Boodgies

[desertbirds]

Spoke too soon, just had a look and one hen is showing interest in a box, do you put anything in there ?

[jusdeb]

I put sawdust in which they took out so from now on I wont put anything in .
They have the concaved bit to lay in .

[VR1Ton]

Some hens are absolute ba$taards when it comes to emptying nestboxes, as Deb said I use to use a piece of chipbord with a concave drilled out to stop the eggs spreading out. Use to use soaked hulled oats, & what ever green food I had, Silverbeet & Chickweed were always devoured in seconds. Pretty laid back when it came to soaking the oats, wash them & soak them over night, rinse out till the milky colour goes, let drain for a couple of minutes, & in it went. They were cabinet breed show birds, but all birds in the flight got the same, & it was dirt floor, & had no trouble with sour crops. Just goes to show how hardy the little buggers are.

[jusdeb]

Can I assume then that the above applies to my boof headed Budgies also ?

[MadOzzie]

I read this earlier (thinking of getting budgies for my grandson) and saw what you said about sawdust and remembered this: (http://adorablebudgies.co.uk/budgiebreeding.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

Put plenty of wood shavings in the nest box. Re-fill every time the hen starts throwing it out. The shavings are good to stop the eggs rolling about. Some people use them, some don't. I use them and find that they are great, especially after the chicks hatch as they help reduce the soiling of the wood.

When I put shavings in I acutally WANT the birds to throw them out, as it's a pretty sure sign that they're getting ready to nest. When they throw them out I put more in, eventually the bird is too busy sitting on eggs and feeding chicks to bother chucking them out any more.

MadOzzie

[VR1Ton]

Can I assume then that the above applies to my boof headed Budgies also ?

They were cabinet breed show birds

Put plenty of wood shavings in the nest box

Always with any parrot, even Peachies/Lovebirds got a bit in the bottom of the box to help with moister, but I never keep topping it up, thats throwing effort after foolishness, all you end up with, in my case, would be a useless pile of shavings on the floor of the cage. Put the hollowed out board in the bottom, put in the shavings, if they leave them in good, if not, you can try to add a small amount after they hatch to help keep the nest clean, & cut down the effort of cleanig boxes at the end of the clutch.

[finchbreeder]

Let your hens breed before they are 6 months old if you want them to be bred to death. If you don;t keep those birds under 6 months where there are no nest boxs. Think of them as 13yr old people. I don;t breed budgies, but mother has been for the last 50 years. If you find the nests are too moist (read yucky) put sand in the boxs, or better yet get hubby to design boxs with removable bases that slide in and can be changed when necessary. Leaving breeding boxs with your budgies all year round is not good for them. Some are too stupid to stop. Breeding condition is signalled by a dark brown cere (the bit round the nostrils) in a hen and a deep blue cere in a cock. A few acceptions. So if you have most like this it's time to put the nests in. And don't forget to take them out throught the hottest summer months. For avairy breeding nests in through Autum and Spring is a rough guide.
LML

[jusdeb]

I tend to remove nest boxes after 3 clutches anyway no matter what time of the year . Im finding pine nest boxes more hygenic than the chip board type / masonite type of box , even the PC Lorikeets nests have been easier to clean with the pine .
All the info has been great thanks , still a bit iffy about sawdust so might put some in before and let the hen sort it out herself as said its a good sign that breeding is about to happen as with most parrots .

All the Budgies are over 6 months old now so all good there .

[jusdeb]

[Diane]

They are so much nicer than the blowsy show birds.