2 pairs

[Geese]

so i have two zebra pairs, in a cage i know should be big enough to house 2 pairs. they both interfere with each others mating habits. like for instance, interfering with the males songs. getting in the way of the other zebra when they try to mate. i once saw the opposite male zebra try to mate with the other female zebra. and now and then they'll have a little chase around the cage trying to peck each other. any advice? cause i would like to breed the two pairs but at this rate it seems hard for them to even live with each other. the cage is a about a meter long a 1.5 feet high and 1.5 wide. theres two nest on the far side of each corner and plenty of perches. any advice is appreciated. thanks

[GregH]

This is what you were referring to in your “Uninvited Guest” post. Your cage is too small to allow retreat by the less dominant birds as it is only 3X1.5X1.5 feet. If you don’t have room to get a new cage then you might get away with dividing it. I’ve seen guys here in the Philippines breed zebs in those conditions but it doesn’t give them much exercise and you’ll get a disproportionate number of males.

[Geese]

what do yo mean by a "disporportionate number of males?"

[GregH]

Females birds are able to adjust teh sex ratio of thier clutched prezygotically (before fertilisation). Under stressed conditions they tend to alter the sexratio towards males since they have the ability to spread their genes more asily than females and in a crowded cage more females would make the problem worse.