for their conditioned respnses - to shorten the answer a pair feed theri young what they themselves were given as youngsters. I had a pair and they raised many young with just green & sprouted seed. I then purchased another pair and put it in with the first pair. They soon got down to business but three times the babies appeared to starve to death. I thought it was a competition thing so I put then in an aviary with a pair of small lorikeets and again they nested but the young perished a few days after hatching. I was getting frustrated and gave them another chance and noticed that this lot of 6 young were getting fed a little of the loikeet dry-mix but it wasn't enough to keep them alive and gradually they died off until only 2 were left and I decided to try boiled egg. The parents attacted it with relish and raised the 2 young. The next nest I fed boiled egg 3-4 times a day for the first week and had had no problems with subsequent nests. My two pair have comepletely different food requirements but having swapped babies between nest I know that the babies don't actually care what they are fed as long as they are fed. This may not be your problem but it would be wise to try out a range of soft foods or live food in addition to green and sprouted seed to see what they are "comfortable" with.

[Pooky]

It seems to me Greg that the Cut Throats seem to feed their young for a while till about half way then they just throw them out of their nests and I see the babies crawling along on the floor of the avairy. Its sad really.

[GregH]

I've just come back from 3 weeks in Australia and while I was away one pair of cut-throats managed to fledge 2 young which is a poor result compared to last year, another did nothing and my third pair which was sitting on 4 eggs when I left presented me with this:

Twenty six eggs! Supernumerary egg production in a clutch might seem a good management idea when resources are virtually unlimited but a clutch of 26 is ridiculous even for a chicken. I've had this happen before with cut-throats so it may be time to mix up the non-productive pairs although the poor girl laying all those eggs may need a rest and I'm afraid the guy may be firing blanks.

[Diane]

wow, that sure is a lot of eggs

[finchbreeder]

She definately needs a long rest after that.
LML

[Mickp]

a very ripe omelet for your tea, such considerate birds you have

[Will_36]

I've got cooks that aren't that good.